Best charger for Eneloop Cells ?

[SashiX]

@photon1k

Most chargers that use negative delta v as the primary method to detect when to terminate the charge need a charge rate of .5C to reliably detect the drop in voltage, so a minimum of .5C charge rate is recommended.

I read similar articles before I bought BC700. Anyway, I’ve done many tests myself and I cay say that my BC700 terminates identically at 200, 500 and 700 mA (GP Recyko and Varta LSD)
I’ve seen advantages in charging old cells at higher rates though.

[HKJ]

@photon1k

To charge an Eneloop AA cell in the C9000 requires only two keypresses: Enter to select the default mode of CHARGE and Enter once more to select the default charge rate of 1000mA (strongly recommended).

No, it does not require any keypresses, just put the batteries in and wait.

[Jargon]

BTW I see that the BM200 C&D battery adapters are sold separately and they are actually fitting the C9000 perfectly.

Here they are

By the way, HKJ I was thinking of getting a second MAHA (probably an 8-bay) but your hint about the review of something new has put me on hold.

I am wondering if those C&D cradles are any good resistance wise and if they I are I could certainly make a DIY 4X holder for my iCharger and then charge/discharge the big Ds higher and faster than the MAHA. The good thing with iCharger is that you can adjust the -dv signal so that it accounts for any resistance induced by the cradle.

[HKJ]

@Jargon

By the way, HKJ I was thinking of getting a second MAHA (probably an 8-bay) but your hint about the review of something new has put me on hold.

It is a cheap four bay analysing charger I am testing and it will be some time before I publish the review, I have two LiIon charger reviews that are as good as finished.

A 8-bay MAHA is for bulk charging and cannot be compare to the above charger.

[Jargon]

Oh I see, thanks for the tip.

I might get another C9000 too so I can break-in 8 batteries at a time which is the most time consuming function since 12 batteries charging vs 8 (if I have 2X C9000) is not really needed in my case.

[Strick9]

I read similar articles before I bought BC700. Anyway, I’ve done many tests myself and I cay say that my BC700 terminates identically at 200, 500 and 700 mA

But not my experience with AAAs though… see following thread:

Problem with my BC-700 and Eneloops; need advice

Although I’ve been into flashlights for a bunch of years, it’s only recently that I joined “Club Eneloop” (a few months ago). I’m doing a Discharge/Charge cycle on my LaCrosse BC-700 and AAA Eneloops. They finish around 800ma, but Bay-3 stopped at about 1200. Thinking it might be a fluke with a particular battery; I Discharge/Charge another set of AAAs. Same thing, Bays 1-2-4 finish around 800, but again Bay-3 is 1100+. I’m wondering if I should scrap the charger and replace it? Was that enou…

[wolf359]

I use the Maha C800S-U on my desk or the Maha C9000 when on the move, holiday in the car etc

http://www.mahaenergy.co.uk/products/battery-chargers/006-maha-c800s-u-8-cell-smart-charger

Maha C9000 Pro Intelligent Charger + Analyser from mahaenergy.co.uk

imho the Maha C9000 is the better and more versatile of the two

[Boaz]

There is always this lengthy discussion about expensive mimh chargers .. I honestly don't get it . I can buy duraloops dirt cheap (like buck each) So why stress out about nimh batteries ? as long as your charger isn't pure garbage I don't see any issues with not buying expensive chargers .

I bought two of these off ebay a long time ago and they work perfectly fine .

http://www.ebay.com/itm/2x-Panasonic-BQ-321-battery-charger-Eneloop-AA-AAA-/140594148423#ht_2207wt_962

and I have a couple of these i paid 13$ for

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004B9ZK4M

and 12$ for an i4 syamax when wallbuys had them on sale

I'd rather use a decent cheaper charger and have lots and lots of batteries .

[picrthis]

@Jargon

BTW I see that the BM200 C&D battery adapters are sold separately and they are actually fitting the C9000 perfectly.

Here they are

By the way, HKJ I was thinking of getting a second MAHA (probably an 8-bay) but your hint about the review of something new has put me on hold.

I am wondering if those C&D cradles are any good resistance wise and if they I are I could certainly make a DIY 4X holder for my iCharger and then charge/discharge the big Ds higher and faster than the MAHA. The good thing with iCharger is that you can adjust the -dv signal so that it accounts for any resistance induced by the cradle.

Yes I already have those for my C9000 that’s why I posted the info about the BM200 and C&D I haven’t seen it mentioned on any of the fourms; what is an iCharger?

[Sirius9]

I just use i4 to charge all batteries that I have including eneloops...

[HKJ]

@picrthis

what is an iCharger?

A hobby charger, you can see photos of it in my article about hobby chargers.

