NiMH Quick Charger Kit Inc. 4x AA &12v Adaptor $5+ $7 Post + Optional Evolta LSD Battery Deals

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JungleJumble

• 

  thelastnoob on 03/11/2012 - 03:31

  Wow this is so fast no one bothers to give an actual time
  Example is my eneloop charger says to charge 4 x AA for 10 hours

  • 

    Store Repjunglejumble @ JungleJumble on 03/11/2012 - 08:53

    Basic guidelines for Eneloop /Evolta batteries

    1-2x AA 2000mAh Ni-MH BATTERIES (2.4 hours @ 1000mA)
    1-4x AA 2000mAh Ni-MH BATTERIES (3.4 hours @ 700mA)
    1-2x AAA 800 mAh Ni-MH BATTERIES(1.4 hours @ 700mA)

• 

  sonicentropy on 03/11/2012 - 05:05

  +5

  This is the best way to kill your valuable LSD's, rapid charging shortens their life.

  • 

    Store Repjunglejumble @ JungleJumble on 03/11/2012 - 08:59

    -5

    Kill? Eneloop and Evolta promote 1500- 1600 charge cycles…

    • 

      foobar on 03/11/2012 - 09:09

      +10

      You need to look into and understand how smart and non-smart chargers work before negging helpful and factually correct comments.

      All chargers are not the same, cheap and nasties are usually brute force and typically charge for a pre-determined amount of time which can and often does overheat the battery thus shortening it's usable life. I've even seen the plastic coating on some batteries shrink and peel due to excessive heat caused by "fast" or "quick" chargers.

      Smart chargers sense temps, voltages and know when exactly to switch off or switch to trickle mode to prevent these issues, which in turn results in rechargeable batteries lasting a fair deal longer.

      The one you're selling specifies a "automatic charge cut-off timer" - that word timer is the concern. What this in all probability means is that it blindly blasts the cell for a certain amount of time and then turns off, which is exactly what you do not want to do. This is typical for cheap chargers, be they $25 or $5. Timed chargers also often overcharge lower capacity and undercharge higher capacity cells.

      If you don't mind replacing your rechargeable batteries far more often than you should or you buy cheapies from Aldi etc and don't care about them all that much, this charger would be absolutely ideal.

      • 

        EnALup on 03/11/2012 - 09:58

        +2

        I did not know that. Thanks for sharing.

      • 

        NosDan on 03/11/2012 - 13:14

        +3

        yep, the TL;DR of it is.. you can destroy your batteries in just a couple of cycles using a cheap charger making them pointless to buy in the first place.

        i cant agree with foobar enough (from below) for people to get either a La Crosse or Maha, i went the Maha after years of looking for a good and cheap charger (up to $50) and they simply dont exist.

      • 

        Russ on 03/11/2012 - 15:43

        +1

        Good chargers are available in the $45-$50 range, if you have a US power plug adaptor and are willing to use a charger with a US plugpack.

        The LaCrosse BC700 is currently US$40.17, and shipping will add about US$8.50 to that, for a total of about US$48.67. At the current exchange rate, that's just over AUD$47 if you purchase with a 28 Degrees credit card (or any other card without horrible charges for overseas purchases).

        http://www.amazon.com/La-Crosse-Technology-Battery-Charger/d…

• 

  kiwipride on 03/11/2012 - 09:02

  -1

  Purchased! +1

• 

  foobar on 03/11/2012 - 09:28

  +5

  For anyone that has some lovely new Eneloops and wishes for them to last as long as possible, do your batteries a favour and purchase a decent brand and well reviewed charger such as a La Crosse or Maha.

  Will this charger work, will it recharge eneloops etc? Yes, absolutely no question about it, but it most likely won't treat them the way the need to be treated in order to last as long as they can or should.

  Eneloop and Evolta promote 1500 - 1600 charge cycles

  I could be wrong, but my bet would be that they're not doing this testing in a $5 Hong Kong generic charger.

  Bottom line - this charger is cheap for a reason, just like how most no name rechargeables are cheap compared to Eneloops. You get what you pay for.

  • 

    INFIDEL on 03/11/2012 - 10:26

    Even ones that say they are a smart charger (at a cheap price) are suspect.
    Returned a 'smart charger' yesterday as the recharged (new) batteries were too hot to touch. Where the batteries were held in the charger had melted! I had already returned & replaced this charger.
    ($7 with 4 AA/AAA) It was promoted as
    "Advanced IC with-V function controls the charging process and auto power cut-off.
    Over-heat protection with reasonable setting temperature" http://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/65444
    As batteries are a chemical process, frying them will destroy them a short over time.
    A cheap charger can be an expensive gamble!

