Best Kept Secret Rechargeable Batteries from IKEA

beaker

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I keep a pretty well rounded stock of Alkaline and rechargeable batteries for my gear.

I have standardized on the following batteries:

AA & AAA- Eneloops for rechargeable, and Copper top Alkaline for all of the non rechargeable stock. For these sizes I am rotating in Lithium to replace the alkaline as the price for the significantly better lithium single use batteries is now more reasonable. I hate alkaline batteries, as anyone who can attest to cleaning up the leaks they cause.

18650 - for Primary lights - Only high capacity Panasonic or Samsung cells. I have tested most of them and all other brands aren't worth a damn. Although my OLIGHT batteries test and perform very well, equivalent to the Panasonic and Samsung.

123A Primary (Surefire) and CR123A as rechargeable options - for weapons lights, EDC headlamps, and smaller flashlights. I prefer the disposable 123A due to the high power density and long shelf life for this size.

I have some pretty large battery packs I have built to keep me in fresh rechargeable batteries for an extended period of time, or can use a couple of solar panels to keep them charged if I happen to be out of power for an extended period of time and use the single use batteries up.

My AA and AAA Eneloops are getting a bit old, 6-8 years now, lost a couple 16 AA's over time when they failed during during rotation for some reason, I think they were dropped hard, but the rest still charge and test well. However, I thought it would be a good time to lay in some replacement AA and AAA NiMH batteries due to the age of my current Eneloop cells.

I decided to see what the Chinesium rechargeable batteries were up to so I selected a very well reviewed brand (Soxono) and bought a box for testing. They were marketed at 2800 mAh, I never expected them to perform at that level, but who knows. I pulled 8 at random and cycled them through my ISDT charger.

Not surprising, the charger calculated ~60% of capacity when I plugged them in on all cells, so much for low discharge properties, not starting well. After cycling - topping off the 8 cells, letting them rest for an hour, then discharging at 1 amp, resting for an hour, then a full slow charge (300 mA charge rate) to get the best capacity, the variation cell to cell for capacity was all over the place. Anywhere from 1700 mAh, to 2300 mAh - that is a lot. Good batteries don't have this much variation in capacity. So no pleasant surprises here, stay away from cheap Chinesium rechargeable batteries. Back they go.

Ready to bite the bullet and buy some new Gen 4 Eneloop batteries, but still hoping for higher capacity cells, I was doing a bunch of research. Panasonic/Eneloop sells Eneloop Pro batteries, higher capacity than the standard Eneloop cells (2550 mAh for the PRO, 2000 mAh for the regular) but Pro's are ~$4-5 each for AA. Then I came across some information about IKEA rechargeable batteries, and some theories that they are actually Eneloop Pro cells. Spoiler alert, based on my testing, I also think they are Eneloop Pro cells with IKEA labels.

And here is the best part, they are $6.99 for 4 AA or AAA cells.

1) here is what they look like. There is a lower capacity rechargeable battery they sell, but the LADDA is the high capacity model.
LADDA 2450.jpg LADDA 900.jpg

2) Made in Japan
20190916_213959.jpg

3) After grabbing a pack of 4 LADDA AA's and putting them into the charger, they were showing at 85% of estimated capacity just like an Eneloop cell would be after about a year +/- in storage. The charger is pretty sophisticated and has been quite accurate in these calculations.

4) After running them through a full charge, discharge and Charge cycle, I got stellar and consistent capacity results, exactly what you would expect from a high quality cell, with very tight cell to cell variation. And spot on at the rated capacity.

This is the real deal, and the best bargain out there. The only stuff I really like from IKEA is plastic storage totes for organizing reloading materials, and now batteries. :)

Full Charge-Battery_1.jpg Full Charge-Battery_2.jpg Full Charge-Battery_3.jpg Full Charge-Battery_4.jpg Cell Capacity Chart.JPG
 

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The only stuff I really like from IKEA is plastic storage totes for organizing reloading materials, and now batteries. :)
And their pickled herring.

Thanks for the tip. I have been hearing rumors that some of the name brand eneloop batteries are actually chinesium made to look authentic. Be cautious when buying online. If it looks too good of a price, it's probably a fake.
 
I did a search on candlepowerforums and the only criticism I found was that the Ikea brand were rated for 500 cycles whereas the branded eneloope pros are rated for 2,100.
 
I did a search on candlepowerforums and the only criticism I found was that the Ikea brand were rated for 500 cycles whereas the branded eneloope pros are rated for 2,100.

Eneloop pros are rated for 500. 2100 is the non-pro, lower capacity ones.
 
