Best AA/AAA charger for plebs!?

Hello, how many of you get frustrated charging AA/AAA in our “standard” chargers? I have a lil 500 and a backup Nitecore D4 (thinking about getting the Xtar 2amp rocket charger for my 26650) and it sucks (especially the lil 500) trying to get the positive end matched up the charger, then bring the charge down to 300mamps for the tiny AAA’s. Seems like a minor inconvenience but it bothers the hell outta me. Can some one recommend a charger that takes no brains to operate? You know just set it and forget it. Thanks!

In my book, hands down the Maha MH-C9000 charger is the best thing out there for NiMH and NiMH LSD cells. It may not completely top off a cell to the last drop, but I really don’t care. The last couple of ma do not really make a real world difference. It also does not kill batteries and can save some that have been neglected.

BLF Review.

Charger data sheets and such.

My workhorse charger for AA/AAA is the
Panasonic Eneloop BQ-CC16 Smart&Quick charger.
No settings whatsoever and works very well.
HKJ:s review here:

(I also have a couple of Opus BT-C3100.)

Ditto.

The default charge rate on the Lii-500 is 500 mAh. That should be fine for most AAA NiMh cells, IMO.

Personally, for NiMh I use Opus C-2400. AA/AAA cells fit very well since the slots were designed for it. Default charging rate is 400 mAh, so if you just place the cells in the charger and don’t touch any buttons, that’s what you’ll get.

I’ve got a couple of the BQ-CC17 chargers, which are similar to the CC16 but slower. They work great, though, if you don’t mind waiting a few hours. 4 slots, individual charging per slot, LED indicators for each slot, can use any mix of AA and AAA in it at the same time. It’s never failed to give a good charge and has never missed a termination.

It won’t work with very old cells that have high internal resistance, though. But those kind of cells aren’t good for much.

I’m confused as to why you are having so much trouble using a Lii-500 for AA and AAA size cells.

I’ve got one sitting next to me that I leave plugged on my desk 24/7. It has charged AA and AAA cells dozens of times without issue. If I put AAA cell in and push it down to the bottom of the slot, it hits both of the charger contacts without issue. The positive electrode on mine is shaped so that it easily picks up cells of different heights and can accommodate quite a bit of skew and will still charge even if the cell is not straight. There is virtually zero setup time required for me to switch from 26650s to AAAs. I just plunk the cell in, wait for confirmation that the charge has begun, and that’s that.

I just dug out my old Nitecore D2. Compared to the Lii-500, it is much harder to align small diameter cells with the electrodes on the D2. The D2 has a very large radius on the slot which allows a 26650 to sit all of the way down in the bottom, but makes aligning small diameter cells difficult because they have so much room to move side to side. The Lii-500 has a smaller radius on the slot for each cell which makes aligning AA and AAA cells much much easier.

I’m wondering if the design of the Lii-500 changed, since you are having so much trouble with yours. Perhaps you could post a picture of your Lii-500 and show the positive electrodes as well as the size of the slots which hold the cells?

Also, I almost never change the charging current on mine, I’m never in enough of a rush to need to charge faster than 500ma. I’ve also never dialed the current down for NIMH or Lithium AA and AAA sized cells. Is this something I should be doing?

I think the Panasonic BQ CC55 is a good choice. Pretty fast charging and using LEDs to show it a battery is full or not. Very easy in use, no buttons.
Hkj tested it: Review of Charger Panasonic BQ-CC55
The review is also on BLF.

Agreed. I normally don’t use the Lii-500 for NiMh cells, but I just tried it with AAAs, and there is absolutely no issue dropping them in.

I have many many chargers SKYRC 3000, Opus C3100, Maha C9000 and many more.

But a lot of the time i just want to charge a few nimh cells and i don't want to mess about with settings, just pop the cells inside and leave them till they are done.

I don't know where you are, but if you are in Europe have a look at the "Tronic Kh 980" they are no longer made, they are like 9 year old so you have to buy them second hand, I bought one of eBay for £11 as new delivered and it works great (solidly built and has a good weight), it takes 1-6 AA or AAA or 4 C or D or 2 9V it charges AAA at 300ma and AA C and D at 1000ma once you put the battery`s in the charger it discharges them for 10min and then depending on the battery it might start a gentle charge or go straight to nominal charge.

The 10min discharge is to remove the passivation layer that builds-up due to storage.

I liked it so much, I bought a second one, Now i can charge 12 AA or AAA at once.

https://www.manualslib.com/manual/89561/Kompernass-Kh-980.html

John.

Lol not so much trouble. I said minor inconvenience, when I push all the way down it doesn’t make contact. Change in design idk? It is what it is I guess.

Thanks for the suggestions​ dudes now I’m gonna do some research on those chargers asap!