    • 

      foobar on 03/11/2012 - 10:51

      +1

      Specs and blurb on the back sound okay but as you've discovered the reality is far from what they claim. This is a big problem with a lot of China/HK sourced stuff, they seem to take the details and specs of a decent product and just paste it on whatever rubbish they churn out.

      Did you have any issues returning the charger?

      • 

        INFIDEL on 03/11/2012 - 19:57

        No problems. Manager suggested I might like to buy something else, but gave me the $7.

  • 

    foobar on 03/11/2012 - 10:33

    +2

    Bruce, the link you've given is to this deal - I'm not replying to your message so you can edit it and point it in the right direction if you wish.

    If batteries come out of a charger and they are literally too hot to handle, that's a pretty good sign of the charger being a battery destroying pile of junk :)

    I've seen the outer coating on batteries "melt" (peel back) before, but I've never seen the plastic of the charger distort or melt before.

    • 

      INFIDEL on 03/11/2012 - 10:35

      Thanks - corrected! (Good idea not to reply to message - so error can be corrected in situ.)

  • 

    Store Repjunglejumble @ JungleJumble on 03/11/2012 - 13:40

    -2

    The chargers are "cheap" because the vendor imported them some years ago, the account manager responsible for the accounts in which they were to be sold left the company and the chargers sat in star tracks warehouse until we offered to buy them all.

    In terms of the comments about these chargers overheating the batteries, we have tested these chargers with eneloops and evolta lsds : they don't get hot - at all.

    In response to do we accept returns : yes of course we do.

• 

  WT on 03/11/2012 - 10:57

  I always wondered why my charger takes 24+ hours to charge. Here I am thinking that its a crap charger

  • 

    Russ on 03/11/2012 - 15:57

    +1

    That could be a good thing - partially.

    if the charger takes 30 or more hours to charge, that is generally considered to be "trickle" charging. Trickle charging is good in one way, it is impossible to overcharge the batteries. After the batteries are "full" the extra energy from the charger just warms the batteries slightly, but the amount of energy is low enough that it won't damage the battery.

    However, if you leave the batteries in the charger for more than a few days, the continued charging causes another effect, which will eventually damage your batteries. So-called "dendrites" form inside the batteries, tiny conductive paths from one electrode to the other inside the battery, and they will short the battery rendering it useless.

    Put your batteries in the charger and set an alarm two days into the future (to remind you to remove the batteries), and you'll get good life out of your batteries. You will probabbly get more charge cycles out of your batteries than if you had used a "smart" charger on fast-charge mode.

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  anonymoususer on 03/11/2012 - 11:44

  I have got "Eneloop AA Rechargeable Battery Glitter 8pk" from DSE
  http://dicksmith.com.au/product/S4468/eneloop-rechargeable-g…

  can I use NiMH Fast charger in this deal?

  • 

    jdr on 03/11/2012 - 13:22

    Read the comments above, all that is explained in detail in foobar's comments. How could you not read that first?

    • 

      kiwipride on 03/11/2012 - 13:44

      +1

      Hey, she's sweet alright. Back off! :)

  • 

    Store Repjunglejumble @ JungleJumble on 03/11/2012 - 15:42

    -3

    To make things simple for you. Certainly. Foobars comments are full of assumptions about this product, most of which do not apply to this product. We have tested eneloop and evolta with these chargers without issue.

    • 

      foobar on 03/11/2012 - 17:06

      +1

      This product is cheap, nasty and most likely to bring any battery charged in it to an early end, that's the world of battery chargers. The very fact these have been sitting around for years is a good indication they are not new or even recent technology, that alone is enough of a reason to avoid it. It will cost more but anyone that wants a decent, proper charger should look into brands that have already been mentioned in this thread.

      These chargers that have been sitting in a couriers warehouse for "years", you've thrown a few batteries in one and they were charged up as a result. This actually proves nothing as it takes several cycles in a poor charger to destroy or damage a cell as it doesn't happen first or second time through. All batteries degrade with each charge regardless of the charger, but non smart chargers kill cells far quicker than properly designed smart chargers.

      This charger will work, I've stated this at least twice, never said it wouldn't. I just want to urge people to do some research into battery chargers before buying some no name Hunk-o-junK from gawd knows where to put their precious Eneloops in. If they decide to get one of these, I wish them the best of luck.

      I did do a search looking for reviews on this charger, oddly I wasn't able to locate any but I found hundreds of reviews on the La Crosse and Maha chargers. These JPL ones must be so good that those with them are in such a blissful stupor that not one of them has bothered to review it anywhere, ever.

