This Varta LCD Charger charges AA or AAA Ni-MH Batteries. The charge time is 6 hours depending on capacity of batteries. Safety timer cutoff and Alkaline detection. It comes with 4 x 2100mAh AA Pre-Charged Rechargeable batteries included.
- Charge time: 6 hours
- Includes: 4 x 2100mAh AA Pre-Charged * Rechargable batteries
- Built in safety - timer cutoff, Alkaline detection
- Enviromentally friendly option
No. You need an Eneloop charger for that and it has to have the AA marking as well :P
Aren't eneloops just NIMH with a low self-discharge rate?
Wouldn't any NIMH charger work with eneloops?
(Genuine question, I've never had any eneloops)
Correct but charges like the one that comes in this listing are really bad. They take a long time and don't check the voltage of the cells. If you put in a battery just after charging, it will overcharge it over the next 6 hours reducing the life of it. I can't find it in the manual for this Varta charger, but a lot of these cheap 'dumb' chargers can only charge 2 or 4 cells at a time and not 1/2/3/4 like the smart chargers can.
Can find smart chargers like the nitecore i4 that will not only check the voltage of the cells, but cut off charging when they are actually charged and not by a useless timer. They are cheap enough on sale. Someone down below recommended LittoKala Lii-100 at less than $10, think I'll be picking up one as a spare.
I've never had any eneloops either, personally I find them overpriced for what they are. I think they became a meme that people started taking too literally on this site causing a lot of people to feel FOMO if they don't own them. I'd be interested to know if the company had any dealings with this site.
@c0balt: eneloop was the brand name used by sanyo who had the patent , so until patent expired low self discharge were called by the brand name “eneloop” as there was only one brand with that technology, that part of the business was later sold to panasonic who continued with the same brand name but started to make in japan and china.
patents have expired so lots of low self discharge around now.
nothing special about the charge cycle compared to nimh….. , when they were new an expensive people just treat them as “precious” now there are lots of cheap ones around people have become more flexible with chargers ….. very few are charged to their 1000cycles before they are thrown away as they deteriorate anyway over time. …. no can’t use for 20years and recharge one per month …. they do “age”as the internal chemicals breakdown over time not just charge cycles.
Yeah. Eneloops are just NiMh batteries with LSD, were you saying I was incorrect or just elaborating on it? Either way, interesting to know that as I didn't know about the whole patent saga on LSD NiMh. It's like old people calling all smart phones iPhones. Eneloop was the first brand to market and people associated the word eneloop with 'decent rechargeable battery'.
I'm glad another person out there with knowledge in battery chemistry knows that eneloops are not special and are overpriced just for a brand name in today's market.
These any good compared to eneloops?
Batteries are quite good - they are limited self discharge, just like Eneloops.
Charger is a simple dumb charger. Not good
It's definitely a good deal just for the batteries
Can I ask what the difference between a dumb and smart charger would be?
Termination of charging.
Smart chargers detect full batteries, dumb chargers just charge for a fixed time period, often damaging batteries by overcharging
@King Tightarse: Are you sure it's a dumb charger ?. Even those cheap $4 ikea VINNINGE chargers test the voltage periodically.
That's not a bad looking charger. Plugs into USB for power and independently charges 2 cells with voltage cutoff for $4? Yes please! I've found the IKEA Ladda batteries to be fantastic, while being half the price of others. I'll get one of those chargers next trip to IKEA for sure.
The charger for this Varta pack is a dumb charger, there's no mention of voltage cutoff, but there is mention of a timer safety cut off.
It costs less than US$1 to put a smart charger chip into a charger, so if you find a charger that isn't a smart charger, then you have to wonder WHY it isn't a smart charger. Example: BQ2002, US$0.89 each in 1000-up quantities: http://www.ti.com/product/BQ2002/samplebuy
In general, chargers made by companies that sell batteries are dumb chargers. They have a financial incentive to shorten the life of your batteries, they want you to purchase more batteries. There are rare exceptions - some of the Sanyo chargers are smart chargers, for instance.
If a charger is sold by a company that doesn't make batteries, they generally have to compete on features, so they are much more likely to be smart chargers.
Doesn't sound like it's a smart charger.
Can't find much details, but it seems like its an old fashioned charge two at once chargers…. I need one that can do singles.
LittoKala Lii-100 (<$6 on eBay) does AAA to 26700.
Ni-MH, together with Li-ion - including 3.2[5]V LiFePO4 as a special selection!!
Either 500mA or 1A charging too!
