Test/review of Charger Panasonic BQ-CC55

[vBDKv]

As always, thanks for the great review!
I recently picked up this charger and so far it has worked great, however after I tried with 4 batteries, issues occured. After 4 hours I thought maybe I should check the temperature because they were all on yellow. One battery was too hot to touch, the other 3 were pretty warm as well. I measured the first battery (the left one) with a temp gun and it came out at 55c, the rest were about 50c. I then checked the Eneloop website, and they state that Eneloop (White) batteries can sometimes reach up to 50c when charging, so I aborted the charge as the first battery was close to 56c now. I'm somewhat reluctant to try again with this charger in fear of starting a fire lol. It has charged all my AAA batteries, some of my Fujitsu and Eneloop Pro's without a hitch, but I only charged 2 or 3 at a time. First time I tried with 4 batteries is where the 55c issue cropped up.

Not sure if this is an upgrade from the CC17 that I used previously if it will get batteries that high in temp. :huh:

 

[tokaji]

I got this charger today. It is indeed a bit critical with my old batteries But my old batteries are nowhere near to their rated 1800 cycles.

 

[GoGoris]

Is it safe to charge 2 Eneloop Lite's with this charger or is this not recommended because of the high charge current (over 1C)?

 

[radellaf]

Just got one of these and don't think I'll use it regularly because I haven't had a charger get this hot since the old Maha C401FS on fast mode (1A). The graphs here show it staying under 40-45C, but it routinely heats things up to 50-55C. That may be within spec but it's much hotter than they need to get. Like the 401, the 55 is probably OK if you have a fan blowing on it. Shame you can't select the 3-4 battery rate with only 1 or 2 batteries in it. Maybe if you start with 3 and then remove one? Probably not.

I'll stick to the SkyRC MC3000 for routine use. Stays nice and cool (under 40, at 800mA). Honestly, I prefer the 550mA Eneloop brand chargers like the MDR02 or CC16 to either the 330mA CC17 or the CC55. 750mA should be fine, but maybe it's a bit much for an un-cooled charger with no space between cells.

 

[andy999]

Just got one of these and don't think I'll use it regularly because I haven't had a charger get this hot since the old Maha C401FS on fast mode (1A). The graphs here show it staying under 40-45C, but it routinely heats things up to 50-55C. That may be within spec but it's much hotter than they need to get. Like the 401, the 55 is probably OK if you have a fan blowing on it. Shame you can't select the 3-4 battery rate with only 1 or 2 batteries in it. Maybe if you start with 3 and then remove one? Probably not.

I'll stick to the SkyRC MC3000 for routine use. Stays nice and cool (under 40, at 800mA). Honestly, I prefer the 550mA Eneloop brand chargers like the MDR02 or CC16 to either the 330mA CC17 or the CC55. 750mA should be fine, but maybe it's a bit much for an un-cooled charger with no space between cells.

what will be the best charger for enellop nimh batteries 1900mah. quite fast but safe and good for battery life. maybe with revive battery option and very expensive, im not pro electrician, just one to rechrge battey for xbox.

 

[PartyPete]

what will be the best charger for enellop nimh batteries 1900mah. quite fast but safe and good for battery life. maybe with revive battery option and very expensive, im not pro electrician, just one to rechrge battey for xbox.

I use Eneloops frequently for my Xbox controllers as well. There's plenty of good chargers out there. I use a Zanflare C4 analyzing charger for most everything.

 

[bob_ninja]

I did get it even though I am not a fan of fast chargers. However, it is super rare that I actually have to charge completely depleted batteries. Using all 4 slots I found heat to be fine. I really appreciate the 3 level indication for each channel.

I haven't actually tried 2 cells and full speed since it is rare that I am in such a rush. I do also have the older slow 300ma version which I also use albeit that one can take a very long time for a set of 4 cells, so it is convenient to be able to charge a set in 1-2 hrs. Having 3 level indication also allows me to decide if a cell is almost full and I don't need to go to 100% or it is really empty and needs to charge.

I don't think that the heat is going to be a problem since it would occur only when:
1) cells are mostly depleted
2) charging only 2 next to each other
3) summer warm ambient temps

This set of conditions is pretty rare. In that case I would place it in colder basement and use outer channels 1 and 4. I could even plug it in garage in winter at freezing temps and heat issues are gone.

In general I am charging all 4 so 750ma rate is perfectly fine.

 

[bcwang]

I had picked up a BQ-CC85 in Japan last year. It looks to be the same overall design and charge rate as this BQ-CC55 reviewed here. It seems to have been introduced more recently but I have no idea what's different about it. Does anyone have any ideas or had compared the two chargers and knows how they differ at all?

 

[vBDKv]

Grabbed the Varta LCD Multi Charger+, it's just wayyyy better. It charges every single battery that I have.
8 bays of individual charging
Display so you can check progress
Conditioning mode for older cells

I may buy another one as I have to charge 40+ batteries per week