This is the fast charger not the standard one. Cheapest I could find.
Panasonic Eneloop Smart & Quick Battery Charger + 4 Eneloop AA $37 + Delivery ($0 C&C) @ The Good Guys Commercial (Members Only)
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Thunder-wolf on 08/03/2025 - 19:24 thegoodguyscommercial.com.au (1754 clicks)
Last edited 10/03/2025 - 12:17 by 2 other users
Last edited 10/03/2025 - 12:17 by 2 other users
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Concur with that, I even regret buying it. The old charger is totally reliable, but this new one is not.
Anyone know how that charger compares with Ikea's $10 charger?
https://www.ikea.com/au/en/p/stenkol-battery-charger-1050643…
It charges any type of rechargable AA or AAA batteries, not just Eneloops.
product details says it charges NiMH only though
*Suitable both for AA and AAA rechargeable NiMH batteries.
My bad. I should have said that I have 5 different brands/types of AA/AAA NiMH batteries that I use with the Stenkol: Ikea (duh), Eneloop, Eneloop Pro, NRG and Phillips.
I have this charger, and it doesn't much like Ikea's rechargeable batteries and refuses to charge a few I have (gives a solid red light error). I can sometimes trick it by using the offending battery for a few minutes then putting it back in the charger - but I figure it's a bit risky. The batteries are not old or heavily used, and don't have a problem in an older, slower, Energiser charger.
Any feedback from those who already own the Ikea $10 charger?
how that charger compares with Ikea's $10 charger?
The IKEA webpage for their STENKOL charger let's you download the manual, and it's a worrying read. The manual claims it uses -dV/dT charge termination, and also says it takes 6-8 hours to charge four batteries.
What it DOESN'T say is the -dV/dT effect gets smaller and smaller the longer the charge cycle takes. It becomes difficult to detect if the charge cycle takes longer than 3 hours, and almost impossible to detect at four hours.
This is why all "smart" chargers say they take one hour or two hours to charge, because that's the "sweet spot" is for -dV/dT detection. If you can't accurately detect -dV/dT, then you're over-charging or under-charging your batteries. Over-charging permanently damages your batteries, the capacity of the batteries will drop and continue to decline with time, even if you later switch to a better charger.
It's simple to test if a charger really is a smart charger with proper -dV/dT detection: charge some batteries fully, take them out and let them cool for 30 minutes to an hour, then put them back into the charger and attempt to charge them again.
The Liitokala Lii-500 (a proper smart charger) takes 3-4 minutes to detect the batteries are already full, and stops trying to charge them The batteries don't even get warm. Someone else on OzBargain did the same test with a STENKOL charger, and it took half an hour to detect the batteries were already full. So the IKEA charger is demonstrably much worse at detecting the batteries were already full, and overcharged them.
IKEA's manual also says "It is normal for batteries to become hot during charging and they will gradually cool down after charging". This is false, if the batteries get hot, they're damaged. If you take a just-charged battery off the charger and can't make a fist around it because it's too hot, that battery has been overcharged. At most it could be uncomfortably hot, but if your reflexes make you let go, it's too hot.
May I ask how does the Panasonic Eneloop Smart & Quick Battery Charger compare with the Liitokala Lii-500 smart charger? Are they similar or is one better than the other?
The charger in this deal is very easy to use - plug in the batteries, and wait for the lights to go green.
The Lii-500 is more technical - it has a numeric display giving a reading of how much charge has been put into each battery, and has two modes for testing battery capacity (one fast and imprecise, the other slow and accurate). It can also charge lithium-ion batteries like the 16340, 18650 and 10440 batteries.
If you have a lot of batteries, or if you use the batteries in situations where you need best performance from your batteries (e.g. you're a photographer and don't want your flash to go flat), the Lii-500 is a better choice. But you will need a tiny bit of skill to use it, as you have to manually set the charging rate, which depends of battery size and which battery chemistry.
If you use the numbers from the charger's numeric display, including running the occasional battery test, you'll be able to sort your batteries into best, suspect, and declining categories. "Best" batteries are for your camera flash or other demanding uses. Suspect are good for toys and computer mice. Declining are still good for remote controls and wall clocks.