Well reviewed.
Great charger, I have used mine for AA, AAA, 18650 and 14500 no problems and easy to use.
Thanks but looks like this charges one battery at a time? I'd like to at least charge 2 at a time for Xbox controllers.
Ni-MH ?? still exist ?
Eneloops are Ni-MH…
Energizer recharge (silver / green) 2300 mAh.
NH15 1.2V NiMH-HR6.
The chargers take AA and AAA;
Sometimes the chargers are free with 4 batteries.
Have about 100 of the blighters;
Son could never have enough Thomas trains.
They are not good enough for cameras etc. though … buy the blue ones for those.
Anyone had any luck with Li-ion rechargeable or not?
Was thinking about getting some for home peripherals and a work headlight.
Barely ever need batteries these days but still feels wastefull throwing them out and they run out so fast.
Li-ion rechargeable or not?
I think you are confusing "ion" with "iron".
You mean the AA 1.5-1.8V Li-FeS2 cells? Not rechargable.
Not really havn't done enough research to know whats what but I found this article and amazon link with some rechargeable Lithium-Ion batteries. It doesn't seem widespread enough for me and its expensive.
I will give the Li-Fe cells a try as well but would like to cut down on waste even if it means less runtime.
So … what's wrong with Ni-MH if you are ok with less runtime :S
I still have some old Radio Shack Nickel Cadmium from Dick Smith; C and Ds.
You might take a punt with the 'smart' Lii-100 charger mentioned previously?
Aren't Ni-Cd subject to the same charge regime as Ni-MH?
Your rechargeable C's might just squeeze in - if NOT >26mm wide?
D's might be just a C cell within a D shell - check the mAh capacity.
Container D shells being inexpensive - some allowing for multiple AAs IIRC!
Ni-Cd might even have certain advantages over Ni-MH - more robust, with greater punch; although lower mAh capacity, & with toxic disposal problems.
Still a STABLE 1.2[5] voltage, offering gutsy output!
The Ni-Cd have not had an awful lot of use over the last 20 years, as not had much need for Cs and Ds. All these rechargeable batteries were primarily purchased for toys, but needed long recharging times especially as they got older. They work fine for torches and trains etc. but not so good for those power hungry robo-raptors type toys (which use at least 6!). Some toys cost me a small fortune for high energy batteries and then did not last that long. I have never had any issues with rechargeable batteries leaking like some of the regular batteries did, but I don't like them left in toys if not being used for some time.
Not sure but I don't think Ni-Cd and Ni-MH can use the same chargers. Our chargers only fit the particular batteries I have, so cannot be changed over anyway, or test that theory.
All the batteries seem to run down when not being used. I'd always prefer to charge them before bagging them so ready for next use, but you'd swear others were leaving empties in the bag too!
"Not sure but I don't think Ni-Cd and Ni-MH can use the same chargers."
I believe Ni-MH is simply an advance on Ni-Cd.
Initially offering higher capacity (mAh) without the toxic disposal problem.
[My Ni-MH chargers generally including Ni-Cd - tho CONSUMER Ni-Cd cells seem to be dying out.]
"All the batteries seem to run down when not being used."
Advances in Ni-MH have led to increasing capacity (cf Ni-Cd); & now Low Self Discharge!!
You might burn $6 on the Lii-100 & test charge a Ni-Cd C cell.
Likely identifying as 1.2V Ni-MH.
Charging at the maximum 1A might only take a few hours - my 2,000mAh AA LSD eneloops fully recharging in under 3 hours.
Rechargeables can be refreshed by full charging followed by a complete discharge, then repeating this cycle several times to regain maximum capacity.
Check the Lii-100 specifications, then perhaps try refreshing your aged Ni-Cd C cells?
Alternatively go the C/D shell path incorporating LSD Ni-MH AA cells.
SONY C/D shells being relatively expensive compared to alternatives - but don't buy too cheap.
I would be interested in your experience should you choose to reinvigorate the aged cells :-)
Cleaning up battery contacts also helps.
BTW IIRC were the voltage of any rechargeable cell too low to charge, it can be bumped up by connecting it to a [fully] charged cell by placing a coin in contact with both bases, & another atop the positive terminals.
With the two cells in parallel current flowing from the higher charged cell, in an attempt to equalise.
@TetchyToo: Sorry for delay in responding. The Radio Shack batteries and charger have not been in use for years but look fine; still boxed. Not so sure how I would discharge them now.
