Are all AAA Re-Chargeable Batteries About the Same?

I think you mean AA if you bought them for a Wii remote, and yes I think they are about the same. I really haven’t had any brands that were better than others. Also, are you worried about mixing and matching branded chargers and batteries?

I use a large 10-battery charger (it’s slow though, best to leave it on overnight) and have a variety of brands and capacities and haven’t had any problems.

Thanks for the clarification @astrofoo! I just checked and we have a Radio Shack 1 hour battery charger for 4 batteries. Hope that is good enough – this Wii is sucking the $$ out of my wallet!

Rechargeable batteries have a mAh rating (milli amperes per hour). The higher the rating the more charge the battery can hold.

Also for reference, slow charging is much better for the batteries, they will last a lot longer than if charged with the 1 hour ones.

A charger that has the ability to drain the batteries totally before charging is good also.

Name brand have been better for me.

@pekenoe – Slow charging better… hmmmm That may explain why I have been unimpressed with rechargeable batteries! I think we have another charger around here… I better go find that one.

@DandyDear711 : also, drain the batteries if you can before charging. Use a wire to short the two terminals out to completely drain the battery, use insulated wire cause it will get hot if there is much charge left.

There is a charger out there that is “best”

All my info is coming from a not remembered site but from reliable sources (people who know what they are talking about)

The charger recommended by them has modes to drain, recharge and restore batteries. It will remove the memory block that rechargables get.

It is a La Crosse BC-900, I have not had it long enough to be a good reference and I have no affiliation with it but it is highly recommended.

Another tale on rechargables is to store them in the fridge, again, according to the site, not true. Excessive heat will shorten their storage life though.

@pekenoe – Sounds great! I just looked at the reviews for the La Crosse on Amazon. I try to read the good reviews AND the bad ones. It had lots of great reviews. However, many people found the La Crosse a fire hazard. Ugh… just when I thought I was onto something.

I just found an interesting review of the WizardOne MH-C9000. Just did some poking around… not cheap but no one mentions that it is a fire hazard.

Hadn’t heard about the fire hazard, will go take a look

Interesting, thanks for bringing that to my attention. I wonder what rate they were charging the batteries at and if that had an effect on the meltdowns?

I will from now on place the charger in a non flammable site, just in case.

I’ve not noticed any excessive heat but will monitor next time I use it.

I am consider the La Crosse BC-700. No fire hazard complaints so far!

@pekenoe – I was thinking about putting in on the basement floor…

I have the LaCrosse BC-700. It can individually, safely, discharge then charge up NiCd and NiMH batteries. It comes with four NiMH AA batteries. NiMH have less memory effect and have less hazardous materials. I use them for my Wii remotes. You can go to the Wii Menu and check battery status. I have it set to slow discharge and slow charge. A bit safer and better for the batteries. I have also used this charger to revive worn out NiMH and NiCd batteries. Love it!

@RocketGuy – I bought one (though mine didn’t come with any batteries!) but have not put it to the test yet. That manual looks thick!

It has several modes of operation:
Charge – normal use
Discharge (then charge) – do this every now and then to maintain capacity
Test – similar to discharge, but reports capacity
Renew – repeats Discharge until capacity maxes out. Good for old rechargeables.

It also has settings for charge rate and discharge rate. You can also cycle thru the readings to see voltage, current, charge time, total charge (mAh). Total geek toy!