However, if you want to buy the Lii-500, be aware that it's almost impossible to buy one with an AU plugpack, as the manufacturer doesn't make them that way. The manufacturer only makes them with EU or US plugpacks, and also sells them without a plugpack. A lot of the cheaper sellers on eBay, Amazon and AliExpress are selling the model without a plugpack, and they'll often try to deceive you that you are buying one with a plugpack.
@utsc: Actually, I should have said "wait for the lights to turn off". Green means more than 80% charged.
@Russ: Thank you. I have decided to go with the Liitokala Lii-500 as I love playing around with technical stuff as a hobby. I have good quality international plug adapters as I frequently travel to US /Canada and end up getting good deals on laptops there.
I have saved so many disposable batteries from the landfill by buying a cheap multimeter for US $5 at Ali Express
@utsc: BTW if you have any 12V (2A or higher) power adaptors with DC barrel jack - such as the ones that come with routers, they work with Lii-500.
is it normal for Energizer batteries to feel hot after charged in a Panasonic smart charger?
im concerned now and not sure what to doMost Panasonic chargers aren't smart chargers, are you sure yours is? Panasonic also sell "timer chargers", which they usually describe as "overnight" chargers, and they damage your batteries.
The other question is, how hot? If you can wrap your fingers around the hot battery, making a fist and holding the battery, it's not too hot. Humans have amazingly accurate reflexes, you will automatically drop a battery hotter than about 50 degrees. First-degree burns start at 55 degrees, this is why your reflexes make you let go.
Between 40 degrees and 50 degrees, you'll become increasingly uncomfortable holding the battery, but you won't automatically let go. This temperature is safe for the battery.
@Russ: thanks for reply,
i have done a bit of research, after initially using the litcoala (spelling) for a while, i settled on BQ-CC55,
i have a bunch of Aldi batteries, some Eneloops and maybe 2 or 4 Energizer, i notice the Eneregizer was really hot when i charged it on Friday,
didnt really check if it's too hot to handle, im not sure, it went straight to a Xbox controller, so possibly wasnt.from what you're saying, i probably should stop charging twice? i normally, after charger turns off, turn everything off and start another charge cycle, to top them up… this may be counterproductive
i probably should stop charging twice?
I'd say so. At best it does nothing, at worst it overcharges the battery.
Also, I've owned many smart chargers, and every one of them has occasionally mis-detected the "battery full" signal, and overcharged the battery resulting in a piping-hot damaged battery. You may have had such an event happen on Friday.
To avoid this from happening, I now exclusively use trickle charging on my best batteries. It's a very old and slow way of charging batteries, and you can't buy a charger that does it, nobody makes them anymore. Instead, I use a benchtop power supply with adjustable current limit.
@Russ: I've done a bit of googling, and there seems to be a variety of opinions on what "trickle charging" means. I'm using C/20 rate, and leaving the batteries on charge for 24-36 hours. I'm not leaving the batteries on continuous trickle charge, that damages batteries. Every few charge cycles, I also perform a ~1A discharge to flat, discharging each cell individually, to reduce "memory effect".
I got much of my knowledge about batteries from this website: https://batteryuniversity.com/
Their information is good, but getting a bit dated. For instance, they haven't updated their articles about NiMh batteries to include low-self-discharge NiMh batteries. However their NiMh battery charging page is still very useful, I've archived it here in case the website goes dead.
@Russ: "Memory effect" is more of a NiCad thing. It first was noticed on satellites back in the 1960s, which experienced incredibly regular charge/discharge to the same SoC (because they were orbiting the Earth).
Memory effect is called something else with NiMH and is vastly less noticeable. I've never noticed it with my cells, but then I tend to fully discharge my cells anyway.
Trickle charging is common for NiCads (e.g. ranks of walkie talkies at construction or emergency services sites can sit charging 24x7) but doesn't apply to modern (higher energy density or LSD) NiMH, even at very low rates under 1/20C:
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/projects/continuously-charging…
That link has a further link which is an interview with a Japanese Eneloop engineer who pretty much says not to trickle charge NiMH.
a Japanese Eneloop engineer who pretty much says not to trickle charge NiMH.
