Sanyo Eneloops + "Fast" chargers

[ccurrie]

I bought some Eneloop rechargeables thinking they'd be great to run in my robot due to their low discharge nature. After all, I don't play with it everyday, so these batteries should be more efficient overall. But what I didn't think about was whether they'd play nice with my recharger, which is an 8.3A (max) "fast" recharger.

Does anyone have experience with these batteries? Can they handle that much recharging current?

 

[erosennin]

Well it seems from the Sanyo Website that they are 2Ah.

If your charger could accept four of these batteries, then they would charge at approximately 1C. Which is okay if your recharger has inbuilt temperature sensing, voltage detection etc. etc. to ensure that your batteries do not overheat/overcharge/die.

Personally, I wouldn't put less than 4 of them in your charger, "just incase".

 

[ccurrie]

I should have mentioned the type: it's a Duracell 15 minute charger. Here's an Amazon link:

https://www.amazon.com/Duracell-15-...1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1195330163&sr=8-1

I can't find any real technical details, however Duracell says it can be used with "any combination" of AA or AAA batteries, and I've recharged single and pairs of Duracell rechargeables with it with no problems. You might be able to tell from the picture that it has a built-in fan, so it probably has temperature sensing.
Also, on the back, where the amp output is stated, it says 8.3A MAX, so I guess it varies the charging current depending on the number of connected batteries (maybe only putting out 2A if one battery is plugged in).

Well my fears have been mostly relieved. I will be trying my new Eneloops in the charger as soon as they run out.

 

[Gordz]

Sanyo quote the charge time for 'their' rapid charger unit as 230mins for their 2000mA battery. This does not equate to 1C which would be 60mins at 2A so I would stick to C4 in this case.

 

[erosennin]

I would stick to C4 in this case.

C4 would be 8000mA

I was trying to say that, if 4 of these batteries were put into a 8300mA charger, they would charge at approximately 1C.


The "Duracell 15minute fast charger" as was mentioned is 8000mA (That other 300mA is probably to run circuitry), and is sold with 4, 2000mAh Ni-Mh batteries. 2000/8000 = 1/4, 15 minutes just happens to be 1/4hr. Coincidence OP?
The claim by Duracell is actually trying to say that 1 Duracell 2000mAh battery in this charger will charge in 15minutes. 2 in 30minutes, 3 in 45minutes and 4 in 1hour.
The moral of that story is, don't believe the packaging

The reason I said to not put less than 4 in my first post is because they will charge at a rate equal to/greater than their capacity (=>1C), which I personally believe is not healthy for the batteries.

 

[Gordz]

Ooops !!! C/4 not C4 !! Well spotted erosennin..