I pretty much do the same thing, purchased (8) NiMh's, placed them in the plastic cell holder and then just used the aligator clips on my charger to connect to the pack.

The only concern is, that the battery's become very un-balanced.? Last time I noticed it, I tried to figure out how to balance each cell. I thought about it for a minute, said *F* it, and put them back in the holder.

The only thing I figured is that every once in a while I would have to charge each cell seperatly? Is there a better way to peak these batterys?