Eneloop charger

[cckw]

I read through a bunch of threads on chargers, but the answer I am looking for has eluded me as if a game of 3 card Monte.

The charger that comes with eneloops (MQNO6U) If I use it through the life of eneloops rather then getting a Maha C9000, What is the difference in the battery charge, and battery life?

Also, same question regarding this charger but Energizer regular rechargeable.

[newbie icon]

 

[65535]

A quality charger that can cycle the batteries is always a plus, they say NiMH doesn't have memory, but I've always gotten better performance from ANY battery that is fully cycled when charged.

My recommendation for rechargable batteries is as follows.

Cycle new or questionable batteries 5 times at a modest charge and discharge rate .3C is good for charge .5C for discharge.

That will take a few days, isn't totally necessary, but good to break them in in a controlled environment, or to refresh them.

Use the charged cells until they wear down in the device. Discharge on the charger (make sure battery voltage never goes below 0.9V for NiMH/NiCd, as that is the point of damage.)

Charge cells and repeat.

A good NiMH/NiCd charger can charge just about any NiMH NiCd cell that fits the charger.

By fully cycling and using modest charge rates never more than 1C will yield the best battery life.

Those stock chargers impress me in no way at all.

 

[cckw]

OK, I get your point, although I wish I had quotable info on what the battery performance difference is. I did order the C9000 for me.

I have another question. One of my lady friends has some eneloops I gave her. She charges them in her energizer charger that came with a bunch of batteries.... Should I give her an Eneloop charger to use in place of the energizer? or are they basically the same?

 

[brted]

I have another question. One of my lady friends has some eneloops I gave her. She charges them in her energizer charger that came with a bunch of batteries.... Should I give her an Eneloop charger to use in place of the energizer? or are they basically the same?

Some Energizer chargers just charge a battery for 8 hours regardless of how much charge is already in the battery. If that's what she has, she needs to throw it away! I don't think there are any Eneloop chargers that bad.

 

[TakeTheActive]

...The charger that comes with eneloops (MQNO6U) If I use it through the life of eneloops rather then getting a Maha C9000, What is the difference in the battery charge, and battery life?

CLICK on my Green Sig Line LINK and read about Charge Rate.

...I wish I had quotable info on what the battery performance difference is...

There are LINKs to reviews of a few CPF 'favorite' chargers in my Sig Line LINKs.

...One of my lady friends has some eneloops I gave her. She charges them in her energizer charger that came with a bunch of batteries.... Should I give her an Eneloop charger to use in place of the energizer? or are they basically the same?

Need more DETAILS!

What's the model number of the Energizer charger?

1. Smart or Dumb?
2. Charge Rate?
3. Individual channels or paired (2 cells per channel)?
4. etc...

If you're not going to use the MQN06, then...

 

[cckw]

TakeTheActive: She has the CHFCV
here is a basic pdf. http://www.robotshop.us/PDF/chfcv.pdf

I don't know how to interpret the code words on this stuff, so need some spoon feeding.

So you don't have to re-read, my question on this is: this girl has Energizers and eneloops, Should I give her an eneloop charger (MQNO6U) or is this one OK for all? etc.

 

[brted]

So you don't have to re-read, my question on this is: this girl has Energizers and eneloops, Should I give her an eneloop charger (MQNO6U) or is this one OK for all? etc.

It won't violently kill her batteries. It is a pretty slow charger, but as long as it seems to be charging about the right amount of time (not long if the batteries are mostly full, but 8-10 hours if the batteries are nearly dead) then it is probably okay. It isn't great that it charges in pairs, but the Eneloop charger does that too.

 

[Mr Happy]

I read through a bunch of threads on chargers, but the answer I am looking for has eluded me as if a game of 3 card Monte.

The charger that comes with eneloops (MQNO6U) If I use it through the life of eneloops rather then getting a Maha C9000, What is the difference in the battery charge, and battery life?

In practical terms, very little.

There are people that want to get deep into what their batteries are doing, and for them the C9000 is ideal. There are other people that just want to charge their batteries and use them, and for them the MQN06 is fine. The only limitation of the MQN06 is that you must charge batteries in sets of 2 or 4. For many devices like cameras that is not a problem. Do not be scared of any Eneloop charger.

Also, same question regarding this charger but Energizer regular rechargeable.

Same question, same answer. There are people that will tell you the MQN06 is "no good". Please feel free to ignore them.

I will tell you however that Energizer is not known for the quality of its chargers. Given a choice between an Energizer charger and an MQN06 I would take the MQN06 every time.

 

[TakeTheActive]

TakeTheActive: She has the CHFCV...

...I don't know how to interpret the code words on this stuff, so need some spoon feeding... ...Should I give her an eneloop charger (MQNO6U) or is this one OK for all? etc.