I keep a pretty well rounded stock of Alkaline and rechargeable batteries for my gear.

I have standardized on the following batteries:

Copper top Alkaline

Are you referring to Duracell here?
I used to buy them, because that's what BJ's stocked. I have since stopped.
I have had multiple flash lights, remote controls, kids toys destroyed by Duracells. Multiple sizes, multiple grades, didn't matter. I had a duracell specialty battery for a camera go bad.
They all leaked. I stopped buying them about a year ago. They don't go bad in the package, they go bad in the device. I had to junk quite a few cheapo flashlights because the batteries swelled and I couldn't get them out. The maglites where they leaked I did spend quite a bit of time and effort getting the stuck batteries out.
The company I work for buys a ton of Duracells from staples and I've seen the same issues here going on for at least 10 years.
Duracell Batteries Leak In Normal Use, Class Action Claims | Top Class Actions
 
I did a search on candlepowerforums and the only criticism I found was that the Ikea brand were rated for 500 cycles whereas the branded eneloope pros are rated for 2,100.

There is some confusing info out there, but regular Eneloop is good for 1200 cycles, the Pro is rated for 500. That is from the Eneloop spec sheet.
 
Yes Duracell. I stopped buying them for the same reason. But all alkaline batteries will leak. Now i keep energizer lithium batteries for all non-rechargeable tasks where i need long life and no chance of leaks. And as backups.

Are you referring to Duracell here?
I used to buy them, because that's what BJ's stocked. I have since stopped.
I have had multiple flash lights, remote controls, kids toys destroyed by Duracells. Multiple sizes, multiple grades, didn't matter. I had a duracell specialty battery for a camera go bad.
They all leaked. I stopped buying them about a year ago. They don't go bad in the package, they go bad in the device. I had to junk quite a few cheapo flashlights because the batteries swelled and I couldn't get them out. The maglites where they leaked I did spend quite a bit of time and effort getting the stuck batteries out.
The company I work for buys a ton of Duracells from staples and I've seen the same issues here going on for at least 10 years.
Duracell Batteries Leak In Normal Use, Class Action Claims | Top Class Actions
 
I did a search on candlepowerforums and the only criticism I found was that the Ikea brand were rated for 500 cycles whereas the branded eneloope pros are rated for 2,100.


If you are constantly recharging your cells the cycles can become important, but ill take higher capacity as I am not turning these around daily, not even close. My cache of 24z 7 or 8 year old Eneloops have seen maybe 20 or thirty recharge cycles because i rotate them. That extra capacity is better for my usage.
 
beaker, can you put up a couple pics or a link to your charging setup? i'm ready to upgrade. thanks.

I have a number of chargers, but this one is the one i use for testing, analysis and conditioning cells - ISDT C4 charger which is really excellent. The only drawback is that it wont work for protected 18650 cells as they are too long to fit. It is a compact unit, easily carried or stowed. It offers a lot, and is pretty straight forward to use.

The $60 ISDT C4 charges the following cells:

AA, AAA, 10440, 10550, 12500, 12650, 13500, 14500, 16650, 17650, 18650, 20650, 22650, 26650

Chemistries: NiMH, NiCd, Li-ion, LiFePO4

Functions: charge, storage charge, discharge, activation, analysis. It can also cycle a specified number of times, measures individual cell temperature, and has independent channels for each cell.

At some point i want to pick up a SkyRC MC3000. There are older revisions out there so if this level of capability is wanted, make sure you are buying the latest revision unit. It is pretty much considered the most capable cell charger out there, and has a little higher learning curve, but worth it if you really want to know what is going on with your rechargeable batteries.

I will post some pics of my charging gear later tonight if interested.
 
beaker, can you put up a couple pics or a link to your charging setup? i'm ready to upgrade. thanks.
Here are the primary chargers I use. I have a bunch of older battery packs (LiPo) from RC days, and recently have been recycling tool battery packs to make my own batteries from 18650's. I have found that in nearly all of the packs I have disassembled it is the BMS (Battery Management System) board that has failed, and most of the cells in the packs are still perfectly fine. After carefully removing them, and cleaning them up a bit, they can be made into nice backup power sources.

I really like the ISDT C4, simple to use, small, great value for the money, auto functioning works great, you just want to know what the charge rate rating is for each battery and select that. Most chargers don't have individual temperature monitoring for each cell bay, and this one does, very important. Best for non-protected cells which are longer because they have a small board on the + side that prevents over charging and over discharging. I only use good chargers, and good flashlights that have protection circuits so don't generally use protected cells. I do have a one nightcore cell that is protected, which came with my HC65 headlamp (which is the finest headlamp I have used, and I am an OLIGHT fan boy). That cell goes into the E4, or another simple Nitecore charger I have but don't use that much.

