Often when they do low current with negative deltaV termination, it actually pulses at a higher current so it can catch the termination. The low current number they list is just the average current.
I haven’t actually done any charging to full yet (I put some batteries in there to get a picture of the lit LED light). But my La Crosse BC-700 terminates for 200mA with no problems.
110mA though, is new territory for me. Whenever I get to charge some batteries for real, I’ll let you know.
Thank’s, Enelooper. The reason I ask is mainly this article from HKJ about -dV/dT termination problems at low currents.
I heard that the La Crosse BC-700 is better at terminating than my infamous BC-900. With this I had several occations of No termination at 200 mA. Else it has been a no-problem charger.
@Halo, regarding pulse charging I will just citate HKJ:
“Real world -dv/dt chargers uses pulsing current when charging, probably because there is less noise in the voltage measurement with the charge current off.”
Cutting the charge current for some msec, in order to measure voltage, is not what I understand as Pulse Current, and the average current is practically the same as max current.
@Enelooper, I look forward to knowing if there is a risk of overcharging with this very cheap “Vinninge” charger.
I have the same BC700 and it terminated perfectly on new duraloops, fast forward 5 years and maybe 250 cycles and it misses about 1/2 the terminations. At 500mA they work fine.
The way I understand it, pulse charging is kinda like PWM. So perhaps this charger is alternating between 440mA and 0mA. In which case, the chances of successful termination is greatly improved.
I have 3 other chargers, but I always wanted a USB powered unit, because it is so versatile. The possibility of charging off power banks, solar panels, computers, and even in the car gets me excited. The $3 price is icing; I would have paid twice as much - provided it works well and doesn’t destroy my beloved eneloops. We’ll see.
That is cause for concern. Thanks for the heads up. I used to charge at 200mA (the default for the BC700). But recently I’ve switched to 500mA for AAA and 700mA for AA.
I still try to keep a watchful eye on the BC700, and will do the same with this charger. I just don’t quite trust them, and I definitely don’t leave them charging with nobody at home.
NiMH won’t be harmed by a missed termination at 200mA, they just get warm which may reduce number of cycles you get .
But at 200mA charging an empty battery takes all day and a missed termination means next morning. 500mA is simpler, 4 hours and they are done (plus the missed terminations on many cycled batteries at 200mA).
I see. Nice to know my eneloops won’t burst into flame and burn my house down It’s good that it has a timer as well, as a backup termination method. I think this USB charger will be relegated to being an overnight charger, or if in the office, plug in to PC first thing in the morning, ready by get-off-work time.
Some BLFers have abused the hell out of eneloops to see what they can take, i believe it was Texaspyro who hooked them up to 120V A/C and they did nothing iirc
I picked up a couple of these this week too, as well as some of the new Ladda cells. 2450mah AAs and 900mah AAAs made in Japan suggests almost certainly from the FDK factory and rebranded eneloop pros. Ikea will be my go to place for batteries as well as light bulbs and furniture now!
Yes, I wouldn’t bet against there being more than one battery factory in Japan, but the FDK factory is known to rewrap their batteries for other brands already (e.g. duracell duralock and amazon basics).
The other thing is that IKEAs new ladda line brings out 4 options, 2 AA versions and 2 AAA versions, each with the same capacity as eneloop pro and eneloop lite respectively, and all made in Japan. The physical characteristics of the battery and wrapper look very close, if not identical, to the eneloop and fujitsu versions of the FDK cells too. I really am quite confident that they are the same cell, but couldn’t guarantee it 100% I suppose.
If someone did some more investigations to determine what factory, decode product codes usually etched onto batteries or do load/cycle testing then we could be much more sure.
Heck one could even e-mail Ikea corporate (or eneloop) and see what they say.
Bought one without seeing this thread and was happy to find they could charge a single battery. Perfect to give lasy friends so they see the advantage of chargable batteries.
It’s good that it has a timer as well, as a backup termination method. I think this USB charger will be relegated to being an overnight charger, or if in the office, plug in to PC first thing in the morning, ready by get-off-work time.