Panasonic "Smart & Quick" Charger $32 (+ $12.90 Shipping or $0 Click-and-Collect) at CameraPro

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Russ on 24/09/2025 - 01:17 camerapro.com.au (158 clicks)
Last edited 24/09/2025 - 01:19

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The k-kj55mcc4ta charger is on special, it's been quite a while since this charger has been available at a good price.

This is a "smart" charger that takes 1.5-2 hours to charge your AA and AAA NiMh batteries, and includes four AA eneloop batteries rated at 2100 charging cycles. It uses -dV/dT detection to cut off charging when each battery reaches full charge, unlike "dumb" chargers that will cook your batteries by overcharging them.

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  Russ on 24/09/2025 - 01:30

  Before anyone asks "what about Ikea chargers", they're all crap. They might claim -dV/dT detection, but they take much longer to charge (5-6 hours for STENKOL and 9-11 hours for LITOSFÄR), and slower charging means the -dV/dT effect gets much smaller and becomes impossible to detect.

  STENKOL has been tested here on OzBargain: it took 20 minutes to 30 minutes to detect that fully-charged batteries had been inserted and stop charging. A proper smart charger is much faster than this, the Liitokala Lii-500 takes 4 minutes.

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  HaydosK on 24/09/2025 - 01:46

  So if I get this and use IKEA or amazon batteries that will be an improvement because it's not about the battery but the charger quality? Also what's the chance of getting this price matched?

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    Russ on 24/09/2025 - 01:59

    Most NiMh chargers are "dumb" chargers, they charge your batteries for 10 hours or more, irrespective of how flat your batteries were. They usually put too much charge into the batteries, and the NiMh batteries can't handle that, so the extra charge turns into heat. Heat is the enemy of NiMh batteries, the electrolyte in the batteries will heat up and burst the "overpressure relief valve", which is almost always behind a little hole near the positive pip of the battery.

    Once the overpressure relief valve has burst, it's permanently open, and two things happen:

    • some electrolyte will often leak out, causing corrosion on the battery holder's contacts, usually creating a pale blue "fuzz" on them.
    • the electrolyte will slowly dry out, so the battery capacity will continuously reduce with time. You'll get less "life" from your battery.

    So if you've previously been using a dumb charger, then sorry, your batteries are probably damaged and will need replacing soon. If you've ever taken batteries off the charger and they were too hot to hold, they've been damaged. This charger will treat your batteries much more nicely, and you should get long life from the replacement batteries.

    What battery charger do you have? Possibly you already have a smart charger.

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      HaydosK on 24/09/2025 - 02:14

      Thanks for the info. Well I just bought a 10 pack of AAA from amazon and I am just using them as they came pre charged but I don't have a charger for them. I have some AA and charger from IKEA but my dad uses them mostly so I don't actually know if they get too hot. Safe to say the Amazon ones are totally fine and shouldn't be damaged from the factory. Just want to confirm are the batteries the same or is there something special about these ones or is it just the charger that really matters for charging safety and speed? Is this panasonic charger and batteries the best out there?

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        Russ on 24/09/2025 - 02:36

        Just want to confirm are the batteries the same or is there something special about these ones

        No, not all NiMh batteries are the same, they come in two varieties:

        • "Standard" NiMh batteries quickly go flat on their own, even when they're just sitting in a drawer. Typically they're half-flat a month after charging, and completely flat three to five months after charging.

        • "Low self-discharge" NiMh batteries stay charged for much longer, typically having 80% or more of their energy one year after charging. The batteries in this deal are this type, and it sounds like your Amazon batteries are too.

        is it just the charger that really matters for charging safety and speed?

        While all chargers are safe, many are "dumb" chargers and will damage your batteries. This means you'll only get maybe 20 to 50 charge cycles out of them before you throw them out, when the batteries could have lasted much longer if the charger didn't abuse them. For example, the batteries that come with the charger have an expected life of 2100 cycles - that's 40+ years if you're charging them once a week!

        And re charging speed: smart chargers typically take 2 hours or less to charge batteries from completely flat to full. They can only operate this fast because they are able to detect when the battery reaches full charge and stop charging at that point. If a dumb charger tried to charge in 2 hours, the batteries would get so hot they'd cause serious burns, and likely melt the plastic of the charger.

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          HaydosK on 24/09/2025 - 02:47

          +1

          @Russ: Ok I will hopefully price match this and use it instead of the IKEA one. Thank you so much.

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  amgbenz on 24/09/2025 - 04:51

  Amazon prime + S/S = 32.26 delivered

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    salut on 24/09/2025 - 05:09

    Have you got a link? I'm only seeing the overnight charger for that price. The Smart and Quick one is showing as $69.

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      amgbenz on 24/09/2025 - 05:25

      Ahh sorry you’re correct. It was the overnight.