Keep reading the 'Basics' - all of a sudden, one day, it'll all just 'Click'

and you'll say to yourself "Why did I think this was all so difficult and/or confusing?" :thinking:

It won't violently kill her batteries. It is a pretty slow charger, but as long as it seems to be charging about the right amount of time (not long if the batteries are mostly full, but 8-10 hours if the batteries are nearly dead) then it is probably okay. It isn't great that it charges in pairs, but the Eneloop charger does that too.

In preparation for composing a reply to your question, I first went to my Sig Line LINKs to see if I had that charger listed. I didn't. But, I DID have the Energizer CHFC specs. So, I went to the Energizer site and got the CHFCV specs to compare them side-by-side.

What a POOR marketing strategy :shakehead (same as the Rayovac PS3 vs PS3D, which I'll discuss below):

• Both are called 'Family Charger'
• Both handle AAA / AA / C / D / 9V
• The CHFC can charge AAA / AA / C / D cells INDIVIDUALLY or in PAIRs
• The CHFCV can *ONLY*charge AAA / AA / C / D cells in PAIRs
• The CHFC can charge:
  • AA / C / D cells @ 1100mA (~0.5C for 2000mAh AA)
  • AAA cells @ 450mA (~0.5C for 800mAh AAA)
• The CHFCV charges AAA / AA / C / D cells *ONLY* @ 200mA
• The CHFC terminates by either -DeltaV or Max Time (varies by # and size of cells)
• The CHFCV terminates *ONLY* by 'Timer Control' (the details of which are not given) :shrug:
• Energizer Family Charger (CHFC) Datasheet - PDF
• Energizer Family Charger (CHFCV) Datasheet - PDF

So here's a possible scenario for 'Mary':

• Mary has several Eneloop 2000mAh AA cells, at varying states of discharge, sitting in a 'To-Be-Charged' box. Some are at:
  • 1800mAh - just slightly discharged
  • 1500mAh - 25% discharged
  • 1000mAh - 50% discharged
  • 0500mAh - 75% discharged
  • 0002mAh - fully discharged
  .
• If she puts them all into the CHFCV Charger at the SAME time, they SHOULD terminate at DIFFERENT times ('a' first, 'e' last)
  • If they do, GREAT! :thumbsup:
  • If they don't, BAD! :thumbsdow

Here's an assignment for YOU! Grab 4 vibrant Eneloop 2000mAh AA cells and do an 'Experiment' :tinfoil: :

• Run a BREAK-IN @ 2000mA on your C9000 and write down the Capacities reported. Based on each cell reporting EXACTLY 2000mAh, adjust the numbers below accordingly:
  • Discharge cell #1 @ 1000mA for 0200mAh (to ~1800mAh)
  • Discharge cell #2 @ 1000mA for 0500mAh (to ~1500mAh)
  • Discharge cell #3 @ 1000mA for 1000mAh (to ~1000mAh)
  • Discharge cell #4 @ 1000mA for 1998mAh (to ~0002mAh)
• Insert all 4 cells into the CHFCV Charger and start a Charge Cycle, noting the START Time.
• Note the STOP Time for *EACH* cell.
• Report back here with the results.

P.S. Sorry for the delay in replying to your question. I'm in the process of attempting to repair a semi-broken but MUCH NEWER laptop that was recently given to me so I was 'occupied'. (I currently use a Toshiba 550CDT - Pentium266, 166MB RAM, 4GB HDD, w/Win98SE. I was given a Gateway M305CRV - Celeron 2.5GHz, 512MB RAM, 30GB HDD, w/WinXP Home. It was 'owned-and-maintained' by a teenager so both USB ports are DEMOLISHED, the DC IN plug is intermittent and the Power ON/OFF button needs to be 'persuaded' for several seconds before the laptop will turn on. But, I'm still excited over it! ) I would estimate that I spent ~2 hours today composing this post. I hope that you, and future 'Newbies' get some benefit from it's contents.

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With all of these recent visits to the Amazon site reading the latest La Crosse BC-9009 'Meltdown' Reports, I came across this post from 'NLee the Engineer' (Jan 2, 2010 @ 10:42 AM PST):

Previously, I have used the Amazon: Rayovac Universal Battery Charger for Rechargeable AA, AAA, C, D, and 9-Volt Batteries (PS3)' and liked it very much. It is a smart charger with 4 individual charging channels, and it can handle rechargable alkaline cells in addition to the usual NiMH and NiCd cells.

When Amazon started selling the PS3D under the same product page in Sept 2009, I thought it is the same PS3 because at that time, the Amazon product photo still shows the old PS3 charger, and the official Rayovac web site only mentions PS3. By now, the Amazon photo has been changed to a different charger, but the product description is still refering to the old PS3.

