So Eneloops are important, but what about the charger?

beercan

beercan

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Hi all,

Having read repeated recommendations I'm going to go for for a couple of packs of Eneloop AA rechargeables.

I'm currently using Energizer 2450mAh Ni-MH batts for my flash and charging them in a Uniross X-press mini charger, which states 16.5 hours for a pair of 2100mAh batteries.
The eneloop charger seems to take about 12 hours.

So, is the Eneloop charger worth buying vs my current one, or is there a better alternative out there?

Thanks!
:thumbs:
 
I've always used very fast chargers (The ones billed as 1 hour).. These tend to be very clever in how they work and manage each battery individually etc... I've had zero complaints when using them for flashes etc, some of my batteries even take just 15 minutes (special 15 minute uniross batteries).

I've had 2 Uniross 1 hour chargers, and the last one was from Maplins, that had a discharge function, but also charges in about 1 hour and thats with low drain batteries like enerloops..
 
phil-t said:
I've always used very fast chargers (The ones billed as 1 hour)..
Click to expand...

That's not fast, mine is a "15 minute" charger, takes about 22 minutes to charge a set of Eneloops. :naughty:

Not sure it does the batteries much good in the long term though.....
 
Flash In The Pan said:
That's not fast, mine is a "15 minute" charger, takes about 22 minutes to charge a set of Eneloops. :naughty:

Not sure it does the batteries much good in the long term though.....
Click to expand...

:D I did go on to say

some of my batteries even take just 15 minutes (special 15 minute uniross batteries).
Click to expand...

I expected fast charger = ruin the batteries or not fully charge them, but it's not been that way at all.. the Maplins charger was the best, like that BL700 it can discharge them first which I use occasionally to just ensure the batteries work as required.

The BL700 looks good, I've seen that before, but it's a 3-4 hour charger, which is fine, but I tend to be a little less patient and have 3 x 1 hour chargers so can charge 12 batteries in a rush!
 
Charging batteries too quickly causes them to heat up, heat reduces the life of batteries, if it's any more than warm at the end of charging, it's probably too hot.

If you get an advanced charger, it's best not to think of how quickly you can charge them, but what current to use. The slower the better as far as battery life goes. As far as I can remember, charging eneloops at around 500mA is optimal (pretty sure it's the max Sanyo recommends too, don't quote me tho), but I've been using technoline/lacrosse chargers with eneloops for years at 700-1000mA and have never killed a cell yet. At this current they charge in 1-2 hours, but I usually don't fully discharge them.

Out of curiosity last weekend, I charged a pair of cells up at 1800mA on mine, which in the technoline charger can only be achieved with 2 cells instead of the usual. They charged damn quickly, but were almost too hot to touch. And to think, my old Ansmann charger just jammed 2000mA into 4 cells continuously, you couldn't set it any lower! At least it had a tiny fan to "cool" them down tho :D

But then batteries are cheap, so maybe it's not worth worrying about :thumbs:
 
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:plusone: for 7dayshop fast chargers and their own brand batteries, the wii remotes go through them like nobody's business, kids would moan if i did't "fast charge" them.:D
 
Whatever you get, get a 'smart' or 'intelligent' charger - one that will adjust the charge according to the state of the battery and will not over-charge it.
 
Thanks all,
Just took 2 AAAs off charge and they were proper hot to touch! :thumbsdown:
 
Unless you need the batteries "NOW", I can't see the point of fast charging them...

My charger allows either fast or slow charging, I almost always use slow charging, keeps the heat down and prolongs battery life.
 
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