That's not what the eneloop engineer said, it's even quoted in the article:
- Does trickle charge damage regular eneloops? lite and pro?
Trickle charge doesn’t by itself, but continuous charge does.
As I said above, I trickle charge for 24-36 hours only.
I'm currently recovering some 800mAh AAA NiMh batteries that have dropped to around 200mAh. I have some individual AAA battery holders, each with a 2.2-ohm 5W resistor across them.
The batteries make the resistors get toasty warm for up to half an hour, and then the current drops to a few milliamps. I've had them on discharge now for several days, and every day I momentarily disconnect the batteries and test them. Within a few seconds their voltage jumps up to 1.2V. Sounds like memory effect to me!
The voltage they jump up to is gradually getting lower, by about 20mV per day. When they get to 0.8V I'll charge them again, and see how their capacity improves. It's going to take quite a while!
Also, quite a few of the supposedly "good" chargers use trickle charge to apply a top-off charge to the battery.
+1 for mentioning the Liitokala Lii-500. I've been using it as my primary charger for 9 years now.
Bought it for 15USD off AliExpress.
Even now I think it's a really good deal for what it offers.Are there any better charges that I can upgrade to? I'd like to be able to charge LiFePo4 batteries too.
I believe there are, but as my Lii-500 does everything I want, I haven't kept up with the latest chargers. Sorry!
But be aware that some Liitokala chargers are pretty poor. If you want to charge AA NiMh batteries, buy a charger that can do at least 1 Amp charging to all ports when fully loaded. For example, Lii-PD4 will charge LiFePO4, but only charges 4xAA at a little under 500mA - too slow for proper -dV/dT charge termination.
Also, be aware that newer chargers tend not to have a power supply, you're supposed to plug them into your phone charger, which hopefully can supply enough power.
@Russ: That's true. I looked at some newer Liitokala chargers and was disappointed. Their model numbers are also confusing so harder to see which is better.
Only Lii-600 seesms to be an upgrade.I'm fine with the newer USB PD power powered battery chargers - definitely nicer to have a dc barrel jack too. Cheaper to buy a PD trigger than a PD adaptor.
For lithium I guess I'd keep using my power supply in CC/CV.
I recently bought the XTAR VX4. It can do LiFePo4 batteries although I don't have any yet. I'm happy with it for my 18650s and it does everything I really want, but beware it doesn't do discharging if that's something you need. Also you'll need a type-C PD charger, although it does state a 5V 2A changer can be used in "emergencies". Any, check out some of the many reviews.
I bought mine from Amazon as it wasn't any dearer than anywhere else.
https://www.amazon.com.au/XTAR-VX4-Universal-Batteries-Capac…
@Rogerwilco: Apart from allowing additional battery types it looks like more of a side grade. I have a couple of basic XTAR chargers that I got with their 1.5V lithium batteries. They are nice for that usage but not great NiMh chargers.
From a glance it seems to have a capacity measuring function which does the discharge. Maybe it's just the charging "capacity" which still hast to discharge the battery.
I quite like the capacity measurement options lii-500 has.
If I knew which charger it was OP linked to I would look up the charger boffin tables and tell you. I don't have GG business or whatever.
Eneloop101 says it's in their top 5 chargers https://eneloop101.com/charge/eneloop-chargers/#best-eneloop…
This German guy says "This is one of the better Panasonic chargers" https://lygte-info.dk/review/Review%20Charger%20Panasonic%20…
It was nytimes top pick https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/best-rechargeable…
AAMasterRace on Reddit notes that you can charge individual batteries on it, not just in pairs like the cheaper chargers https://old.reddit.com/r/AAMasterRace/comments/yzpu3u/eneloo…
For everyone who thinks they don't have access to TGG Commercial, there's a Wiki page listing several ways to do that, one (or more) may apply to you:
https://www.ozbargain.com.au/wiki/tggc_accessMany thanks Russ. Just saw this yesterday. Was unaware. Fortunately I'm able to use this. Big price difference
Just a note, the quick charger is very finicky with older eneloop batteries and will just refuse to charge them even if they are good.