IKEA STENKOL Battery Charger $10 In-Store (Delivery/C&C Extra) @ IKEA

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• Thrifty Dan on 27/03/2022 - 10:48 Comment score below threshold.
  • 

    Chandler on 28/03/2022 - 08:53

    Out of curiosity, why were rechargables not suitable for your use case?

• 

  godofpizza on 27/03/2022 - 10:52

  -1

  wowy, 8h to recharge AA/HR6 2450mAh.
  Doesn't anyone use the Varta 15 minitute chargers anymore?

  • 

    perfeksionitst on 27/03/2022 - 10:56

    +7

    Fast chargers are really bad for the batteries

    • 

      godofpizza on 27/03/2022 - 11:08

      +1

      i recently replaced my varta batteries after 10 years of heavy use. happy to take that over waiting 8 hours for 4 batteries to recharge.

      • 

        Look Up on 27/03/2022 - 11:16

        Is this your charger - https://www.conrad.com/p/varta-ultra-fast-15-minute-aa-aaa-b… ?

        4A for 3-4 batteries and 8A (!) for 1-2 batteries. Impressive if the original Varta batteries lasted 10 years AND maintained anything similar to their original capacity

        • 

          godofpizza on 27/03/2022 - 12:12

          @Look Up: it's an older model from early 2000's look simliar to this:

          https://mail.sgcamerastore.com/varta-15-minute-ultra-fast-ch…

          I have 3 of these chargers going when i needed heaps of batteries for camera flashes for weddings.

          so about 24 batteries recharged and ready within the hour. i only got rid of them when the labels and the batteries themselves were falling apart. Ready well made and well worth the extra dollars.

    • 

      furyou on 27/03/2022 - 20:09

      yeah, maybe
      maybe everyone else says 1C is fine for batteries and do it for every other type of rechargeable, even ones that cost more than the $2 AA ones.

  • 

    Look Up on 27/03/2022 - 11:09

    This IKEA charger looks like a "time share" model similar to previous Nitecore chargers. Charging 4x AA 2450mAh in 8 hours = 306mAh. The manual has output at 0.35A @ 1.5V = 525mAh so about 200mAh is being switched away either for safety or heat management.

    In any case, charging AA Eneloops or Laddas at 300-500mAh is very safe and will preserve the recharge cycles of the batteries

    • 

      [Deactivated] on 27/03/2022 - 11:12

      +1

      It also looks like a “slot-share”!
      Because it’ll probably hog the adjacent slots on the power board

• 

  shiny1 on 27/03/2022 - 11:40

  Anyone know of this will fit 14500 size batteries? My eneloop charger won't fit them.

  • 

    wwwsam on 27/03/2022 - 12:59

    +1

    14500 batteries are generally li-ion chemistry.
    Don't stick them into chargers targetting NiMH, it could be potentially dangerous.
    Heck you shouldnt be handling 14500 batteries if you're trying to stick them in NiMH chargers.

    That said though 14500 are similar size as AA so should fit…

• 

  Averell on 27/03/2022 - 12:01

  +1

  Is this better than the one comes from the popular Panasonic bundle?
  Thanks

  • 

    Russ on 27/03/2022 - 13:21

    +2

    Yes, it's better, but not really good. The Panasonic charger most often listed on OzBargain is a dumb charger, it has a fixed 10-hour charging cycle, and will definitely damage your batteries over time.

    This charger has -dV/dt charge termination, which is much better. However its charging currents are problematic. The -dV/dt effect is very difficult to detect if the charge takes much more than three hours, and also your batteries can be damaged by overheating if the charge is significantly less than two hours.

    So to achieve a 2-3 hour charge cycle, for maximum battery longevity with this charger I recommend:

    • When charging AAA batteries, always charge 3 or 4 at the same time

    • For ~2000mAh AA batteries, charge 1-3 batteries at the same time

    • For ~2500mAh batteries, charge 1 or 2 at the same time.

    If you were referring to the 2-hour Panasonic charger, that charger is better than this one.

    EDIT: my recommendations were based on the currents listed in the deal, but I just downloaded the manual from the link in the deal and it says 700mA maximum charge current? Something is fishy here, don't buy until the disparity is cleared up.