[wolf359]

Sanyo Eneloop AA 8 Pack Batteries 2000mAh £14.58 / $22.04 amazon.co.uk yeah real cheap.

for me it is about looking after my kit, nothing wrong with the regular eneloop charger it works fine i have afew of them kicking about, but they do tend to charge hard heating up the batteries which shortens the service life, more expensive chargers have more features, seperate charging channels ,soft charging, refresh etc, using the Maha C9000 i restored a bunch of Instant LSD’s that went flakey on me.

when i switched from the own label eneloop chargers to the maha i ran afew tests totally unscientific man cave stuff but i seemed to get afew more minutes of power from the maha charged cell then the bog standard one. i know not much difference but and that is enough for me.

is it enough for you only you can answer that if it feels right using a cheaper charger go with it and be happy for me the maha makes me happy and that where it is at in this crappy world.

later people my new SOG knife just turned up time to beat the snot outta it have a good bank holiday

[picrthis]

@HKJ

@picrthis

what is an iCharger?

A hobby charger, you can see photos of it in my article about hobby chargers.

Thanks

[photon1k]

@HKJ

@photon1k

To charge an Eneloop AA cell in the C9000 requires only two keypresses: Enter to select the default mode of CHARGE and Enter once more to select the default charge rate of 1000mA (strongly recommended).

No, it does not require any keypresses, just put the batteries in and wait.

Neither C9000 or the BC700 seem to require keypresses if you're willing to accept the default settings and wait.

But if you don't want to wait?

My point was that as few as two keypressed keypresses were needed, nowhere no where near the 100 keypresses someone mentioned.

@Jargon Thanks for the link to the C&D holders!

[Bort]

@Boaz

There is always this lengthy discussion about expensive mimh chargers … I honestly don’t get it . Eneloops are dirt bag cheap  why stress out about minh batteries  as long as your charger isn’t pure crap I don’t see any issues with cheaper chargers at all .

why not use a decent  5$ charger  and spend the money on more batteries  .?

I’d rather have a few cheaper chargers and 50 duraloops  vs a 60$ charger and no batteries

The smart charger seems to top up the battery far more effectively.

My camera has been getting worse in that it won’t accept batteries that are below 90% charge, and when a fully charged battery falls to about 90% while in use, it shuts down due to “low battery” (the low battery warning/shutdown has been getting higher and higher the older the camera gets, and there is nothing i can seem to do about it). Before i got a smart charger i was ready to toss the camera because it became unusable, fully charged batteries fresh off the charger would say “low battery warning” and the camera would turn off or i would get 5 minutes of battery of runtime.
Not knowing any of the above yet a friend got a smart charger, i charged the same batteries with it, put it in the camera and voila it started working again. It still shuts down when 10-15% of the battery gets used, but that gives me up to an hour of runtime so that leads me to believe that dumb chargers are not fully charging the last 10% of the battery, or once they are fully charged and the battery starts heating, the voltage output falls, or there may be another reason, but whatever the difference is, without a smart charger my camera is useless.

I may also be getting slightly more battery capacity if my theory is correct (or more accurately closer to the battery’s actual capacity), and the more batteries you have, if they all last 10-20% longer (in everyday use and number of years you have them), a smart charger pays for itself, albeit very, very slowly.

[wolf359]

JETBeam I4 PRO US Plug 4-Channel Li-Ion Ni-MH Ni-Cd Intelligent Battery Charger (Enhanced Version) $18.24

http://www.fasttech.com/products/1/10004658/1358713-jetbeam-i4-pro-us-plug-4-channel-li-ion-ni-mh-ni-c

test and review by selfbuilt

Jetbeam i4 PRO Intellicharger Review: Current/Voltage Comparisons for Li-ion...

seems a reasonable charger at a good price

[picrthis]

@photon1k

@HKJ

@photon1k

To charge an Eneloop AA cell in the C9000 requires only two keypresses: Enter to select the default mode of CHARGE and Enter once more to select the default charge rate of 1000mA (strongly recommended).

No, it does not require any keypresses, just put the batteries in and wait.

Neither C9000 or the BC700 seem to require keypresses if you’re willing to accept the default settings and wait.

But if you don’t want to wait?

My point was that as few as two keypressed keypresses were needed, nowhere no where near the 100 keypresses someone mentioned.

I guess you must have missed when I originally posted further up in this thread about the BM200 testing internal resistance and the adapters available, you might want to follow this link instead because it cheaper to buy them in a 2-pack. 2-pack C&D adapters
I have never seen anyone talk about these before, here they are on my C9000.

[jerm03]

I have a Nitecore I4, but have found the Sanyo MQR06W completely satisfactory. I use it for all my eneloops.

Jerry

[lionheart_2281]

@Sirius9

I just use i4 to charge all batteries that I have including eneloops…

Yep, me too, seems the i4 isn’t great for the Eneloops though at apparently they charge too quickly and generate a higher temperature.

[photon1k]

@picrthis Thanks for reposting the link to the adapters. Buying a pair would seem much cheaper.