Looking after eneloops guide?

[FlyingDragonz]

As the title, I'm trying to find a basic guide on looking after eneloops and similar chemistry base batteries.
I've looked around but nothing definitive I have found for my scenario, unless you can direct me.

I have varying gens of sanyo eneloops and some Ikea sets (I believe sanyo/panasonic pro versions?).
I'm a photographer and use them in my speed/flash lights, which is high drain.
I charge tens of packs in 4 lots, all labeled so each set charges the same amount of cycles.

My question is about charging and testing. Week to week, somestimes I don't use all the packs for an event, but will then charge them all up ready for next event.
Am I harming them when they were only charged a few weeks ago but not used and I top them up again? I do this only to get maximum use for high drain, but also may not get used then get charged up weeks later.
Is there any maintenance I should do, like a refresh schedule? (2nd gen eneloops onward)
Can someone also direct me to a way to accurately and quickly test the capacity, ideally a portable solution, if available.

Appreciate any guidence

 

[snakebite]

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[louie]

Welcome to CPF, FlyingDragonz!
Personally, I don't do anything on my Eneloops, but I am lazy and don't have many mission-critical uses. I have dozens for many years and have had no failures. I keep a few things in mind:

Use a good charger that does not charge too fast and terminates reliably. A 1 ampere charge current is popular for AA Eneloops.

I don't worry about partial charging at all. If I want to make sure a cell is topped off, I just charge it. I have no facts on whether this has some negative effect, but anecdotally it does not.

I also label batches of cells so I have some idea of my groups of cells and their age. It helps identify a suspect cell. I don't go so far as to serial number each cell.

A ZTS battery tester gives a rough idea of the charge in a battery; the small ones are portable and handy. Note that it only looks at voltage with a known load.

I don't bother with refreshes and capacity testing very often - too many cells and the tests take many hours. I would only do it on suspect cells.

Did you check out the sticky thread by member ChibiM in this forum? He also has a website dedicated to Eneloops.

Overview: All eneloop batteries; 2005-2021

Eneloop overview 2005-2023 In February 2017 I started building a website about eneloop batteries called eneloop101.com to get all the information about eneloop batteries , an eneloop charger list and in 1 spot. There is lots of information including pdf product sheets, pdf eneloop catalogs...

www.candlepowerforums.com

 

[xxo]

Topping up partially discharged NiMH cells is fine, in fact it is good for them. What you want to avoid is over-discharging, especially if you are not able to charge them right away.

You do need a good smart charger that charges each cell individually to maximize the life of the cells. Avoid fast chargers if possible as they will shorten the life of your cells. For eneloops, I like the BQ CC17 charger, it is slow but very dependable and seems to maximize cell life.

 

[FlyingDragonz]

Welcome to CPF, FlyingDragonz!
Personally, I don't do anything on my Eneloops, but I am lazy and don't have many mission-critical uses. I have dozens for many years and have had no failures. I keep a few things in mind:

Use a good charger that does not charge too fast and terminates reliably. A 1 ampere charge current is popular for AA Eneloops.

I don't worry about partial charging at all. If I want to make sure a cell is topped off, I just charge it. I have no facts on whether this has some negative effect, but anecdotally it does not.

I also label batches of cells so I have some idea of my groups of cells and their age. It helps identify a suspect cell. I don't go so far as to serial number each cell.

A ZTS battery tester gives a rough idea of the charge in a battery; the small ones are portable and handy. Note that it only looks at voltage with a known load.

I don't bother with refreshes and capacity testing very often - too many cells and the tests take many hours. I would only do it on suspect cells.

Did you check out the sticky thread by member ChibiM in this forum? He also has a website dedicated to Eneloops.

Overview: All eneloop batteries; 2005-2021

Eneloop overview 2005-2023 In February 2017 I started building a website about eneloop batteries called eneloop101.com to get all the information about eneloop batteries , an eneloop charger list and in 1 spot. There is lots of information including pdf product sheets, pdf eneloop catalogs...

www.candlepowerforums.com

Topping up partially discharged NiMH cells is fine, in fact it is good for them. What you want to avoid is over-discharging, especially if you are not able to charge them right away.

You do need a good smart charger that charges each cell individually to maximize the life of the cells. Avoid fast chargers if possible as they will shorten the life of your cells. For eneloops, I like the BQ CC17 charger, it is slow but very dependable and seems to maximize cell life.

Thanks for the welcome, apologies for the late reply.
Thanks for the advice, I've never done refresh cycles on eneloops, but seem to be holding up fine so far (6 years).
I did use to do them on non LSD batteries, as they would have issues with holding a good amount of the stated current over constant cycles. As said though, those refreshes can take a while. I did contemplate doing a refresh cycle on my Eneloops now, I have 40 batteries, may take a while.

I've got a Zanflare C4 charger, with max 1amp charge current, though I rarely use it and tend to stick to 700mah.
As you've pointed out, not too high is best, so I'm hoping I've been doing it right.
Prior this charger I had a La Crosse BC700, but unfortunately ceased to function after several years.
I got the Zanflare C4 due to good reviews, fair price and its ability to charge up to 18650 cells, which I use in flashlights and other projects, which I salvage from laptop batteries.

Theres some really good information by ChibiM, thanks for the link.
I'll investigate the ZTS battery tester.

Really apprecite this invaluable advice.