Got this price drop alert thanks to camelcamelcamel. Cheaper than the most recent deal and only $1 more expensive than TGG Commercial.
CamelCamelCamel.
I've got a 15 year old duracell charger. Still seems to work fine but any gurus out there know how long a charger will last? is it forever?
how long a charger will last? is it forever?
Not forever. In such devices, the electrolytic capacitors are the parts with the lowest rated lifetime. Most electrolytic capacitors have a life of 1000 hours at rated maximum temperature, and the usual maximum temperature rating is 70 Celsius. When the capacitors are run below rated temperature, their life typically doubles for every 10 degrees below maximum rated temperature.
So it very much depends on how hot the charger gets in the inside, and how long it stays at that temperature. Not easy to tell.
If the designers/makers of the charger wanted to, they could give it a very long life. Industrial-rating electrolytic capacitors have a maximum temperature of 105 Celsius, and automotive-rating have 125 Celsius. You can also get a further extension of life by using capacitors rated for a higher voltage than is needed. But the things that extend life make the capacitors more expensive, so you don't normally see them in consumer-market products.
If your charger is sitting in your drawer, it's life is at least a decade. But you've got to plug it in every couple of years and let it "warm up", because when electrolytic capacitors stay unused they start to degrade faster. They can be "reformed" back to close to their original characteristics, but not with stuff you're likely to have at home. See here for a little more info: https://hydrogenaud.io/index.php?topic=71369.0
Wow, thanks for the detailed response. Think I'll stick with it for now. Its not fast but that generally isnt a problem
Need a charger for my Xbox controller. No idea what brands or types are best. Is this decent?
Yes, definitely one of ozbargain favourite.
I'd buy one where you can charge and play at the same time.
I wouldn't. They all have about 1/5th the capacity and swapping some AA's takes a second.
I bought a dock and 2 battery packs from ebgames a few months ago for $15 seems to work alright.
Could I grab a link to the one you got please?
Is there any advantage to having an Eneloop charger if you already have an Ikea charger, but mostly use Eneloops instead of Laddas?
I'm going to guess the Ikea charger is a slow charger, so it won't be very fast at charging your batteries compared to this one. Otherwise, no real difference.
if you already have an Ikea charger
Most of the Ikea chargers are dumb chargers, even some of the ones that claimed to be a smart charger.
If your Ikea charger will charge the batteries from flat in 1.5 to 4 hours, it probably is a "real" smart charger. If it takes 10 hours or longer, it's a dumb charger in reality, and has probably damaged your batteries already.
This charger is a smart charger, it will treat your batteries nicely, unless you have low-capacity batteries like the tan-coloured Ladda batteries. Those might be charged too quickly, resulting in damage.
Also, if your Ikea charger only has a single LED to indicate full charge, this charger is better as it has four LEDs - one for each battery bay.
if anyone has Good Guys Commercial access, these are currently selling for $31
imo, worth spending an extra $1 but get free delivery if you don’t have a TGG nearby
Thanks Op. Got one
Can anyone explain to a laymen like me, the difference between these and the pro version
👀
This is not pro and the other one is pro.
"Eneloop Pro battery has a higher capacity than the regular Eneloop with 2500mAh vs. 1900mAh. The Pro can be charged up to 500 times while the regular Eneloop up to 2100 times. The PRO batteries can provide more current than the regular Eneloops."
https://eneloop101.com/batteries/eneloop-pro/#:~:text=The%20….
I've got this charger and it's good. Using a mix of Eneloops, Eneloop Pros and Laddas, for household devices and a toddler's toys. Bright and clear lights tell you what's going on with the charging, and it switches itself off when the batteries are full (which is pretty soon because it's a fast charger).
