An unworthy successor to the original Rayovac PS3 Universal Charger
This charger offered here ([[ASIN:B003D7LHKO Rayovac Platinum AA/AAA/C/D/9V Universal Battery Charger]]) is the PS20PL. It is inferior to the original [[ASIN:B003KLYVNI Rayovac PS3 Universal Smart Battery Charger]] in many ways:<br /><br />- The PS20PL is a timer-based dumb charger. It blindly charges all batteries for 8.5 hours and shuts off, regardless of their capacity or status. It is up to you to remove your batteries after certain number of hours to avoid over-charging. The PS3 is a smart charger that monitors each cell during charging, and stops automatically when each cell is full.<br /><br />- The PS20PL forces you to charge in pairs (either 2 or 4 cells). The old PS3 charges batteries individually, which is the only way to ensure each battery is charged to its correct capacity.<br /><br />- The PS20PL can only handle NiMH and NiCd batteries. The old PS3 can handle NiMH, NiCd, and rechargeable alkaline manganese (RAM) batteries.<br /><br />On the other hand, both PL20PL and PS3 suffer from the following deficiencies:<br /><br />- The maximum battery capacity is limited to 3000mAh. That means they cannot fully recharge higher capacity C and D cells, such as the [[ASIN:B0041TF5KQ Tenergy Centura C Size Low Self-Discharge Rechargeable Batteries]] (4000mAh).<br /><br />- The AC transformer inside is bulky, heavy, and limited to 110V supply only.<br /><br />Instead of this PS20PL, you should get a smarter universal charger that can handle larger capacity batteries. For example, consider the [[ASIN:B006OSQALU Tenergy Advanced Universal Charger TN190]]. The TN190 added a REFRESH function and a LCD battery status display. It is able to work from 100-240V AC, and can handle higher-capacity batteries up to 10,000mAh.
Rating: 2 stars