Question about eneloop

Do u guys drain it all the way first or just charge them up before u go even if it still has somr charge? I dont have the high end charger that drains it first before charging. Im just using the supplied charger.

Also while im asking, whats the concensus about the best charger out there? I noticed that a fully discharge eneloop takes around 10hrs to charge with the supplied charger. I read somewhere that the slower the charging the better. So a better charger which you could adjust the MAH charging per hour so I can charge faster would lower the battery life? Also if I do get one of those chargers that you could adjust the output, what charging rate would be best for these kind of battery, or doesmit depend on brand or mah of the battery?

Thanks for the help guys.

The La Crosse chargers are well regarded but the stock Eneloop charger is just fine. You don't need to do a full discharge, just charge and go. What you don't want to do is use one of those 15 minute rechargers (i.e. energizer etc...).

Oh ok. So no need to discharge, just charge and go. But wouldnt that affect the battery life? Like a memory something? Sorry, cant recall what they call it. Lol.

The Eneloops don't have that issue. You can recharge when you need to.

Thanks a lot for the replies. Theres nothing better than being confident with your gear. And theres no place better to learn your gear than here!!! Love this place!!!

I just goota add this question, since this is the my first time charging eneloop since I bought it. When I charge it, if I forgot to take it out when its done or if I let it trickle charge for 2 more hours, is that ok? How about i drained the battery then i go to charge it, lets say its 50% done but i need to go so i unplug it then plug it back in when i come home, is that ok too? Thanks guys.

NiMH batteries don't have the memory effect like the Nicads did.

Thomas Distributing sells the Maha MH-C801D charger which from what I read is one of the best out there for charging up AA and AAA batteries.

It will refurbish older batteries and charge them back up to about 96% capacity. And it will charge up to 8 batteries at one time.

You can set it up to charge in one hour (fast charge) or two hours (soft charge). Heat is generated inside the batteries when you charge them too fast. Charge them over a longer period of time at a lower amperage and they will last longer. It's a trade off to charge them faster than one hour. Time to charge vs durability of the batteries.

The Maha MH-C204W will charge up to 4 batteries at one time and can bring back bad batteries from what I read. I ordered two of these the other day and hope they work as advertised. I ordered one of the Maha MH-C801D too.

I have a lot of the energizers that vary from 1850 mAh to 2500 mAh in capacity. I also have 8 Foxpro NiMH batteries.

I have about 16 of the Duracell Pe-charged 2000 mAh NiMH batteries too.

I have been using two different Duracell Chargers and two different Energizer Battery Chargers for all my NiMH batteries and I think that by using the 15 min charger I may have damaged some of my batteries in the process of heating them up too much.

Some of them won't charge up in the 15 min charger anymore. But if I discharge them inside a flashlight for a while and then try to put them in the 4 hour Duracell chargers they will charge back up.

I got the new chargers ordered in order to help reshape the older batteries by running them though a charge discharge and charge cycle.

In the past I used some SKC portable pumps that used 6 to 8 nicad betteries inside the battery packs. I had a SKC charger that would charge 4 batteriey packs at a time. I would set them up to charge, discharge and recharge and then stay on a trickle charge overnight. This helped to prevent any memory effect that the NiCads were said to develop. The NIMH batteries don't have this problem but you can run them down too far and then they may reverse polarity somehow and go bad.

La Crosse BC-900 is also said to work well.

Do a google search for the Maha MH-C891D battery charger and read about them. I found out about them on a hunting web site. Hunters use these AA batteries for their electronic game callers and this guy started a good thread about batteries and battery chargers.

If you have a lot of money invested in these rechargable AA batteries then it may behove you to take care of them by using a good charger.

Remember that the NiMH batteries will discharge at about 1% a day and need to be charged back up once every month or two. You don't want them to fully discharge while sitting on the shelf.

musashi wrote in post #11654072
Oh ok. So no need to discharge, just charge and go. But wouldnt that affect the battery life? Like a memory something? Sorry, cant recall what they call it. Lol.

Wow! Thanks for going in-depth with your answers. I was only hoping to get a yes or no answer, but with your explanation, I feel more knowlegeable now compared to when I asked the question. Your answer is highly valued and greatly appreciated. Thanks!

A good source for batter cell and charger info is the Thomas Distributingsite. I have 2 of the MH-C204F and the LaCrosse BC-9000. The Maha chargers work well, the LaCrosse is nice in that it has all the bells and whistles. The read outs are probably over kill but gadget nuts like me enjoy it. You wont go wrong with either one.

I've never had any Eneloops, but my Imedions and PowerEx cells have all done well over the last couple of years. The nice thing about the Maha-C204F is that it has a 12v adapter for charging in the car. The C204F is a great value if you ask me.

I actually have three of the MH-C204Fs, but accidentally fried the A/C adapter while on a trip to Brazil. They don't mark those 220 outlets in the hotel very well (ouch!!!). It wasn't work the cost to buy a new adapter, so I use it with one of the 12v adapters when needed.

PS, another charger that I like is the Delkin DD/DUC, a bit pricey initially, but the extra plates aren't too bad. I mainly have to charge pairs of BP-511s and hope to get a AA charger plate in the mail today. This setup makes for a good travel kit. I would just take the charger and the plates.

I can charge two of the BP-511s at a time and then squeeze in a set of 4AA I hope. I don't use much flash on road trips so being able to charge 4AAs at a time should be good.

The spare set of 4 AA Eneloops for my Flash have not been used for quite some time so I thought I should test them. I trickle charged them and then tested their capacity on my Schultz Chameleon charger/discharger, capacity 400 mah! I then put them through the automatic 3 x charge/discharge cycle twice and the now have 1800 mah (they only had a 1900 capacity when new) - no memory effect?
I have another 3 sets of 4 cells, one is being cycled as we speak!