New Innvo Labs Battery Charger. It's 2 chargers in 1.

[Echo]

A couple of days ago I got my New Innvo Labs NiMH Green Battery charger that I ordered for $US 23.90 from pleoworld.com
It looks like the old Ugobe Charge expect it has a switch to change from regular charging mode (3-4 hours)  to reconditioning charging mode (aprox. 16 hours).  The 2 modes make it like 2 chargers in 1.    I used the AC adapter that came with my original charger with the new charger after getting confirmation from pleoworld that was ok.  When the charger is in reconditioning mode it shows a yellow light.  I put in a battery that must have been sitting around for along time because it only gave me aprox 40 min of playtime.  I waited for almost 17 hours for the yellow light to turn green before just not wanting to wait any longer.  So, I changed the charger mode to regular and then after about 10 min it turned green. So, I think it had reconditioned most of the way before I finished the charging in regular mode with has the standard red light when not fully charged and green light when fully charged.  

Now the first test. It gave me close to 80 minutes of playtime with my Pleo being active the first hour, ok the next ten min and tired the last 10 min.  I then charged the battery using regualr mode and the amount of playtime results were similar.   Hopefully, my reconditioned battery will continue to preform well over time. The only thing I didn't like about the charger is that the switch to change between modes is tiny and hard to move for someone with big hands.  Other than that I like it. It saved me money allowing me longer and better use of my existing NiMH green battery versus having to buy another battery.

Based on my experience, I give the New Innvo Battery charger a thumbs up.


Update:
Subsequently, I found out from pleoworld that in recondition mode the light never changes from yellow to green. It always stays yellow.  You are required to keep track of when the 16 hours or so of reconditioning charging has past, and then flip the switch to regular mode and finishing charging as normal.  

[pirpintine]

that sounds awesome! my battery still runs/charges fine for now so ill wait maybe splash out on one when the new lifeOS is out

[Dadio]

Echo that  is AWESOME!   

Thank you for your report.   

If your watching Mweed. 

I think this worthy of inclusion in Novembers magazine. 

Dadio & Stoney[img width=200 height=50 alt=]http://bobthepleo.com/forums/MGalleryItem.php?id=1183[/img]

[ftobe]

I'm not getting the same results.  In fact, my battery is now fully discharged.

I bought the new charger.  Put the switch to 16 hours.  Plugged in the battery and left it.  16+ hours later it began to blink red.  I took out the battery which was cold to the touch and put it into Pleo and had about two minutes before Pleo froze.  So I flipped the switch and charged it regularly for 4+ hours and again it went to blinking red.  When I tried to see if there was power in the battery, Pleo died within a minute.

I repeated the 16 hour and then the 4 hour process and, again with a cold batter, found that now there's not even enough charge in the battery to get Pleo going.

Any suggestions or additional instructions?

Thanks.

[b blue eyes]

I'm not getting the same results.  In fact, my battery is now fully discharged.

I bought the new charger.  Put the switch to 16 hours.  Plugged in the battery and left it.  16+ hours later it began to blink red.  I took out the battery which was cold to the touch and put it into Pleo and had about two minutes before Pleo froze.  So I flipped the switch and charged it regularly for 4+ hours and again it went to blinking red.  When I tried to see if there was power in the battery, Pleo died within a minute.

I repeated the 16 hour and then the 4 hour process and, again with a cold batter, found that now there's not even enough charge in the battery to get Pleo going.

Any suggestions or additional instructions?

I tried my new charger yesterday and it worked perfect.  I have not tried the battery yet but it seemed to work exacly as it stated it would.

Thanks.

[Echo]

Hi ftobe,
The way the charger works is by first fully discharging your battery before reconditioning it. When you get a blinking light in the beginning, it means that your battery is not seated properly in the charger.  Make sure that tiny switch for reconditioning mode is fully in the up position and not stuck in the middle.  Then replace your battery in the charger making sure it clicks securely. When it is secure you will get a yellow light, and start reconditioning.

If you get a yellow light at first and then after several hours you get a red blinking light, that means your battery has overheated and needs to cool down.  When charging your battery in both modes you need to keep an eye on the time.  With my new charger, after 2-3 hours of normal mode, the battery needs to be taken out to work.  If you leave it in longer than that it will blink red and start discharging your battery to cool it down.  With recondition mode, you need to keep an eye on the time too. It should be fine for about 16 hours, but after that if it overheats it will again start the cool down procedure. By the way, after nearly 16 hours of recondition mode with the yellow light to show it is working, you don't need to put it in the charger in regular mode for more than 10 min or so before the light changes from red to green.      

In order to help you more I need to know if when you put it in the charger in normal mode you get a red light that is not flashing to begin with and how long before the light starts flashing? Do watch the battery at the 1 hour and 2 hour and 3 hour charge points to see if has gone from red to green or do you just check on it after 4 hours and find it flashing red? For reconditioning mode, do you get a yellow light to begin with and how long before it flashes red?
Also, I need to know what was the condition of the battery before you tried the new charger.  Did you get 10 min or playtime or how long? Did the battery overheat causing your Pleo to get sleepy often?  

[fancyfont]

Just got new charger. I don't see a tiny switch on it at all. It does have 2008 Innvo Labs on it. I'm going to try it out.

[fancyfont]

Pleo Power helped me out. I was just looking in the wrong place. Yellow light has been turned on so I'll see what it can do. This will be a busy charger for a couple of days.

[Echo]

Just got new charger. I don't see a tiny switch on it at all. It does have 2008 Innvo Labs on it. I'm going to try it out.

You can not see the tiny switch when the battery is in the charger.  Take out the batter and look where the battery was sitting.

[fancyfont]

Echo, I didn't even see it while the battery was out! Just looking in all the wrong places!

[Echo]

I understand. When I said it was tiny, I wasn't kidding. 

[OzPleo]

Remember my battery that came with my Pleo and how it only charged in 10 minutes and gave only 10 minutes of run time? Well I bought one of the new Innova chargers and it worked.  During discharge the light was amber, but after 16 hours of doing so the light turned green. I then flicked the little switch to "N" and charged it. Within 10 minutes it went from red to green and I thought maybe nothing had been improved, but the battery now provides about 1.5 hours of use. The next charge took about 2 hours or so.

[InmemoryofRomeo]

That's wonderful to hear OzPleo So glad it worked for you, the battery was probably already charged at the end of the 16 hour cycle, so glad it helped though

[Echo]

Ozpleo, glad it all worked. I'm sure Max is happy to have more playtime.

[Darkwolf]

That is fantastic news! Good to hear it worked. My battery problem might just be solved by this new "wunder" charger!