I am looking to buy/build my own D cell Nimh battery charger with the following requirements: -dual prong AC wall input -charges Nimh D Cell -is safe -contained within 1" x 1.7" x 2.2" enclosure
As far as I can tell there is nothing like this to buy at the moment. I have also searched the web for a schematic and found almost nothing of use.
I have played with bridge rectifiers and basic power supplies in the past and was wandering if building something with these specs would be a possibility? Also are there any ICs that could be safely used instead of actually building the entire bridge (anything to make it smaller)?
1.What would be "desirable" design traits of this supply? 2.Would I need to make it a smart charger? Is a smart charger really all that beneficial for Nimh D cells? 3.Can I get away with a the most basic design of 4 diodes, a cap, a regulator and 2 resistors (similar to this:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1d/Diode_bridge_smoothing.svg)? 4.How much current should I want to design at the load?
I realize this is kind of vague, but I have been searching the web for hours and was hoping maybe someone could provide some insight. Possibly just a starting point and then I could start designing my supply.