Panasonic BQ-CC17SBA eneloop AA/AAA Advanced Individual Battery Charger

I needed a new charger for AA and AAA NiMH batteries I use in my son't toys. I used a Rayovac PS1 charger over a decade. It charges batteries individually and seemingly somewhat smartly, but it is slow and inconvenient. Plus at times you need to remove and reinsert a battery a few times.

The solution was Panasonic BQ-CC17SBA that is a smart charger that can charge up to 4 AA or AAA batteries individually, in any combination. It uses 150 mA current to charge AAA and 300 mA to charge AA, so it should have been faster than the Rayovac PS1 (uses 200 mA) for AA batteries. It is also allegedly smart and designed to be used with eneloop LSD (low self-discharge) batteries.


While it works well and is a pleasure to use, while not taking much space, it has a significant (for me) problem. Even though it is designed to recharge eneloop and eneloop pro batteries, it should chanrge regular Panasonic and other NiMH batteries. And this is where it failed me.

eneloop AAA charged perfectly, But Rayovac AA NiMH batteries I have used for many years and can still recharge fine in the Raoyovac PS1 charger did not charge at all. The LED lights would blink and no charging would happen.

Non-eneloop Panasonic batteries charge fine.

Instead of going through the hassle of returning the charger and getting something more expensive, I plan on using it for batteries other than Raoyovac and charge those in the PS1 charger.