Alkaline Battery Charger

An alkaline battery charger is defined as the chemical reaction between manganese dioxide and zinc. It derives its name from the alkaline electrolyte which is involved in the action.

How does an alkaline battery charger work?

The alkaline battery charger is an extremely useful device. It is used to supply energy to a used or secondary cell, that possess rechargeable features by passing electric current through it. This recharges the battery for further use and we need not throw away our old batteries. The alkaline battery charger supplies different velocity of energy depending on the battery.

The alkaline battery is designed with the anode consisting of zinc powder. This provides for a greater surface, thus increasing the flow of electrons. The cathode is composed of manganese dioxide. Thus electric energy is produced by the chemical reaction between the two. But after constant usage, the energy wears out. Here comes in the alkaline battery charger. The charger works by feeding some electric current through the dead battery hoping that it will retain some of the energy passing through it. When the charger receives an AC input from the mains, a transformer lowers the voltage and this current is then sent in the direction, opposite to that of the battery. This helps charge the battery!

Alkaline battery charger is of many types

A simple alkaline battery charger supplies a constant DC power source to any battery that is being charged. Thus, a battery that is left over-charging weakens or may even get destroyed.

The intelligent alkaline battery charger supplies output current based on the batteries state. It examines the batteries voltage requirement, temperature and time required to fully charge the battery. A typical intelligent alkaline battery charger charges the battery faster by 85%. It is very energy efficient!

The inductive alkaline battery charger uses electro – magnetic induction to charge the batteries. There are no open electrical contacts and thus reduces the chances of electrocution.

The solar alkaline battery charger employs solar energy. It is a portable device and is hence, very comfortable to use.

Other Alkaline battery charger include, USB based, timer based, fast and pulse based.

Rechargeable batteries are most feasible as they can be recharged by alkaline battery charger, thus doing minimum damage to the environment.

Alkaline battery charger comes with NiCad i.e. Nickel-Cadmium. The charger transmits energy through a single transistor. Batteries that have NiCad are best rechargeable.