I thought it was some regulation about devices shouldn't charge without a timer cutoff.? ?I thought there was that 3rd tab on the packs, which isn't on the alkaline pack, but either that doesn't disable the slow charge or something malfunctioned.? ?Wow, yeah, 100-200mA through alkalines is going to be a mess, one way or the other.
Mine is pretty new, USA model, and only charges in the cradle.? Or magnets, a resistor, and a bench power supply (haven't tried that, but in an emergency at work, away from the cradle... maybe).
I found California Code of Regulations (CCR), Title 20, Section 1605.3(w), requiring maintenance mode charging to be under 1W.? 12V at even 100mA (it was probably 140 for 1400mAh?).? Perhaps instead of reducing the current to a 24h charge rate, they dropped it altogether.
radellaf