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Eneloop Quick Battery Charger with 4 x AA Eneloop Pro Rechargeable Batteries $59.99
https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B07BLL9Q7G
Eneloop Smart And Quick Battery Charger + 4 AA batteries $55
https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B077PLTNGK
CamelCamelCamel.
It's fine if you're happy to wait overnight for your batteries to charge. Otherwise you'll want the fast charger.
I think it's overnight and it also doesn't "stop" charging like a smart charger does. So you want to pull them out as soon as they are finished full charge otherwise you damage the batteries more quickly.
But I could be wrong about the Panasonic ones. Maybe they run on a timer to avoid damaging batteries, but still if it's timer based as your batteries get older and have less capacity they will start to overcharge them as well.
The basic charger requires you to charge batteries in pairs… which is a pain a whole lot more often than I expected.
Not really. Returned mine because iirc it's a timed charger. Got the IKEA one instead.
IKEA ones any good? Do they need to be taken off the charger? How fast do they charge?
All the current Ikea chargers are dumb chargers, which will permanently damage your batteries, dramatically reducing the number of charge cycles you get from the batteries.
Ikea give me the impression that they have no idea what they are selling, they just regurgitate whatever the manufacturer tells them. Several times they have claimed to sell smart chargers, when in reality they weren't. Only once did they actually sell a true smart charger, and that was years ago.
With very few exceptions, here's how you can tell if a charger is a smart charger that will treat your batteries nicely:
Mine works perfect.
According to the manual it features:
• 4 charging slots. Connected batteries are charged individually.
• Charge is terminated by individual minus or zero delta voltage detection (-dV/dT or 0dV/dT).
• Safety by separate safety timer and temperature sensors.
• Non-rechargeable and damaged batteries detection.
• Charging status with 2 colour LED indicator for each slot.
https://www.ikea.com/au/en/manuals/stenkol-battery-charger__…
It's not the greatest or most feature rich but it's unbeatable for the price. Plus it has all the essential features.
Dv/dt charge termination
Individually senses the batteries (no need to pair)
Apparently it's optimised for the ladda batteries (enloop clones), but considering they're excellent that's fine
All available for $10
Again, extremely hard to get anything near this at this pricepoint. Would a more expensive charger be a little kinder to my batteries? Probably, but the added cost of a more expensive charger is unlikely to worth the added cost.
@Ezuku: -dV/dT detection doesn't work if the charge takes longer than four hours, so Ikea shouldn't be claiming it. That leaves only the timer to shut off charging, so it's actually a dumb charger, and will damage your batteries.
Reference quote:
It is difficult, if not impossible, to slow charge a NiMH battery. At a C rate of 0.1C to 0.3C, the voltage and temperature profiles do not exhibit defined characteristics to trigger full-charge detection, and the charger must depend on a timer.
From https://batteryuniversity.com/article/bu-408-charging-nickel…
0.1C means a 10-hour charge, 0.3C means a 3.33-hour charge.
There is a page that explains it better on BatteryUniversity, explaining how the -dV/dT effect gets smaller and smaller the longer the charge takes, but I can't find it at the moment.
Note also that they're not implying that a charge rate of 0.1C (10-hour charge) or slower will work on a smart charger, it's just that it's rare to find a charger that charges slower, so they didn't consider it.
@Russ: The datasheet for STENKOL, both in the example charging times, and doing the maths on the charge current per cell and capacity, reveals charge rates far in excess of 0.1 C (750mAh AAA cell is 0.54 C), the typical limit for dumb charger, and charge times below 4 hours for all but the highest capacity batteries (2-2.5 hours for 750mAh AAA)
@allewell: Unless they've changed the design since the last time a Stenkol deal was listed, I refer you to my previous detailed answer: https://www.ozbargain.com.au/comment/11934649/redir
Also, the numbers you have listed don't agree with what is written on the back of the charger.
@Russ: It seems the 4 cell figures match. In any case, assertions that this is not a smart charger are incorrect. Other ozbargainers are quoting you in other deals. This is a fantastic charger for the price
It seems the 4 cell figures match.
You gave 0.54C for 750mAh AAA batteries. Four AAA batteries charge at 200mA, so the "C" rate is 200/750=0.267, within the 0.1C to 0.3C danger range.
For 2000mAh AA batteries like standard eneloops, the "C" rate is 350/2000=0.175, and for 2400mAh batteries it's even worse.
Had Ikea sold the Stenkol charger as a two-battery charger, it would have been a half-decent charger. As a four-battery charger it's claims are deceiving. While it apparently does have -dV/dT detection, it works so poorly that the charger is still likely to damage your batteries, the very thing a "smart" charger is supposed to prevent.
I did over-claim when I said "All the current Ikea chargers are dumb chargers", it would be more accurate to say "Most Ikea chargers are dumb chargers, and the rest are hardly any different to dumb chargers".
The smart charger was $32 in June, possibly lower historically.
Where from?
What do you mean where from? You were commenting in the last deal. https://www.ozbargain.com.au/product/eneloop-smart-quick-cha…
If it helps anyone the smart and quick charger with 4x AA batteries is $36 (C&C) at TGGC (I think $5 delivery otherwise).
Hey mate yep sure it's this:
https://www.thegoodguyscommercial.com.au/eneloop-aaaaa-quick…
Just note that this is through The Good Guys Commercial. The link you put above is for the standard 'The Good Guys' retailer.
Is the main benefit with these that they're environmentally friendly? You can get an 18 pack of alkaline batteries for $6.50 or 24 pack zinc batteries for $5.50 at kmart
It’s cheaper in the long run too.
And you don't have to shop for batteries on a regular basis.
And one of the most overlooked advantages: if you forget and leave NiMh batteries in something for a couple of years, they don't melt down. Can't do that with non-rechargeable batteries.
Is the basic battery charger any good?