NiMH rechargeables in Australia

Hi,
I'm new to this forum and from Australia - the land of Chinese made Eneloops, stupidly high retail prices, and a currently terrible exchange rate.
After lots of reading in this forum and the Australian Whirlpool forums I'm now in a state of analysis paralysis when it comes to purchasing NiMH batteries and a smart charger.

My requirements are:
8 x AAA NiMH LSDbatteries to power LED Lenser P7QC and P7.2 lights.
May purchase more batteries in the future.
Require approximately 20 to 40 minutes of runtime per Light Painting session with minimal dimming (both lights dim significantly after around 60mins runtime on Varta Longlife alkalines).
Each battery likely to only need a recharge on average every fortnight.
Smart charger, preferably with 4 separate channels.
A price that keeps the household Chief Financial Officer happy.

What I've looked at:
8 x AAA Eneloops and Panasonic [FONT=arial, sans-serif]K-KJ16MCC4TA charger - approx. AU$76 (from Megabuy) but concerned about the lower quality Chinese Eneloops that we now have in Australia. I've read the relevant thread, but are they really an issue?
[/FONT]8 x AAA Varta Precharged 800mAh and Varta LCD Charger - approx. AU$65 (from Bunnings) - but seem to have average reviews
8 x AAA Ikea Ladda Rechargeables and Charger $32 - good price and reviews!
8 x AAA Powertech 900mAh and Powertech Fast TwoHour Charger - approx. $54 from Jaycar, are they LSDs?

The Ikea seems like a no brainer, but I would welcome any input, or other ideas.

The Ikea cells are also Chinese made, but the price is so low, no one really cares about any performance or longevity deficiencies

It seems the best way to get Japanese Eneloops and the quick charger is from Japan... search "Eneloop forest" on ebay or Amazon, prices are reasonable, around $35 USD
Other way is Costco... Costco in many countries sells the same pack as what's found in USA and Canada... if this is the case, you are in luck as they are Japanese made cells!

wait for the **** Smith sales for the eneloops. The tropical ones are still in stock. The newer Panasonic eneloops, the chocolate tones, are even cheaper.

No, the jaycar ones are not lsd. They did have a range called enekeep but not worth it

The panasonic charger you listed is the same as mine BQ CC16 which i recommend, got mine at dse also on daily in shop special $39 with chinese aa eneloops. I have bought all my other japanese eneloops and a Sanyo MQR06W [ model before the pana] from there over the years.

stephenk - also from Oz, and posted on the WP thread on budget NiMHs.

As suggested, the Chinese eneloops from **** Smith on sale are still ok, not as good as the Japanese ones though. They don't have the AAAs on sale as often as they do the AAs. If you really want some Japanese NiMHs, **** Smith currently has the two packs of Fujitsu "Ready to Use" AAAs for around $5. Not the greatest deal though. The Fujitsu is made in the same FDK factory that made the Japanese Eneloops.

The Ikea Ladda LSD (make sure you get the Silver and Green ones, not the older all Green non LSD variety) are a good budget option at around $1.50 each cell for those in the eastern states. They have more capacity than the Aldi variety I tested, and are better than the Varta non-LSD rechargeables I have.

I also have the powertech 10 cell smart charger from jaycar, and have had around 20 powertech AAA that weren't LSD. For my usage cycling through 4xAAAs at a time, they lost quite a bit of capacity over time and I think in about 2 years they were gone.

The Ikea Ladda charger is a good cheap option for a battery charger. It was on special in Melbourne Ikeas for around $12 recently, but has gone up to their normal price now. You can get a cheap analysing charger like the Opus BM-100 LCD for around about $30 shipped from China/Hong Kong, the better analysing chargers will cost a bit more.

Edit: Just had a look at **** Smith and they have the 8xAAA Chocolat pack for $19.98 and the "Family Pack" with charger, and 6xAA + 4xAAAs and C+D spacers for $39.98. But it looks like the special is for 24 hours only (not sure when it started).

Thanks for all of the advice, much appreciated.

I'm still not keen on purchasing the Chinese "rebadged Evolta" Eneloops, just on principle that Panasonic are dressing (and pricing) mutton as a lamb, even if the bad reviews are somewhat limited in number.

I think I'll go for a batch Japanese AAA Eneloops from Amazon, though may get the Panasonic fast smart charger from Australia just for the Australian plug (I'll just have to put up with the 4 AAA Evoltas that come with it).

However, if I pass an Ikea before I hit Amazon...

Update - after reviewing how many alkalines the kids toys eat through, I decided to go with buying a large batch (12AA and 12AAA) of Japanese/FDK Eneloops and BQ-CC17 charger from Amazon.

Overall price was approx. 30% less than buying a similar amount of inferior Chinese/non-FDK Eneloops and BQ-CC16 charger online from within Australia (at normal prices), and 50% cheaper than buying a similar number of Duracell batteries and dumb charger from a supermarket. Aussies who don't do their research on rechargeables are getting seriously ripped off!

Thanks again for the advice in the thread!

You might still want to get a BQ-CC16 charger because it is so much faster... the CC17 is just sloooooooowwwwwwwww

stephenk said:

Aussies who don't do their research on rechargeables are getting seriously ripped off!

Click to expand...

If you drop by an Ikea soon, I just saw that this weekend, they dropped the price of the 4xAA LSD Ladda packs to $3.99 for Ikea Family members (you can signup for free instore, and use the temporary barcode they give you to get the cheaper price). The charger is at $15 for Ikea Family members. At $1/cell, it's the cheapest I've seen so far for reasonable LSD NiMHs. The average capacities of mine are slightly over 2000mAh.

