MeidokonWiki:

This is about Low Self-Discharge rechargeable NiMH batteries. Eneloops are the gold standard (as you can see on OzBargain) but you'll find identical or similar products from other brands. Well known examples are Aldi's Activ Energy products, and Ikea's Ladda cells which may or may not be made in the same factories.

Copying in some notes because it's a pain in the arse to look up.

Cell types

Earlier models were made by Sanyo, before Panasonic bought them out.

Cell type

Minimum Capacity (mAh)

AA Eneloop BK-3MCCE

1900

AA Eneloop Pro

?

AA Panasonic Evolta BK-3HLD

2550

AA Aldi Activ Energy

2500

AA Lite

?

AAA

?

AAA Sanyo Eneloop XX HR-4UWXB

900

AAA Panasonic Evolta BK-4HLD

950

AAA Lite

?

AAA Aldi Activ Energy

900

Chargers

Information on the Smart and Quick Charger comes from here: http://main.panasonic-eneloop.eu/sites/default/files/4_BQ-CC55.pdf

Smart and Quick: BQ-CC55

Interestingly, my black JP-plug charger quotes very slightly lower charging currents, 750mA for AA cells and 275mA for AAA cells. The AU-plug white charger that I bought locally says 800mA (3.2A total) and 300mA (1.2A total) respectively.

Status lights

LED status

Battery status

Red

< 20% charged

Yellow

20-80% charged

Green

> 80% charged

Off

100% charged (./)

Blinking yellow

Battery replacement recommended

Blinking red

Invalid batteries (ie. non-rechargeable) inserted

Charging times

Battery capacity

Charging time 1-2 cells

Charging time 3-4 cells

AA 2400 – 2550 mAh

2 hours

4 hours

AA 1900 – 2000 mAh

1.5 hours

3 hours

AA 950 – 1000 mAh

0.75 hours

1.5 hours

AAA 900 – 950 mAh

2 hours

4 hours

AAA 750 – 800 mAh

1.5 hours

3 hours

AAA 550 – 650 mAh

1.25 hours

2.5 hours

Model numbers

The Smart and Quick charger is the one you want because it doesn't suck. Universal voltage, plugs straight into the wall, can charge any mix of AA and AAA cells, charges quickly, has good visual feedback on charging progress, and each cell is handled individually so there's no need to pair them.

The Basic charger is really crap. No smarts at all, it just supplies current to a pair of batteries for a time that is definitely enough to completely charge them, regardless of how full they are. This is not really good for the batteries, they dissipate the extra current as heat once they're full. Batteries must be charged in pairs. It is also very slow, about 10-12 hours for AA cells (there's two charging circuits so it's the same whether you charge 2 or 4 cells at once). Minimal feedback, green LED while charging and no LED when finished.

The Advanced charger is noted as being slow and smart. It can charge single cells, and terminates automatically once the charging is complete. Charging a AA cell should take about 6 hours I think.

MeidokonWiki: EneloopBatteryCellsAndChargers (last edited 2018-04-02 16:56:19 by furinkan)