  • 

    Edamamme on 27/03/2022 - 13:32

    Would like to know also

  • 

    Russ on 28/03/2022 - 12:31

    I see the deal has been updated, the listed charging currents now agree with the charger's manual.

    Based on the updated figures, this charger will treat AAA and ~2000mAh AA batteries nice if you are charging one or two batteries at a time. Charging more than that reduces the charge current into "difficult to detect full charge" territory, so there's a danger of damaging your batteries by overcharging. Perhaps buy two of these chargers if you want to charge three or four batteries at a time? And write a note in permanent marker on each unit, not to charge more than two batteries at a time.

    For ~2500mAh AA batteries, this charger has too low a charging current, not recommended.

    • 

      epic on 13/04/2022 - 18:47

      On the charger itself it is specified:

      STENKOL Type E2020
      Output 350mA x4 AA, 200mA x4 AAA

      It is not continuous current. For AA I measure 1.5A+ pulses regardless of the number of charged batteries. At this high current "Charge is terminated by individual minus or zero delta voltage detection (-dV/dT or 0dV/dT)" in a reliable way.

      • 

        Russ on 13/04/2022 - 19:56

        That sounds promising, possibly it's using a modified version of the Nitecore charging algorithm. My concern is that Ikea are just a marketplace for some of their products, and they just repeat what their seller has told them, and it isn't always true.

        The easy test to see if it is a smart charger is to fully charge a battery, let it cool down for half an hour or so, and put it back into the charger. The best chargers stop charging in ten minutes or less. Some smart chargers take up to 30 minutes, but do stop charging before the battery gets hot.

        The more difficult test is to charge a single battery from flat, and feel the battery's temperature just after the charger reports "full". Warm is expected, but if the battery is so hot you can't hold it inside your fist, the charger is damaging your batteries.

        • 

          epic on 14/04/2022 - 09:51

          @Russ: It passes the test. 4 cold fully charged AA Eneloops re-recharge for only 30+/-1 min.

          • 

            Russ on 15/04/2022 - 11:45

            @epic: That's quite slow, so the "battery full" detection is probably struggling. Which isn't surprising, given the low charging current. But, if the batteries didn't overheat, then you should get close to the rated cycle life of the batteries.

            When charging one or two batteries at a time, with the charging current doubled, hopefully the charger will detect "full" in half the time or less.

            • 

              epic on 16/04/2022 - 11:21

              @Russ: The charging current is not low and the fully charged Eneloops still get 1.5A+ pulses. I will hook it up to an oscilloscope later but here are approximate charging parameters:

              • charge cycle 1Hz
              • duty cycle variable from 50% to 25% depending on the number of batteries

              Hence 1.5A+ pulse with 25% duty cycle is equivalent to 350mA per battery for 4x AA, exactly as specified. If it was "linear" 350mA then reliable -dV/dT or 0dV/dT would be questionable indeed.

              • 

                Russ on 16/04/2022 - 13:35

                @epic: When I say "slow", I'm comparing it to the Liitokala Lii-500 that I use. It also pulses the charging current, but at much higher duty cycle, about 85%, and it appears the charge current does not go fully to zero between pulses.

                With a peak charge current of 1000mA, detects full battery in less than 4 minutes.

                With a peak charge current of 300mA, detects full battery in 21 minutes.

                Oscilloscope traces on this page, see the captures labeled "Liitokala Lii-500 1000mA full (eneloop) #1" and "Liitokala Lii-500 300mA full (eneloop) #1" about half-way down the webpage: https://lygte-info.dk/review/Review%20Charger%20LiitoKala%20…

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  RiseAndRuin on 27/03/2022 - 13:36

  FWIW I've been using this for about 20 years now (EU plug though), and my parents have one as well, never had a single issue https://www.topline.ie/tools-hardware/hardware/batteries/bat…

  The current version looks like this https://www.amazon.com.au/Energizer-Recharge-Universal-Recha…

• 

  Russ on 27/03/2022 - 13:38

  OP, where did you get the charging currents listed in the deal? The manual says different, 700mA is the highest charging current.

• 

  hmac on 27/03/2022 - 13:51

  I was waiting for this for months, it was on their website in the ads and available overseas, but too late now, bought the Fast Panasonic one instead

• 

  Sirajs on 27/03/2022 - 16:31

  Is there any deal with eneloop AA's?