Sanyo eneloop AA batteries

My local Ritz is closing, and I picked up a pack of 4 white eneloops, and a pack of 10 glitter eneloops. The whites are rated at 2100mah, and the glitter are rated at 2000mah. Is it safe to run the 2 different ratings in the same piece of equipment? Asking more in regards to it will affect the battery life.

Also, the only NiMh charger I have is a Duracell 15 minute charger. Any problem with using a fast charger on the eneloops?

KirkS518 wrote in post #14707502
My local Ritz is closing, and I picked up a pack of 4 white eneloops, and a pack of 10 glitter eneloops. The whites are rated at 2100mah, and the glitter are rated at 2000mah. Is it safe to run the 2 different ratings in the same piece of equipment? Asking more in regards to it will affect the battery life.

Also, the only NiMh charger I have is a Duracell 15 minute charger. Any problem with using a fast charger on the eneloops?

Are you sure it's a 10 pack and not an 8 pack? And do you mind sharing what you paid for it?

No I don't think that at all. The 'all-in-one' pack of cells and charger is pitched at the mass market, the sort of person who thinks "I'll get some rechargeable batteries, do my bit for the planet. Oh, Sanyo's a good make, I'll have those and they come with a charger too. That's a good offer." The average buyer whose demands are variable, whose interest is minimal and who simply impulse buys. It's a MASSIVE market and therefore where the money is to be made.

We, on the other hand, have very specific demands and are much more technology-aware. I don't even believe that this offer is pitched at us other than in a peripheral way. Photographers are acutely aware of batteries and accumulators/rechargea​bles because of the high load we put on them with our flash/speedlite units. We could possibly benefit from the LSD features of Eneloops because of the tendency to pop equipment in a drawer, not use it for a while and then expect full, heavy duty service (and a lot of us do exactly that). The main benefit in our specialist need is the utter reliability of the cells; the charger is inconsequential because the likelihood is that it will be replaced with something more advanced. In the meantime, Sanyo have sold another charger and made another small profit. Do they care that we're going to ditch the charger? You are only allowed two guesses at the answer

Nothing wrong with the charger at all. It's worth what we pay for it; no less and no more than that. It's basic. It's adequate for 90+% of general users.

Eneloop Glitter - 8 or 10 pack? There are so many different regions globally, often with their individual packaging, that it's quite possible that both packs are available. I could even point you to a very reputable UK dealer who sells white, glitter and slate loose in quantities of 10 (no card at all) which are simply broken down from carton volumes. The global packaging industry must be laughing up their sleeves at the number of different ways they are asked to package the same product.

PS: Love the pen nib.

When you were little, were you ever afraid of "things that go bump in the night"?
If you RAM charge into a cell at that rate (what would be described as 4C) then you are quite likely to overheat your cells, maybe blow the vents and spill electrolyte, possibly (though perhaps not actually likely) even distort or blow the casing open. You will almost certainly shorten the life of any rechargeable, not just Eneloops. (But Duracell would be delighted to sell you replacement cells - SHHHH). Put it this way:

I wouldn't even put somebody else's batteries into one of these chargers, let alone any of my own. Yes, eons ago I once owned one. You could have just about fried eggs on the cells (very small eggs ) which came off it - no thermal cut-out, probably because they just knew how hot the cells would get.

Rapid chargers first appeared with very specific, "heavy duty" cells which could just about withstand the shocks imposed by the high rate of charge. Even those special 'rapid charge cells' didn't last very long. Since then we have seen a serious leap in battery capacity. One way they achieve this is by making the coiled seperator inside the cell thinner and thinner. Thinner equals more vulnerable to damage/thermal shock/distortion. Get the picture?

Can someone answer me a quick question.

I just bought 2 packages of eneloop batteries and was wondering if I should buy a good charger such as the Lacross? http://www.amazon.com …/B000RSOV50/ref​=pd_cp_e_0

I currently have a cheap duracell charger that charges 2 or 4 at a time. I don't want to ruin these batteries but running them in a cheap charger. The charger I have can be seen in the link below.
http://www.amazon.com …es-CEF14DX4/dp/B000XSBVMU

My goodness, the details about the charger in your link are a little sparse! Saying that it plugs into the wall and has floppy prongs isn't exactly brimming with technical data .
The La Crosse BC-700 is a very decent charger for the price. The instructions are somewhat overwhelming when you first look but actually it's very easy to use.
One thing to look out for: When you first plug it in, make sure that the right side of the screen flashes up with 37 - this is the firmware version. It only flashes up for about 3 seconds, but then you only ever need to see it just once. There was some debate elsewhere about the charger (not the cells) overheating and this was addressed by a software upgrade. As far as I know, this has been totally fixed w.e.f. v37 - there hasn't been a single mention of any problems since that came out. As is always the way, there may be an even later version than v37, just don't accept anything earlier than that. Here's a simulated version of how the control panel shows you the firmware version (you don't need the cells in place, this is a stock picture I doctored). The BC-700 is black, this is the BC-1000.