Seems like the IKEA ones might actually be superior battery. I came across this review ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0A1GvQ40j0Q )after buying "Eneloop Rechargeable Battery Charger Multi Pack, 1 x Charger + AA 8 Cells 2000mAh + AAA 4 Cells 800mAh" off Amazon last week for the price it's still listed for which is $56 with free postage for Prime users. If I had of known I probably would have just bought the charger and bought Ikea Ladda 2450's instead.
Good Youtube review vid!
Lol, yeah most OzB buy Ladda…
Do you really need this? What do you use too often or much with batteries that you would need to buy a battery charger?
Xbox controller. Wireless mouse. Doorbell. Motion sensor LED lights. Wall clock. Remote controls.
So what do you use to charge your batteries? I mean eventually batteries would run out of power at some point.
I buy batteries in bulk from Amazon and just replace them when they die. Much more convenient than having to keep things charged.
this.
How's the environment holding up with that convenience?
You don’t have children. If you did you wouldn’t be asking this question. Every god damn toy uses them - I run an Opus BT-C3100 24x7 just to keep the peace….
Some might argue the peace comes when the batteries run out 🙂, but otherwise agree
i take the batteries out of the new toys so they never know
Laddas will take 5hrs to charge 4 at a time. Why is this called fast? What's a slow charger?
"Dumb" chargers, also known as timer-based chargers, usually take 10-16 hours to charge the batteries, so they are considered "slow" chargers. They push a fixed amount of energy into the battery, irrespective of how much energy the battery needs to reach full charge. The excess energy turns into heat, and too much heat will permanently damage the batteries.
If the batteries are charged by a smart charger, it continuously monitors the batteries while they are being charged. When the batteries reach full charge, the charger stops charging them. So the batteries don't overheat, and you'll get a good life from them.
But the way most chargers monitor the batteries, the "dV/dT effect", diminishes dramatically if the charge cycle takes more than four hours. This charger is designed for 2000mAh batteries, sounds like you're using 2400mAh batteries if you're seeing a five-hour charging cycle. It will work, but as the "dV/dT effect" is quite small, the charger may not accurately detect the right time to stop charging, possibly resulting in some overcharging.
On the other end of the scale, charging a battery in less than 90 minutes is also risky. Charging heats batteries, charging them faster heats them more. There have been chargers that charge in as little as 15 minutes, but they monitor the battery temperature carefully to make sure it doesn't overheat. I suspect the batteries that are supplied with those chargers are specially designed to be more tolerant of overheating as well.
For other types, like RC cars, they recommend charging at 1C. Even for nimh types.
So I can get spending even 2hrs to charge, but limiting to 500ma seems just slooooooooooow? Is there real data saying we need to go so slow?
I have a charger that does 4x2200ma. I love being able to charge sets in a day, not plan out over X days if I need to charge stuff. I've used it for ~10 years and nothing has died yet. Can't get them anymore. It's probably a bit much, but sth at 4x1500ma would be what I want.
limiting to 500ma seems just slooooooooooow?
It's not actually limiting to 500mA. If you only put one or two batteries in, it charges at ~1A. But that's not the full story, it actually has a ~2A charge circuit, which it alternates between two of the battery bays. If it detects three of four batteries, the charge circuit alternates between all four battery bays, hence the apparent halving of the current.
Here's Panasonic's page for the charger in this deal, note that it equates this model with the BQ-CC55, which I believe is an older model. There are also differences in which country's mains plug is fitted.
https://www.panasonic.com/au/consumer/household/batteries/en…
Here is a good technical review of the BQ-CC55, and the last three graphs on the page show the duty cycle for 1,2,3 or 4 batteries.
https://lygte-info.dk/review/Review%20Charger%20Panasonic%20…
So it's actually a 2-hour charger for one or two AA (2000mAh) batteries, but takes twice as long if you are charging three or four batteries.
Also have a look at the thermal image of the charger - the metalwork reaches 63.7°C while charging four batteries, which is pretty toasty for electronics. This shows why they can't charge four batteries at the same current as they charge two batteries - the charger would likely overheat, or become dangerously hot and possibly melt the plastic (this actually happened with some counterfeit versions of a different charger).
