Overview: All Eneloop batteries 2005-2024

Still think glitter edition is the coolest. :sunglasses:

Dont worry chibim.

But… are they made in japan?

I am still looking for the glitter ones hikarinoob :)

Fran, yes they are made in Japan. I might be uploading another video on Youtube with my latest envelope of eneloop goodies including a package of the AA botanics.

Yeah! I am anxious!

I got from Panasonic Canada today a set of BK3MCCA and they have eneloop printed on the side. I also have a set from Japan from a few months ago and they are BK3MCC and have panasonic printed on them. Any difference with these batteries?

@Klrman: the ones sold in Japan had a makeover in 2013. They have the Panasonic printed on the side. Everywhere else have eneloop printed on their side. They can both be the same battery. Some countries have Chinese eneloops, like Australia, New Zealand, Asia, Sputh America and Africa.

I see, thanks ChibiM. Also, I was thinking of getting the AA and AAA glitters for my collection but they are so expensive. Any tips where to find them at a fair price?

Good question! They are rediculous expensive yes. Unfortunately I also dont know. Thereare some available on eBay, but they are expensive... Same in Japan.

Ah, thought so. People want them so the price goes up.

Yep. Just saw some in Japan starting at 5000yen, which is about $40-$50. Bad thing is, its hard to order from overseas.

I looked at amazon.jp and only found one listing for the HR-3UTGA-8SL but in the title they say it is AAA so not correct in their description. If ordering other than amazon.jp, yeah, not so easy.

I was looking at auctions.yahoo.co.jp it was even hard for me to order while living in Japan...

I saw that on yahoo auctions too but it seemed too complicated so I moved on lol

Hahaha. yep..

I ran some tests on the capacity of old Eneloops vs new (standard) Eneloops, and I thought the findings very interesting.

The old Eneloops are from June 2006, so 12 years old. The new ones are just a few months old, fresh out of the package.

First, the new ones. I did discharge capacity tests on four AA’s and four AAA’s. (At a 250mA discharge, down to 0.9v.)

For the AA’s, the first cycle average is 1917 mAh.
The second cycle average is 1972 mAh.

So, cycling increased their capacity by 2.9%. Not much, but perhaps worth doing if you want to squeeze the most out of them.

For the AAA’s, the first cycle average is 754 mAh.
The second cycle average is 778 mAh.
A 3.2% gain in capacity by cycling. So, similar to the AA’s.

Finally, I ran capacity tests on eight AA’s that are 12 years old. Probably around 200-300 cycles on them.

The average was 1852 mAh. The lowest value was 1797 mAh.

That means that Eneloops only lost 6.1% capacity after 12 years of use! Assuming they had the same initial capacity as my new cells, after a couple of cycles.

I was expecting 20–30 loss in capacity, but they’re holding up extremely well. They can still be used for high-drain lights, though their internal resistance is noticeably higher than new cells.

With results like that after 12 years, I expect I’ll still be using them after 20 years.

I have NiMH cells that are a bit older than 2006 (which is when I switched over to Eneloops), but all of them have internal resistance ridiculously high, so are only useful for very low-drain applications. Their capacities average around 1000mAh.

Thanks for those tests, very positive for Eneloops. I purchased Eneloops from Costo eons ago when they were sanyo's and remembered they all failed early. Yesterday I was reading reviews on amazon.ca and the reviewers that gave one star, 2% of them, mostly had the same experience with the new Eneloops as I did in the past. it seems a certain percentage of these batteries are duds and Panasonic does not stand behind them and has no written warranty on them. Am I wrong or is it true that Panasonic does not warranty eneloops?

@walkintothelights: That is awesome. Enough proof that they are the best NiMH batteries in the world. lol. So only a minor % they lost over the years.. show me any other brand that has that.

@klrman: I haven't heard of too many eneloops failing within a few years except for the PRO or heavy used ones. Other batteries would probably have died way earlier in thos situation!

I just watched some comments on Amazon, and they confirm my suspicion. 1. they don't know anything about batteries. 2. they use a bad charger, 3. they dont know how to charge them. 4. they probably don't know what happened to the application they used them in. (water, reversed inserted etc)

I may be wrong, but I'd like to see those batteries with my own eyes, or read from a reputable source that eneloops die within 1 week or don't hold a charge.. that is just unbelievable. The people who complain are generally not very convincing.

Really the people who are giving them 1 star are just regular people who don't know how to use batteries in general. :D

I almost want to copy some of the comments here for critique, but I may sound even more like a @$$^(^&( :D

But I need to add that I saw some cases that they definitely have a point!

I still have and use Costco AA Eneloops from 2008 in my 6-cell lights (one a Fenix TK40 with MC-E and a ROP-Lo Mag2D) . Well they are used as standby emergency lights but they still give a voltage reading of 1.3+ volts after sitting on the shelf or cabinet for 4months plus.

aaaaahhhh.......probably me years ago I got the Sanyo's from Costco at the time and used whatever charger I had at home. As I look through my old chargers today, I'm pretty sure it was my Rayovac PS33 charger which probably cooked them too much?

hahaha. Sure, me as well :) My first 'real' charger was a Voltcraft 1PLC (or something) which is equal to the BC700 Lacrosse, but it died on me. I still have another one I gave to my parents (which they didnt know how to use) and replaced it with a BQ-CC55 charger for them... just pop them in and be done with it.