Good for backups even though you've ordered the Jap Eneloops already.

Kouryu said:

You might still want to get a BQ-CC16 charger because it is so much faster... the CC17 is just sloooooooowwwwwwwww

Click to expand...

I considered the speed, but my battery usage (e.g. only using torches once a week) doesn't really justify the faster speed of the CC16.

keithy said:

If you drop by an Ikea soon, I just saw that this weekend, they dropped the price of the 4xAA LSD Ladda packs to $3.99 for Ikea Family members (you can signup for free instore, and use the temporary barcode they give you to get the cheaper price). The charger is at $15 for Ikea Family members. At $1/cell, it's the cheapest I've seen so far for reasonable LSD NiMHs. The average capacities of mine are slightly over 2000mAh.

Good for backups even though you've ordered the Jap Eneloops already.

Click to expand...

If I was passing anywhere near an Ikea over the next few weeks I would have gone down that path. Seems to be the only well priced in-store LSDs in Oz! $1/cell is pretty amazing compared to the typical $6/cell for Duracells in Coles/Woolworths. I'm sure next time I'm in Ikea I'll pick up a few packs for my lesser used electrical devices.

Bought the wrong charger.

swan said:

Bought the wrong charger.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the constructive advice.

BQ-CC17:
Very inexpensive (AU$25 with 4 AAs).
Independent charging channels.
Accurate -dv/dt termination.
Charges overnight.
Can handle "over-discharged" cells.

Suits my needs :thumbsup:

stephenk said:

Update - after reviewing how many alkalines the kids toys eat through, I decided to go with buying a large batch (12AA and 12AAA) of Japanese/FDK Eneloops and BQ-CC17 charger from Amazon.

Overall price was approx. 30% less than buying a similar amount of inferior Chinese/non-FDK Eneloops and BQ-CC16 charger online from within Australia (at normal prices), and 50% cheaper than buying a similar number of Duracell batteries and dumb charger from a supermarket. Aussies who don't do their research on rechargeables are getting seriously ripped off!

Thanks again for the advice in the thread!

Click to expand...

Congrats on the purchase! Sounds to me like you did a good job researching and chose a great product for what you need and want, and at a great price.

stephenk said:

I considered the speed, but my battery usage (e.g. only using torches once a week) doesn't really justify the faster speed of the CC16.


If I was passing anywhere near an Ikea over the next few weeks I would have gone down that path. Seems to be the only well priced in-store LSDs in Oz! $1/cell is pretty amazing compared to the typical $6/cell for Duracells in Coles/Woolworths. I'm sure next time I'm in Ikea I'll pick up a few packs for my lesser used electrical devices.

Click to expand...

stephenk said:

Thanks for the constructive advice.

BQ-CC17:
Very inexpensive (AU$25 with 4 AAs).
Independent charging channels.
Accurate -dv/dt termination.
Charges overnight.
Can handle "over-discharged" cells.

Suits my needs :thumbsup:

Click to expand...

For what it's worth, I say good on you for standing behind your choice of charger! I don't understand some folks' insistence on pushing their preferences on others...

Indeed the BQ-CC17 is one of the best cheap chargers you can buy... there's hardly anything else that matches its capabilities for the price
I prefer something faster, but that's just me

Just looking at the options here, the Ikea Ladda Charger looks like a pretty good budget option. According to the PDF manual it charges AAs at 1000mA and AAAs at 500mA with -dV termination.

I already have a C9000 so don't need this right now but it looks like an OK device.

Apart from the slow charging of the BQ-CC17, I'm not a fan of chargers with a fixed plug. ie. That have to be plugged directly into the socket. It always seems that you end up taking up both plugs on a double outlet due to the extra width and they are useless for power points mounted low on skirting boards.
The Ikea charger comes with a regular AC two-pin plug lead which allow you to use it pretty much anywhere.

Not trying to push my ideas onto you - but I'd certainly consider the Ikea unit if you ever find yourself needing another charger.

Also agree about the Chinese Eneloops. I'd rather just buy much cheaper cells like the Laddas since DSE started flogging the Chinese ones at the same "deal" prices they used to sell the Jap ones for. It's the principle. Luckily, I have a pretty good stockpile of Japanese Eneloops for my own use.

Trevtrain said:

Just looking at the options here, the Ikea Ladda Charger looks like a pretty good budget option. According to the PDF manual it charges AAs at 1000mA and AAAs at 500mA with -dV termination.

Click to expand...

Definitely. I forgot to link HKJ's review of it here: http://lygte-info.dk/review/Review Charger Ikea Ladda YH-990BF UK.html

I've recommended this to people who want a budget charger and buying locally - charing at 1A with independent charging channels. And with the special prices at $12 just recently, and the current special of $15 for those in the eastern states, I reckon it's good deal.

I like the pull out prong style plug chargers when travelling - it means you don't forgot to bring another cable. But I've also found that I can't use my lower power sockets or double power sockets as you said, as the charger blocks the other socket, so inevitably, I also use an angled plug point double adapter when using the pullout prongs.

I don't see this problem when using US style sockets
it's pretty obvious to me the Sanyo and Panasonic chargers were originally designed for US style sockets in mind as the Euro, UK and Aussie/Chinese style adapters were an afterthought!