Sanyo Eneloop MQH03 Charger - Observed

[Mr Happy]

This profit driven formula is being used by pretty much all company these day since it is nearly impossible to find a quality smart charger with independent channels at your local retailer

This situation was mainly peculiar to the USA where people started thinking that anything costing more than $10 was too expensive. It was different in other parts of the world. Though the rest of the world may be catching up with America these days.

 

[madecov]

If you do a forum search for NC-MQN06U, this thread will come up:

An informal look at the Sanyo NC-MQN06U – charging in pairs

The MQH03 is a superior charger. However, it has been discontinued which made it very hard to find.

Sanyo includes the inferior NC-MQN06U charger with the new Costco kit because it is cheaper and has built-in obsolescence. The "charge in pair" process is designed to kill the Eneloop faster so you will have to buy more batteries.


cheap charger + having you buy more batteries sooner = more money for the company :devil:


This profit driven formula is being used by pretty much all company these day since it is nearly impossible to find a quality smart charger with independent channels at your local retailer

Thank's for the quick explanation. I Have the Maha C9000 but it is just too large for travel purposes. I was wanting a decent travel charger without a wall wart that I can throw in a bag. I would prefer a folding wall plug if possible

 

[blo9]

What about this one:
http://www.eneloop.info/products/chargers/sets-with-mqr06.html
[URL="http://www.eneloop.info/fileadmin/EDITORS/ENELOOP/MANUALS/CHARGERS/NC-MQR06W_manual_ENG.pdf"]http://www.eneloop.info/fileadmin/EDITORS/ENELOOP/MANUALS/CHARGERS/NC-MQR06W_manual_ENG.pdf

[/URL]Edit:
Ibought it, ~$43 with 8x Eneloop 2000mAh AA and delivery. That is a steal if you compare with dumb chargers plus battery here in Sweden.

This charger seem to be very smart. You can combine AA and AAA and even with the double speed mix sizes as well as charging one single with three times speed.
Double speed is slightly over 0,5C for eneloops

Input	100-240V~50-60 Hz 7W
Output	1,2V, 1120mA × 2 (AA)
	1,2V, 560mA × 2 (AAA)
Charge Control	Peak-Cut-Control
Charging	220 minutes (1-4 AA)
Time	110 minutes (2 AA)
for	75 minutes (1 AA)
eneloop	200 minutes (1-4 AAA)
	100 minutes (2 AAA)
	65 minutes (1 AAA)
Charge- Indicator	4 LEDs
Size	105 × 65 × 27 mm
Weight	ca. 111 g

Did I make a good buy in terms of the quality of the charger?

 

[Mr Happy]

I think you bought a pretty nice charger. Sucks that it is not available in America though.

 

[blo9]

I think you bought a pretty nice charger. Sucks that it is not available in America though.

Try one of those internet sites... for me it is half price compared to get some similar from a store.
Batteries are expensive here too...

 

[Etsu]

I don't think the channels are fully independant.

I have this charger, and from my own testing, I can confirm that the channels are independent. You can charge 1-4 cells, different capacities and different depletion levels. Each channel shuts off when it's done charging its individual cell. It's easy to tell, because you can feel each cell cool down when it's done.

I don't use it much, though. It does tend to make the cells hotter than my regular charger (Accumanager 20, which tops out at 700mA). But they only get hot near the end of the cycle. Quick to charge, though, and I like that it's portable and even has a 12v plug if you're car-camping and need to recharge.

It's a great back-up charger. Certainly worth the price!

Edit: additional info:

I tried it at the low setting (1000mA) to charge 3 completely discharged Eneloop 1500 AA cells. They didn't get hot at all, so it appears that the low setting is comparable to my regular charger. It took them from 2h:15m to 2h:25m to finish. As they finish, you can hear the the charger make different sounds, so I know they charge independently.

The low charge is a 0.5C current. The high charge is 1C. They're definitely hotter at the high setting, but still very comfortable to hold. (Maybe some would consider that warm, not hot. My definition of warm is about body temperature.)

Maybe I'll use it more often.

 

[BloodLust]

Thread necro but it seemed appropriate to the thread.

Before being more active in the forum, any charger was ok for me but after all my reading and research, I got an XTAR VP2 and MC1 for my Li-Ions.

My inquiry now is if my old Ni-Mh/Ni-Cd charger is sufficient. No real need fora charger with all the functions as long as it's a safe and sufficient charger. It's just for my Eneloops which are used in some lights, camera flashes and some toys and electronics.
I've already gone Li-Ion for my specialty items and gadgets.

My unit is a:
Sanyo NC-MQR03RNU with individual LEDs per bay and a refresh button. No car charger port but has a folding prong in the rear to plug direct to a wall socket.

My basic observation, it does seem to shut off charging per bay as the lights per bay shut off individually. It doesn't get too hot when charging 4 cells and the outer "fast charge" slots only make the batteries slightly warmer than charging 4 cells.

Anybody have experience with this charger? I got it a few years back and if it's a good enough charger, I can't justify spending for a new one.
Since it's an old model, I can't seem to find info about it online and I can't find my manual.

Thanks!

 

[SilverFox]

Hello BloodLust,

I have the -HO1 and it has been a good charger. I don't think there is a lot of difference in the charging algorithms between the two models so I think you will be fine using it.

Tom

 

[BloodLust]

Thanks for the reply. Good to know.

 

[Kwenchana]

Just got the NC-MQH03U in the deal described by syncytial above. When plugged into AC and charging batteries the charger makes a pronounced pulsed buzz. Is this normal? I have been using a LEAP ( I believe it's a rebranded maha) charger for years which makes absolutely no noise so I'm wondering if I should be concerned about this Sanyo charger?

Hi,

:welcome:

Modern chargers almost always use switching circuits for power conversion since this keeps the electronics smaller and lighter. It is a characteristic of these circuits that they can make whistling or buzzing noises in operation. It's just like a transformer hum at a higher frequency. There is not likely anything to worry about unless the charger is making a really loud buzz like an angry swarm of bees.

I've had my charger since 2008, previously tried to quiet it down thinking it was the large coil but it is not.
Tested with an external 12V PSU through the DC input jack/car adapter and it was inaudible, turns out that after poking around with someting non conductive when powered via the mains, that the vibration seems to be coming from the resistor that sits between the 2 caps on the high voltage side.
Took out my hot glue gun and behold, it's fixed! Just took me 11 years lol.

Was thinking about getting the BQ-CC55 now that it's available on Amazon just to have separate LEDs indicator for each channel but I'll loose car charging and slighly slower charge rate...
It proved to be quite useful during a 2 week long car camping trip without having to rely on the inverter.

Sorry for bumping such an old thread, in case others still have that gem around but have to live with the annoying buzzing.