If it says less than 37 when you first plug in then send it back, old stock and part of the batch about which there were a few reported problems. As ever, those with problems made a lot of noise and those who were happy said nothing so we've no real way of knowing just how widespread the overheating was. Forewarned is forearmed.

Many folks swear by the Maha C-9000 which gives even more options, even more information. The advantage to my mind of the La Crosse (Technoline in Europe) BC-700 and the BC-1000 (which I use) is the size. If you travel, the Maha is about the size of a brick - the La Crosse/Technoline is much more compact and travel-friendly. Come to think of it, the Maha C-9000 is the size of a brick even if you don't travel with it.

SunTsu wrote in post #14708103
Are you sure it's a 10 pack and not an 8 pack? And do you mind sharing what you paid for it?

Oops, you're right, it's the 8=pack. Because they were closing the store (for good), they were on clearance. The 8 pack cost me $10, reg $24.99, and the 4 pack of whites I bought a week earlier, and were $12.50, reg $24.99. They are progressively increase the closeout discount.

Whortleberry wrote in post #14708355
When you were little, were you ever afraid of "things that go bump in the night"?
If you RAM charge into a cell at that rate (what would be described as 4C) then you are quite likely to overheat your cells, maybe blow the vents and spill electrolyte, possibly (though perhaps not actually likely) even distort or blow the casing open. You will almost certainly shorten the life of any rechargeable, not just Eneloops. (But Duracell would be delighted to sell you replacement cells - SHHHH). Put it this way:

I wouldn't even put somebody else's batteries into one of these chargers, let alone any of my own. Yes, eons ago I once owned one. You could have just about fried eggs on the cells (very small eggs ) which came off it - no thermal cut-out, probably because they just knew how hot the cells would get.

Rapid chargers first appeared with very specific, "heavy duty" cells which could just about withstand the shocks imposed by the high rate of charge. Even those special 'rapid charge cells' didn't last very long. Since then we have seen a serious leap in battery capacity. One way they achieve this is by making the coiled seperator inside the cell thinner and thinner. Thinner equals more vulnerable to damage/thermal shock/distortion. Get the picture?

Yeah, it's an older charger, and I never had a problem with it using the Duracells that came with it. I'll go pick up a different charger. Thanks.

Nothing wrong with 'older' things - you should see the wrinkly old guy who keeps using my equipment! Seriously, I've got a cupboard full (well, maybe half a small shelf) of older chargers. Don't know why I don't get rid of them - perhaps it's just a matter of remembering to take them to the recycling facility. Now that is a failure in older equipment.

Without going to wild extremes (eg folks whose hobby is charging things up), to my mind the value of a decent charger lies in the ability to keep an eye on how rechargeable cells are ageing. There's almost always one cell out of a set of four which turns up it's toes sooner than the other three. If I keep an eye on each one individually, I won't get caught out with a set failing when I expect them to be full of vigour. Even the age of cells doesn't seem to necessarily be a factor - I have some 9 year old Sanyo 1850s which still retain 91% of their rated capacity. But I've also had much newer cells (Uniross, which I gather you don't get in the US) which upped and died. Both reputable brands so had I not monitored them, I'd have probably got caught out. So it's worth the effort for me. Others may view things differently.

:o:o:o
Ooops. how embarrassing.
I've just had a little wander round various forums and see that I was mistaken about reports of problems with the BC-700. It was the BC-900 which was kicking up on occasion. Sorry if I inadvertently misled anyone.
:o:o:o
The info about reading the firmware version still applies to the BC-700 (and BC-1000) though.

What do you do with the three batteries when the fourth dies? Do you mix and match?

KirkS518 wrote in post #14718548
Oops, you're right, it's the 8=pack. Because they were closing the store (for good), they were on clearance. The 8 pack cost me $10, reg $24.99, and the 4 pack of whites I bought a week earlier, and were $12.50, reg $24.99. They are progressively increase the closeout discount.

Lucky you. The only place I could find that sells them is Adorama and they are charging $29.99 for the eight pack.

Basically, yes. It's likely that it'll happen again. Otherwise they go into torches (flashlights). Keeping an eye on charge capacities is mainly about ensuring I don't waste my effort carrying back-up sets which aren't up to par.

As an ongoing practice, it also enables me to make a slightly more informed, but still somewhat subjective, decision about which makes to buy, which to avoid and which are so-so. Seems a better way than "Oh, those are cheap and I've heard of them so they must be good".

Whortleberry wrote in post #14718702
:o:o:o
Ooops. how embarrassing.
I've just had a little wander round various forums and see that I was mistaken about reports of problems with the BC-700. It was the BC-900 which was kicking up on occasion. Sorry if I inadvertently misled anyone.
:o:o:o
The info about reading the firmware version still applies to the BC-700 (and BC-1000) though.

Wow, even battery chargers now have firmware these days

Another vote here for the Sanyo Eneloops and Maha C-9000 charger