Spec me a battery charger for AAs, AAAs, Eneloops and others

Timber said:
That said I only have one thing in the house that officially don't recommend rechargeables; a Hive thermostat. Although you can definitely get away with using NiMH. Most other things; toys, remotes, controllers etc. seem fine with NiMH 1.2v cells.
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DarkBahamut said:
The thing about VR controllers needing 1.5 V is like an old wives tale. I'm 99.9% convinced it's people with no electronics understanding just seeing a bigger number and therefore more volts = better.
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A charger that would tell me how much charge was left when I change nimh (or cycles them) would be good, to see if they are fine.

I have an led torch, honeywell thermostat, braun raser, that don't work well with nimh.

Kentli rechargeable aa/aaa Lion seems a brilliant idea (recessed ring near+ for recharge), an adapter to put these in a regular Lion charger would be good
KENTLI 8pcs 1.5v aa aaa batteries Rechargeable Li-ion Li-polymer Lithium battery + 4 slots AA AAA lithium li-ion Smart Charger
seems they hold 60% charge afte a year, an apparently real [email protected] in AA would be OK
 
jpaul said:
A charger that would tell me how much charge was left when I change nimh (or cycles them) would be good, to see if they are fine.

I have an led torch, honeywell thermostat, braun raser, that don't work well with nimh.

Kentli rechargeable aa/aaa Lion seems a brilliant idea (recessed ring near+ for recharge), an adapter to put these in a regular Lion charger would be good
KENTLI 8pcs 1.5v aa aaa batteries Rechargeable Li-ion Li-polymer Lithium battery + 4 slots AA AAA lithium li-ion Smart Charger
seems they hold 60% charge afte a year, an apparently real [email protected] in AA would be OK
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Ah OK, thank you for the reply. I realised my calculations may have been wrong earlier as you divide the mWh by the voltage (1.5 in this case). So these are comparable to a standard Eneloop although they don't seem to last quite as long, but more like 80-90%. That said it sounds like sometimes they do have 3.7v batteries and hence why I may have read what someone explaining you divide by 3.7 as I first did.

I can see that Project Farm Youtube channel did a run down of Lithium batteries, although very US focused. I'd be tempted to get the ones which have micro USB ports on, rather than having to have another charger, but that just me. I can see why you might want them, as mentioned I only really have the Hive thermostat and for that normal alkaline run for 12-months so I'm not sure it's worth investing (also I've way to much on chargers, storage and batteries recently!). Also seems you shed some weight with Lithium cells which might make them useful as well.

Re: testing remaining capacity, I would do that on my Opus using a discharge cycle (Opus can test, refresh and discharge). I just read the 1.3v from a multi meter which isn't indicative of much on the NiMH cell.
 
Kautya said:
+1 for this. Also allows you to test batteries and discharge/recharge them. YC5000 and YC6000 support other types of batteries as well but are more expensive.
I am also using the EBL 8 bay (that does AA and AAA batteries).
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Yeah I agree, being able to see the measured capacity is useful to get an idea of a cell's health. I have an old BL700 for AA/AAA and if I was buying again today it would probably be the YC4000
 
hornetstinger said:
I had that, but the contact points aren't pointy enough
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I have got some pieces of partially stripped multi-conductor cable I poked intio the gaps.- flattened and tinned.

Timber said:
I'd be tempted to get the ones which have micro USB ports on, rather than having to have another charger, but that just me.
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my concern with the micro usb, are the potentially reduced reliability from the extra internal charging electronics, and, even the connector itself,
(charging requires some regulation no, or, is even pulsed ? I don'rt recall)
you can get a 4 slot container that enables their usb charging. https://www.aliexpress.com/item/33026798425.html ..
so feek/we could abandon chargers.
 
jpaul said:
I have got some pieces of partially stripped multi-conductor cable I poked intio the gaps.- flattened and tinned.


my concern with the micro usb, are the potentially reduced reliability from the extra internal charging electronics, and, even the connector itself,
(charging requires some regulation no, or, is even pulsed ? I don'rt recall)
you can get a 4 slot container that enables their usb charging. https://www.aliexpress.com/item/33026798425.html ..
so feek/we could abandon chargers.
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I just returned it, you shouldn't have to do things like that. I went for the VC4 charger instead
 
jpaul said:
my concern with the micro usb, are the potentially reduced reliability from the extra internal charging electronics, and, even the connector itself,
(charging requires some regulation no, or, is even pulsed ? I don'rt recall)
you can get a 4 slot container that enables their usb charging. https://www.aliexpress.com/item/33026798425.html ..
so feek/we could abandon chargers.
Click to expand...

Fair point. My hunch is that the chargers for these Li-Ion rechargeables look quite cheap and given these cells have some converter or chip built in, to convert from 3.7v to 1.5v that it may be OK. Certainly makes the micro USB ones a bit more portable. But yes micro USB isn't always the most robust connector.
 
Went for the vc4s too.
For 18 quid and usb power I thought it was best bet.

I'm gradually trying to move everything to usb.

S not L I think
 
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Nudging this thread

I'm in the dark here - realised my bicycle, smart brand, lights need 1.5V AA rechargeable cells and they are significantly less bright on 1.2V Nimh's I have been using for years
I still haven't invested in Li-ion AA/AAA rechargeables - with potential taxes on aliexpress import - anyone else invested in them though ?


Timber said:
Fair point. My hunch is that the chargers for these Li-Ion rechargeables look quite cheap and given these cells have some converter or chip built in, to convert from 3.7v to 1.5v that it may be OK. Certainly makes the micro USB ones a bit more portable. But yes micro USB isn't always the most robust connector.
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Didn't realised anyone even bothered with AA lithiums, the trend has actually being increasing in size from 18650 to 21700 and 26650.
 
I actually lost my old AA charger a year ago and been looking for a new one, the vc4 plus (usb-c) seem to be the one to go for I think.

Edit - just went for it. Will retire my spare Eneloop charger that I’ve had for years which takes forever.
 
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Energize said:
Didn't realised anyone even bothered with AA lithiums, the trend has actually being increasing in size from 18650 to 21700 and 26650.
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currently buying maybe 20 aa/aaa batteries a year for clocks/smoke alarm/torches/remotes, some use nimh
but Amazon don't seem to bless any brands of Li-ion AA/AAA rechargeable - just 3rd party sellers
 
jpaul said:
anyone else invested in them though ?
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No, although I did buy some cheap Li-ion 9V PP3 cells but that was more I needed something for that single-use as PP3 batteries can be quite expensive.

Energize said:
Didn't realised anyone even bothered with AA lithiums, the trend has actually being increasing in size from 18650 to 21700 and 26650.
Click to expand...

I think the AA/AAA is so ubiquitous, that it's hard not to have something that uses them still even if more devices than ever have their own rechargeable built-in. Between kids toys, videogame controllers and remotes we have a need for about 40-60 at any one time.
 
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