NiMH AA(A) charger recommendation

Hi,

I’ve been browsing a few threads from a few years ago and came across many different recommendations, but most threads mentioned the Panasonic chargers from the Eneloop bundles (BQ-CC55 or BQ-CC16). Are these still the best value chargers out-there nowadays?

I just need to charge AA (A) NiMH as fast as possible while keeping them as healthy as possible.

Thanks!

For small AA and AAA Ni-MH batteries charger, maybe you can take a look at this BC4 charger: independent four-slot, compatible with AA and AAA Ni-MH batteries, also 1.5V Li-ion batteries.

If you have a lot of NiMH batteries, its hard to beat the Maha Powerex

Is that ALL you want to charge? What about other chemistries?
Do you have a mess of them to charge at one time, such that an 8-bay charger is worth the extra?

Having capacity testing is a very nice feature, and worth the small amount of extra money.

That’s all I want to charge, and 4 bays should be enough. If the difference in price is minimal, having more features, supporting other batteries, or having more bays would always be nice. :slight_smile:

What is the fastest speed to safely charge a NiMH without damaging it too much? As long as the charger detects -dV/dt termination, I should be able to charge at 1A per battery, right?

I think 1A for AA NiMh seems OK, but may still be a bit too fast for AAA NiMh… also may depend on the battery’s age/condition. (older / higher resistance NiMh probably should be charged slower… although I think some chargers automatically adjust the charge current if detecting a higher-resistance battery)

I tend to generally charge AA @ 500-700. 1A is OK but a bit harder on the battery.
For AAA I use 200-300, and don’t exceed 500.

HKJ has a table of tested chargers with a great sorting mechanism. Here’s a link;
https://lygte-info.dk/info/roundCellChargerIndex%20UK.html

Go the [Extras] column, click on it, scroll down to a section with [analyzing chargers] and whatever else you want, plus at least 2 smiley faces, and start doing some research.
Don’t forget to look at the current capability.