Proper Batteries and Charger

#1

Hi Experts,

I have a personal grievance with rechargeable batteries and the chargers made available to the common consumer (such as me).

I never know how long I can trust the batteries and chargers are flimsy, plasticky and neither reliable or trustworthy.

Is there a way to do better? I think @lewisss you mentioned a source for pro batteries and I wonder you or others also might know a more reliable charging station to recharge multiple batteries and types at the same time, see the progress, stop-charge-when-full etc.

Any advice for great brands or shops where to look would be highly appreciated. :vulcan_salute:

#2

Eneloop pro batteries are great including charger. I’ve used them for few years with no problems.

Recently i’ve started using ikea rechargeable batteries and they work well. Also super cheap compared to eneloop

1 Like
#3

There is also a theory that the IKEA ones are actually just (or were at some point) rebadged Eneloops - https://gizmodo.com/are-ikeas-7-rechargeable-batteries-actually-pricey-ene-1823204061

1 Like
#4

Yes i read that ( and that was the reason why i tested them the first time)… So far they are good

#5

I got a ‘Watts Clever’ alkaline battery recharger which does AA and AAA batteries. It works quite well on most alkalines. I use it for batteries for low drain things like remotes, clocks, wireless keyboard etc. Cheapy Panasonic batteries from the poundshop recharge well. It also recharges rechargeables. +1 for Eneloops - though ones from Amazon can be counterfeit. I’d go for IKEA ones now they have collection points.

1 Like
#6

I love the idea of this thing. Just fill it up (ignoring polarity!) and it’ll sort out the bad ones and dump charged ones into a hopper.

https://www.olightstore.com/ostation-x-super-charger?srsltid=AfmBOorcrsUifPzbf7dLbbUHzk95BbVHJZTuGW0zLfDqyK_qPULCqNda

The (very successful) kickstarter just ended though so no chance of buying one till next year sometime.

1 Like
#7

This looks great, the lockers we use at work are battery powered and take 4x AA batteries every 1-5 years depending on use, almost 1000 batteries that we need to charge and use.

#8

Presumably talking NiMH: cells in series can result in one of them being discharged to a very low voltage before the device stops working. Cells can also grow dendrites causing them to discharge to nothing. In both cases a “smart” charger will not charge them. Either use a dumb charger to recover the voltage slightly, or briefly put the cell in parallel with a charged one, which will also blow out dendrites. Another method is to discharge a large capacitor through the cell.

1 Like
#9

Yep https://www.vapcelltech.com/h-pd-20.html
This is the one I use, and highly recommend, I charge at minimum 4x 18650 Lithium ion a day plus the usual nimh had this one over a year and has not skipped a beat!

I tend to go through chargers fairly quickly this one has been the best one i have used so far!

Sold outOn here at the moment

I have had the xtar dragon which went pop in just over a year.
The nitecore ones are also highly rated

#10

Plus one for eneloop. The thing I like about them is they hold their charge really well while not in use. The trade off is their voltage is a tiny bit lower.

#11

For my work I use tons of AA rechargeables and I use mainly Ikea ones now. I have something like 60 Ikea ones and 30 Eneloop and both keep charge quite well.
As charger I use this model, made by many different brands:
AA charger, first choice

With a push if a button it discharge batteries to cycle them fully, and also check the quality status, giving an error when batteries are at the end of life.
Another option is this one:
Battery charger option 2

1 Like