(Perhaps the "Robo Raptor" son has somewhere … that would drain batteries super fast … and really needed the blue batteries to run well. Was great toy but expensive to run).
Kind of sounds a tad risky placing a coin between charging batteries.
and a work headlight
The different voltages of different battery types usually make it difficult to substitute one battery type for another.
However there are cases when it can be done, if you carefully choose the battery. For example, if you have a headlight that takes two AA batteries, you could substitute one 14500 (AA-size) LiFePO4 battery, and one "dummy" AA battery (basically it's an empty battery with a wire joining the positive and negative terminals). LiFePO4 batteries are 3.65V when freshly charged and stay at 3.2V over most of the discharge curve, so it's not too different to the 3.0V you would get from fresh Alkaline batteries, or the 3.4V you would get from fresh lithium (non-rechargeable) batteries.
However you won't be getting longer battery life this way, one AA-size LiFePO4 battery has substantially lower total energy than two AA-size Alkalines or NiMh batteries. You will get lower weight though, which could be important for a headlight.
Normal Li-ion batteries are very similar in voltage range to three NiMh batteries in series, both are 4.2V when freshly charged and are considered flat at 3.3V. But to get equivalent or better capacity, you'll have to use a "block"-shaped Li-ion battery, and find a way to attach it to the battery terminals, and find a way to hold it in the battery compartment.
Why wouldn't you just go for the IKEA Ladda's (2450mAh) for $0.08 more which are rebagded Eneloop Pro's?
Only advantage here is that Bunnings is (mostly) easier to get to. The charger is worthless.
this, and make the most of your batteries with a semi decent charger - like the LiitoKala Lii-500 Analysing Battery Charger which has been as low US$11.33 (on aliexpress with cashrewards)
Dumb chargers are useful for fully drained batteries that smart chargers sometimes can’t charge.
True, but really it's not like you'd need to do that very often at all. Can't say I've ever needed to, apart from other rechargeables which weren't Eneloop/LADDA/Turnigy's but pretty sure they were dead anyway.
So do these batteries work with eneloop smart chargers? And how do these batteries compare to say eneloop batteries or even ones sold by Aldi or ikea,ikea being the most awkward place to get from being its location but Aldi one almost in every corner and possibly eb games too.
Eneloop batteries seem to be harder to get these days or at least expensive.
I have not purchased either ikea or Aldi ones as yet but how do prices compare to these ones. I take there is no option for aaa ones either.
Anyone have one of this(Fenix ARE-C1+ Smart Battery Charger), any good? Smart charger with LED display. currently for good price at Geelong (ViC), Not sure shipping cost.
https://www.ledtorchshop.com.au/fenix-are-c1-smart-battery-c…
I'm new to the rechargeable battery game. All I really need them for is my Logitech Universal Remote. I also might use a couple in my Xbox 360 wireless controller.
If I buy an affordable smart charger, what should I get? This one or something else?
Can highly recommend the Liitokala chargers - I use the Lii-202 with my eneloops and it does a great job if you're happy with 2 slots. $8.51 from here.
Is the charger that comes with Eneloop smart charger?
If not, will I damage the batteries over time due to overcharging?
Some eneloop chargers are smart, some just keep charging. The 'dumb' chargers will reduce the lifespan (they keep dumping current into the fully-charged batteries which all becomes heat).
Thought those remotes and controllers use only very little power such that normally a set of standard alkaline batteries would last for weeks or even months? I would have thought that rechargeables are more economical and appropriate for more power hungry appliances like cameras, cordless phones, etc?
The remote I have has a backlit LCD screen so uses more power than most. Cheap batteries only last a few weeks sometimes and when you hit a button the remote dies due to the extra draw of the IR blast.
I'm new to the rechargeable battery game.
Member Since 26/10/2012 - Please hand in your Ozbargain membership.
@WatchNerd: Haha. I don't go through many batteries and I used to have a supply of free batteries from a previous job.
If you dont need it right away, and you dont need to charge Li-on batteries, Aldi sells a smart charger for 15 or 20 bucks which allows you to charge up to 8 batteries at once and takes all sizes from AAA to D and even 9V. Also have a USB port and lcd display which shows state of charge as a percentage. Was so hard to beat at 15 bucks that they actually raised the price to 20 later
If people are against gun deals because they can be used to kill things, should we ban deals from Bunnings because they sell things that kill too?
Did you see the news about a man killing 3 men with a pencil in a bar.
Can you believe it?
With a freaken pencil!
He Wicked them away real fast!
Charger back to $9.92 :)
Will this charge Eneloops;-)