Need a basic advanced AA charger

Hello

It's time I joined the 21st century and got some decent i.e. Eneloop batteries and a suitable charger to replace my old Uniross/Duracell ones and collection of dumb chargers. Having done some research I've concluded that a budget advanced charger would be best for my needs, by that I mean one with individual cell charging (not in pairs) and negative delta V which stops charging completely when the cells are fully charged. So far I've found two which look suitable: This one http://www.batterylogic.co.uk/BL-500-Chipmunk-intelligent-battery-charger.asp and the Panasonic BQ-CC17. The Battery Logic one looks perfect but the Panasonic has a lower charge current which is better for the cells, plus I'm not a 'heavy' user so overnight charging is fine. However it looks like the Panasonic charger is not available in the UK and I can't find any online here so it might mean buying one from overseas and using an adapter. Can anybody recommend either of these chargers and have I overlooked any others that would be suitable?

Thanks
Richard

I'm a big fan of the BQ-CC17. I've used it as my main charger since getting it last year. I actually just bought a second one to have as a backup.

forget both and buy ikea ladda, you can't get any better for 10-12 euros, depending of location...it is almost the same as any bq charger but cheaper...

http://lygte-info.dk/review/Review Charger Ikea Ladda YH-990BF UK.html

percentage said:

I'm a big fan of the BQ-CC17. I've used it as my main charger since getting it last year. I actually just bought a second one to have as a backup.

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I second this recommendation. But if you can not get it then that does not help much. Don't know anything about the IKea one but if what they said is true and you can get it in Eu then sounds like it fits the bill for you.

Cekid said:

forget both and buy ikea ladda, you can't get any better for 10-12 euros, depending of location...it is almost the same as any bq charger but cheaper...

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In the instructions for the Ladda it gives the charging current as "Output range: AA 1.2Vx4 1000mA AAA 1.2Vx4 500mA" which is rather vague. Does this mean if you charge a single AA cell it will push 1000mA through it? Is this 1000mA shared equally across all AA cells being charged? The BQ-CC17 charges all cells at 300mA no matter how many are being charged.

I'm on the fence with the BQ-CC17. I have two. When the Costco by me first started selling eneloops those chargers were included, at the time it was the only way they sold the batteries. 300mAh for AA'a and 150mAh for AAA'a is not enough current IMHO.


HKJ did a review of the ikea http://lygte-info.dk/review/Review Charger Ikea Ladda YH-990BF UK.htmlur


IMHO 1000mAh for AA'a and 500mAh for AAA'a are the sweet spots.


Do you have devices that use multiple AA's? If so you might want to consider a charger that can also tests capacity in order to balance the cells. Equal capacity cells in the same device is optimal. It will never be perfect but knowing the true cap will help a lot.


There are a lot of options out there. I think it would help a lot if we knew your budget also.


Welcome to the board.

Hi there, I really like my Panasonic BQ-CC55. The color indicators are nice and I'm pretty sure HKJ gave it a pretty good rating. I have new cells so it should be good for a while.

I have a BQ-CC55 in the house as well, but I think it charges a little too fast, and I'm wary of the top-off charge for LSD cells.

Thanks for all your replies. The batteries are mainly for my digital camera as well as torches, radios and one or two other things. I think I'll go for the BQ-CC17 which comes with 4 eneloop AA cells. It's a bit more expensive as I'll have to get it from overseas but it seems the best budget charger with a more gentle charging current.