      Oh, before I forget - you say you bought all the stock from someone, so does that mean this is a relatively new product that you've not sold before? I couldn't find anything in Google's cache to indicate that you have sold these before so it does appear it's a new product for you. In any case, you might want to have a read about misleading pricing on the ACCC website, particularly the section on strike through pricing. Interesting stuff indeed.

      • 

        Store Repjunglejumble @ JungleJumble on 04/11/2012 - 21:12

        JPL is an Australian trademark owned by Konnoc who registered their trademark back in 2005 based on the then distributor Linohir, now Westwell selling their well regarded product into mass merchant retailers throughout Australia. Like i said, the account manager responsible left the company and the new trademark and product was literally forgotten. I think you will find more information on identical Konnoc products if you google them.

        For what I can tell, the chargers are well received, the Konnoc batteries not so.

        In terms of pricing : http://www.ryda.com.au/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=KCRS04…

        I think you'll find our regular price is cheaper than Ryders list price for the same product under Konnoc's own brand.

        Re: "Hunk-o-junK" comment: perhaps it would help if we sent you a free charger and set of Eneloops to test with so as to prove our claims? Send me a PM and I'll have it arranged.

      • 

        foobar on 05/11/2012 - 06:34

        +1

        I had already done a lot of searching and I did find the Konnoc chargers as well as a Sansui I think it was, came to the conclusion that this JPL was a rebranded Konnoc as was the Sansui. Konnoc appear to be the OEM in China.

        I've also searched quite a bit for a review on the Konnoc charger again with zero results, not one single person in seven years appears to have reviewed it.

        I do remember seeing 2005 as a date that these chargers seemed to come onto the market which fits with what you've said however seven years is an absolute eternity with regards to tech goods.

        Regarding pricing, it doesn't matter what other sites list or sell it for, this is a "new" product on your site. In the link I gave to the ACCC, you'll find this -

        The trader must have offered these goods at the higher price for a reasonable period of time—that is, it must be a genuine pre-sale price.

        Just how long were they listed on your site for $24.95 before being reduced to $8.95 or $5? Comparing your strike through price with what others are selling it for isn't relevant. Most retailers break this and all the other rules so it doesn't really matter anyway, just wanted you to be aware of your breach.

        I don't know how many of these things you have, tens, hundreds or whatever, but I do realise you've bought them cheap and you need to shift them, don't want them to become dead stock. At $8.95 or $5 you should be able to move them fairly quickly.

        While I am tempted by your offer, the testing required will take quite a long time to complete as it requires many discharge recharge cycles of the cells. I'll go through the process below and you'll understand why I don't want to do it.

        If you want to prove the worth of this charger, what I recommend you do is you get yourself a proper smart charger (La Cross, Maha) and run a side by side comparison.

        • Using one pack of 4 Eneloops or Panasonic cells, clearly mark each of the batteries so they can be identified individually.
        • Choose two for charging in the JPL and two for charging in whatever other charger you end up with.
        • Run a discharge / recharge (refresh) cycle on the smart charger, note the reported capacity of each cell.
        • Eneloops will actually be around 2000mAH, many batteries fall short of their claimed capacity but Eneloops are usually spot on.
        • Find something that uses 4 batteries that will flatten them fairly quickly, perhaps you have something in stock at crazystu.
        • Cycle the batteries - flatten them and then charge them in their respective chargers.
        • After 10 cycles, do another charge only (NOT a refresh cycle) in the proper smart charger and note down each cell rating, see if any have degraded.
        • Post results.

        It may take more than 10 cycles to notice a problem, 10 is probably not enough but it's worth a check at that point.

        • Extend the test out to 50 or even 100 cycles.
        • Do another charge only (NOT a refresh cycle) in the proper smart charger and note the cell ratings.
        • Post results.

        The reason I don't want refresh cycles (other than the very first time) is that this may help repair any damage caused by a poor charger and would skew the results. By doing a charge only, the smart charger should charge the battery in its current state and not attempt to "fix" it should there be a problem with it.

        I doubt that you'll go through all this as it's no small task and is going to take considerable time and effort which is why I don't want to do it and I can understand if you don't either. You're better of gutting the price (which you've already done) and flogging them off making a buck or two on each one.

        However, if you want to prove the worth of these chargers and prove me wrong, unfortunately this is what it's going to take.

    • 

      NosDan on 03/11/2012 - 18:39

      just because you may get 1 or 2, or even 10 charges from one of these cheap dodgy chargers does not mean it can compare to a smart charger.

      im fairly sure anyone who spends the money buying good quality LSD rechargeable batteries is hoping for more than a handful of charges on there brand new batteries/charger. most will be fairly unhappy after 5 or 10 charge cycles to find out there "new" batteries only have 20% of there original capacity.

      also, everything foobar has said on this "deal" is easily verifiable with a couple quick googles.