Funnily enough, I’ve charged my eneloops with 2 chargers: the Xtar VC4 (from dinosaur era) and a Liitokala Lii-202. On 0.5A (both chargers), the Li-202 is considerably faster and gets the cell hotter. It does seem reasonable to assume that the 2100 figure comes with conditions…
In my early days with the hobby I had energizer rechargeables with their own charger. The cells were literally untouchable when finished.
I also still use the vc4, but only at 400mAh or less lol. As far as the energizer cells, at least they weren’t the doodoo duracells…I had their early renditions with the black/green body, and they could NOT hold a charge to save MY life. 2450mAh? Sure, if you consider self discharge to be a use case…
Why 400mA or less? I think it only charges at 0.5A and 1A. Though in the recent years, I have been observing random stepdowns (say 0.5A drops to 0.2A) for no apparent reason, and it is quite annoying. I wonder if it’s due to poor connection, or if some component on the PCB is failing.
Ah…sorry, I meant the Opus 3100, not the vc4. I’m working a few chargers at the moment and had a brainfart moment. I’m using the Opus 3100 at 200 or 400mAh, it just feels like a good balance between charging time and keeping the cells relatively cool.
**the stepdown occurs for me in a few scenarios, In order from most common to least common:
Ah I see! For me, I suspect that the barrel plug is the main offender. I can sometimes get the current to bump up again by twisting/grinding it against the socket.