AC DC solar adaptable AA battery charger.AVI

Oh no! Another AA battery recharger video. Yes, I have at least 10 battery chargers lying around the house. This cheap one (Digital from Microcenter) is very versatile and can be AC and DC operated. It can also be easily adaptable to use a small 12 v solar panel. A small panel like the one in the video can output 130 ma and slow charge a set of AA batteries. A bigger panel will charge much quicker.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• AC DC

[field16]

Hello, I've done the same thing but my charger burned up on me. I think my solar panel was providing too much current. Have you checked the current produced by your solar panel? I wonder if it's close to 500 mA, which is what your charger wants as its input current. If you are at that level or less, then you're safe. I wonder if the charger will limit the current it receives to 500 mA. A simple multimeter would tell us that.

[wtam69]

@field16 The panel I'm using is a 12 v, 1.8 watt. I think it's output is less than 200 ma so it's safe. It's more like a slow charge. That's why I wasn't keen on using just the panel and a regulator to control the current. I think my AC/DC charger has some circuitry to cut off the power when the AAs are charged.

[field16]

@sirmasterpimp Good information... thanks. It would be safest to have a voltage regulator to limit the voltage.

[sirmasterpimp]

@field16 I know this is an old post, but you probably burned it up with the volts (maybe the amps too is you used anything larger than 6 watts). Most 12 volt rated solar panels put out 17 volts + under load (22-25 open circuit)

I tried to connect a 250 mA 12 volt panel to a device that could accept up to 1.5 amps.....it nearly destroyed the device, because it was getting close to 20 volts.

He got by because, his little amorphous panel was probably 15 volts or so under the chargers load.

[field16]

@wtam69 Looks like that small panel is just right for that charger, then.

[Fearlessthinker]

Cool idea! Thanks!