RC cars, they recommend charging at 1C
Interesting, I have no experience with those. When eneloop AA batteries exceed about 60°C, the heat causes internal pressure build-up, which ruptures a small rubber seal near the positive pip, usually hidden under the cardboard disc around the positive pip. Once that has ruptured, the electrolyte in the battery will leak out, and will dry out over time. This is usually what kills eneloops and similar NiMh batteries. Are the RC battery packs too hot to hold when they have just finished charging? Or perhaps they have a small circuit board built into the battery pack, which cuts charging if the battery temperature starts to get too high?
Or it could be that the cells in RC battery packs have lower resistance than typical AA NiMh batteries. Lower resistance = less heat. So they can be charged faster without heating as much.
@Russ: RC battery packs are in series, not sure if that makes a diff. So a pack of 6 charges at 7.2v at 1C. No matter nimh or lipo. They get warm. Less than AAs.
My charger that does 4x2200ma gets warm too. No idea how much. My eneloops are working, some at 10yo. Even old 1950mah ones are fine. My 4x500ma charger also gets warm, less than the fast one.
Laddas at $10-14 I really don't care if its life goes from 100yrs to 50yrs.
Basically, Say I have a few toys, a few game controllers, I don't want to charge 2 at a time (takes same time to get 4 done anyway). 5hrs a 4pc set, really not worth it.
They get warm. Less than AAs.
Sounds like my "lower resistance" theory was correct then.
RC battery packs are in series, not sure if that makes a diff.
It does make it harder for the charger to tell when full charge has been reached. There will be small differences in the capacity of each of the batteries, due to manufacturing tolerances. Which means when they are charging, each battery will reach "full" at a slightly different time. So the charger will see several small 'peaks' instead of one larger peak.
Funs over
Seems they are price matching Bing Lee
yeah i missed the Amazon deal but have BL near work - so will prob grab one.
(balanced out the - someone decided to give ya!)
I have a bunch of AA and AAA (kid's stuff mostly), different brands (Eneloops, IKEA, ALDI, Coles), and probably different capacities and quality/rating as well.
i have been holding out for a Liitokala unit for way too long now - never seem to get a good deal on a recent(ish) model - and to be honest having been confused over everything battery and charger related, i am tired of researching :) Lii-500 or so "seems" to be a good one, and suitable for needs ..
Having said that though, long story short - this sounds like it'll be a good 'smart' unit to get.. capable of detecting charge required and only feeding each battery as much as it needs. Can mix AA+AAA across slots…
Any major whammies about why this wouldnt fit my fairly basic and straightfwd needs? I am naturally wary, dont really want to ruin batteries with a dum ole charger…
On a side note - I always look out for Russ's comments on these battery charger posts - thanks Russ for all your time and info. Always a good read!
If you want the Lii-500 inexpensively, it can be bought for about 34 AUD at the moment, if you've got a good credit card that doesn't have fees for overseas purchases in USD.
Use this deal:
https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/706544
To reduce the price of this deal:
https://m.fasttech.com/products/0/10018115/3730504-authentic…
Note it has a plugpack with US mains plug, you'll need a plug adapter.
Also have a look at this offer, only a little more if the $10 afterpay discount is used, and has an AU plugpack:
https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/255227361059
Otherwise, the charger in this deal is probably the best of the "very basic" chargers.
thanks Russ - i found this on Amazon https://www.amazon.com.au/Lii-500-Battery-Charger-Rechargeab…
local and $34 too - seems pretty good, so will prob grab it
Don't buy that one, it doesn't come with a power supply. Cheaper on AliExpress if you don't need the power supply.
It's back on back order it appears. For those who have one near by or don't mind paying shipping this deal appeared to be matching Bing Lee.
$26.40 pre covid. Sigh, the good old days