General > General Technical Chat
Is it just me or have rechargeable NiMH improved?
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bdunham7:

--- Quote from: edy on November 15, 2022, 02:15:23 pm ---I’m looking at something that will do slow charging, I don’t care about speed as I have enough batteries to swap. I just want to make sure it doesn’t kill the batteries. These Duracells mention absolutely nothing about whether they are LSD or similar to eneloops, maybe they make them or maybe they just rebadge them from another supplier and not allowed to use certain trademarked terms? They are obviously low self discharge as they come pre-charged and so far have far outlasted anything I’ve ever used before. I fully expect to need to spend a good 16 hours charging them slowest safest method possible like it says on the package (250mA for 16h). But the Panasonic eneloop charger which comes with 4 AAA at 6h charge time doesn’t tell me anything about how many mA it uses to charge.

--- End quote ---

If you don't want to kill your batteries you either need an effective negative-Delta V cutoff or you have to use a very slow trickle charge (<C/40) that takes days on end.  250mA for 16 hours is a terrible way to charge, no matter what it says on the package.  Timed chargers are crap, period.  Slower chargers are problematic because the lower the charge rate, the less pronounced the - ΔV signal is.  I would look for specific models that have been reviewed and tested and are known to work properly.  Even the "Panasonic designed for Eneloop" models vary somewhat in effectiveness.

The BQ-CC17 is known to work well and would be my first choice if you want inexpensive and only need AAA/AA NiMH capability.  It has a charge rate (stated on the unit) of 300mA for AA and 150mA for AAA.  Here is a detailed review.

https://lygte-info.dk/review/Review%20Charger%20Panasonic%20BQ-CC17%20UK.html
edy:

--- Quote from: deadlylover on November 15, 2022, 03:46:45 pm ---Again I urge you to check out this site for charger reviews. Just sort by the smiley faces and see what's available to you.

Don't overthink it too much, these LSD batteries can take a pounding and in all honesty you're probably buying a solid charger that terminates properly. So what if they die an early death and can "only" give you 100-200 cycles before going high internal resistance? I have eneloops from 2009 still serving remote control or clock duty in their retirement.

--- End quote ---

Yes thanks, I am over-thinking it. Probably spending way more time on this than I should... time which I could have worked and made 10x as much money and instead I'm worrying about saving a few dollars.  :-DD Thanks for that list, it'll give me a good place to at least compare the top rated models and get an idea of reputable brand chargers and pick something up in a reasonable price range for my needs.

Using that list above I've narrowed it down to these 3 "two smiley face" versions, all of which are "Amazon's choice":

1. Panasonic BQ-CC17SBA eneloop Advanced Individual Battery Charger ($19.16 CAN)
https://www.amazon.ca/Panasonic-BQ-CC17SBA-Advanced-Individual-Indicator/dp/B00JHKSLM8

2. XTAR VC4 Universal Battery Charger ($25.99) (will also do Li-Ion but needs USB power supply)
https://www.amazon.ca/XTAR-Battery-Charger-Display-Multi-Functional/dp/B07HDRZYPS

3. Nitecore D4 Intelligent Digital LCD 4-Slot Universal Smart Battery Charger ($44.99)
https://www.amazon.ca/Intelligent-Universal-IMR%EF%BC%8Cli-ion%EF%BC%8CLiFePO4%EF%BC%8CNi-MH%EF%BC%8CNi-Cd-rechargeable-batteries/dp/B01IBAFA64

I've listed them in terms of price. Seems like the XSTAR is fairly versatile and not much more than the more basic Panasonic. Not sure if I want to splurge for the Nitecore. There really isn't anything much less than about $30 with a good reputation. I've looked for charger/battery combos and the best I could come up with are those Panasonic eneloop packages (individual cell charger with either 4AA or 4AAA) in the $40+ range. Not sure if I really want more batteries at this point... I have enough, just want to charge them properly.
james_s:

--- Quote from: edy on November 15, 2022, 03:52:47 am ---If you look carefully at the photos the Duracell batteries say charge at 250mA for 16 hours. My energizer charger is 300mA output so it would be slowly charging these batteries… maybe 13-14 hours because of the slightly higher mA. I don’t know what the Energizer charger does to figure out when to shut off or if it actually just continues charging while the green light simply shows some parameter it’s reading off the pair of batteries. As well, will eneloop charger from Panasonic work on these Duracells or will it have problems?

--- End quote ---

That 250mA at 16 hours is the standard slow charge that is suggested for chargers lacking fancy features to properly terminate the charge.

I don't know about others but the Eneloop charger does stop charging when it detects the cells are full, and it charges them individually which is a feature you want. It will work with any NiMH cells.
bdunham7:

--- Quote from: edy on November 15, 2022, 04:36:37 pm ---I've listed them in terms of price.

--- End quote ---

Yikes!  No deals for Canadians, I guess!  I can get the charger and 4 AA batteries for $18...

https://www.amazon.com/Panasonic-K-KJ17MCA4BA-Individual-eneloop-Rechargeable/dp/B00JHKSMJU?th=1
bdunham7:

--- Quote from: james_s on November 15, 2022, 05:21:17 pm ---That 250mA at 16 hours is the standard slow charge that is suggested for chargers lacking fancy features to properly terminate the charge.

I don't know about others but the Eneloop charger does stop charging when it detects the cells are full, and it charges them individually which is a feature you want. It will work with any NiMH cells.

--- End quote ---

250mA is way too high, it will cook cells if they become fully charged.  Say you put in a cell that is only half discharged and let it roast for 16 hours.  Not good.

Some Panasonic chargers are smart, whether fast or slow.  Others are dumb and should be avoided.
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