The PS3D is a very poor charger compared to the PS3 (the 'D' appears to stand for DUMB). Please see this excellent review by Domenico Perrella for the differences: Amazon: Warning! The PS20/PS3D is not the same as the PS3

Even stranger thing is, the Rayovac web site still only shows the PS3 and not PS3D. It's almost like Rayovac doesn't want us to know just how poor the PS3D is.

If you are ordeing the PS3 based on high prasies from reviewers like me, but received the PS3D instead, you should returned it to Amazon for a full refund. On the reason for return section, you should check out "item delivered is different from product description".

Reference: Amazon: Warning: The new Rayovac PS3D is a DUMB charger

Since I bought my:

• Rayovac PS23-B (?? 2004 ??)
• RadioShack 23-428 (?? 2005 ??)
• La Crosse BC-900 (Dec 2006)
• Maha MH-C9000 (Dec 2008)
• Sanyo MQN06 (May 2009)
• Duracell CEF23 (Oct 2009)

I find little use for my old chargers, like my Rayovac PS1 and PS3. I use them for 'Experiments' (i.e. Test for how well batteries suit your charger) and for 'Heating Up' High Internal Resistance cells to lower their 'Impedance Check Voltage' so that the C9000 will accept them. Otherwise, I generally view them as "Cookers" :devil:.

Bottom Line: Manufacturing NEW, but lower capability / quality chargers, and then marketing them to the General Public under the same, or very similar, NAME and/or MODEL is a disservice.

 

[cckw]

OK, I'll do the test. We 99% expect it to show it's a sucky charger, just doing this to make it 100%, right? It will be a few weeks, getting ready for a 10 day trip.

 

[Apollo Cree]

I like slow chargers, even dumb trickle chargers if they're slow enough.

Use a charger designed for the type of batteries you have.

Use one that will trickle charge after it thinks the batteries are full. If practical, let it trickle charge overnight after it shuts off. Don't leave it on the trickle charger for really long times. If you occasionally forget and leave it on trickle charge for even a week or two, it's not a big deal.

If you have a device that uses batteries in series, such as a flashlight that uses 4 batteries, be careful to not run it down too far, especially if it's been a while since you charged the batteries.

Try to use the batteries in groups. For instance, keep 4 batteries from one pack together. Always use the batteries together in a device that uses 4 batteries. Charge them together. Run the same 4 batteries in your 4 cell device at the same time.

Do occasionally let the batteries run down at least 25% or so of their full charge, but don't worry about the "memory effect."

When you have problems with a particular battery, run it through one or two charge/discharge cycles. If it's not working OK, throw it away. You can play a lot of games with bringing it back from the grave, but it may well die on you again soon at the most inopportune moment.

You'll probably get 80% or higher of your maximum optimal battery use from your batteries this way.

If you want to squeeze more performance out of your batteries, by all means buy the fancy chargers, play with fancy charge/discharge cycles, etc. Just decide whether you're doing the battery maintenance as a hobby or Obsessive Compulsive Disorder activity, or if you're just looking for the best compromise of cost and time. Is the small benefit of the sport of extreme battery maintenance worth the time and money you spend?

If you're not really using that many batteries, is it really worth the time it takes? As someone pointed out the other day, do you really care if the batteries will hold a charge for 3 years without charging if you always charge them every month anyway?

OK, I'll admit it. I like to do some OCD battery activities too. I do sometimes spend more time playing with my batteries more than it's really worth. I was planning to buy the Lacrosse 9009 charger and do a lot of playing until all the reports of meltdowns.

By the way, I'm talking NiCd/NiMH. Lithiums are a different beast altogether.

 

[Mr Happy]

I was planning to buy the Maha 9000 charger and do a lot of playing until all the reports of meltdowns.

The Maha C9000 doesn't have any reports of meltdowns. It is very solid and robust, and if it happens to malfunction Maha will replace it without question.

You are thinking of the LaCrosse BC-9009, which is a different animal...

 

[Apollo Cree]

The Maha C9000 doesn't have any reports of meltdowns. It is very solid and robust, and if it happens to malfunction Maha will replace it without question.

You are thinking of the LaCrosse BC-9009, which is a different animal...

Thanks.

 

[Apollo Cree]

The Maha C9000 doesn't have any reports of meltdowns. It is very solid and robust, and if it happens to malfunction Maha will replace it without question.

You are thinking of the LaCrosse BC-9009, which is a different animal...

Gee, thanks buddy. Now I've got to go buy a Maha C9000.

No wait, that's a good thing.

Seriously, I had mixed lacross, powerex, and maha in my mind.