I also have the round Powerowl charger shown, which is actually a decent charger when you need to keep fully charged AA or AAA ready at all times. They can be left in the charger, swapped out and the drained cell dropped in. This is sold under numerous branding.

Also is the E-SYB E4, a good all around simple charger that works well. The ISDT and the E4 will charge your phones through the integrated USB port if you put cells in the charger and unplug it, or if your power is out, which is nice feature to have. Then you can use your charged cells to keep your phones or other electronic stuff going.

The iCharger 208B is a very capable pack charger, but I have single cell holder setups that I can charge any single cell with it if I have to, although the C4 is much more practical.

20190917_204410.jpg ISDT Menu Functions.jpg ISDT Menu Analysis.jpg




Round Charger.jpg
E-SYS E4 Charger.jpg
Recycled 18650 Battery Packs.jpg
208B Charger.jpg
 
Hmm, good info, weird that they'd sell Eneloop Pros for $7 while Amazon charges $19.

I might pick up some though don't really need many AA & AAA. I used to buy Tenergy but decided from experience they were crap, switched to regular Eneloops, and they seem better. I have maybe 20-30 of the Tenergy and Eneloops.
 
So, the name is kind of synonymous with Lada Riva - Wikipedia

I am not poo pooing on the find, but over the years, I found IKEA.. well.. underwhelming

sure, it was great looking stuff that was nice for a short period of time and then crumbled. I think ikea is all about Consumer culture - buy cheap now, and buy it again in 5 years

now, I know people that love ikea and don’t have the same opinion as mine, but the pickled herring (love) and meatballs (ok, but Trader Joe’s are better) just aren’t enough of a motivator for me to go back
 
resurrecting an old thread as I'm in the process of dumping some loot on rechargeable batteries. Never really went through many batteries, but now I'm going through them on a daily basis because of the Thomas the train track master trains my 3-year old is crazy about.

Started to do some research and found a number of posts comparing the Ikea to the Eneloop Pros. Well I found this video on you-tube Eneloop Prov v. Ikea Ladda. He talks about the difference in rechargeable battery manufacturing and some quick differences between the pros and non-pro models, and then finally the Ikea batteries.

I'm leaning towards grabbing a stack of the Idea and a stack of the Eneloop Pros and try them both out. See if I can see a difference in real world use, if not I'll just drop more on the Ladda's.

Any recommendations on a Charger? I was looking at the Nitecore charges. Specificly the UMS4 or the i4 as I'm looking at grabbing a few of their batteries to replace my rcr123A batteries I have in some of my flashlights.
 
I have a few different chargers. My favorite is the ISDT C4. It charges AAA, AA, and 18650's and works great. It also lets you do discharging/charging cycles, and battery activation cycles.
Amazon product ASIN B0799JFWM3View: https://www.amazon.com/ISDT-Battery-Charger-Preventionn-Material/dp/B0799JFWM3/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=ISDT+C4&qid=1609443759&s=electronics&sr=1-1


ISDT C4
1609443880392.png


I also have a bulk charger from Amazon, which works well, which I use if I have a bunch of batteries. If you use a lot of batteries, like for toys, you can just leave them in this charger and swap them out as needed.
Amazon product ASIN B07JCZQTQ1View: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07JCZQTQ1/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1


1609443735599.png
 
When are we going to finally see all the promised battery tech of graphine and the like? Or things like passive RF charging from wifi? Your AA's are just sitting there in a remote or something and your neighbor's (totally not pornhub) streaming is charging them passively.
 
When are we going to finally see all the promised battery tech of graphine and the like? Or things like passive RF charging from wifi? Your AA's are just sitting there in a remote or something and your neighbor's (totally not pornhub) streaming is charging them passively.
There isn't enough energy in WiFi to charge a battery. There are some broadcast energy methods, micro waves IIRC, but you would not want to be in between the receiver and the emitter.
 
There isn't enough energy in WiFi to charge a battery. There are some broadcast energy methods, micro waves IIRC, but you would not want to be in between the receiver and the emitter.
It's rather insignificant at up to 40 microwatts, but if you think about how much power a TV remote actually uses (replace the batteries in what, a year or two?), then it comes into context.
 
resurrecting an old thread as I'm in the process of dumping some loot on rechargeable batteries. Never really went through many batteries, but now I'm going through them on a daily basis because of the Thomas the train track master trains my 3-year old is crazy about.

Started to do some research and found a number of posts comparing the Ikea to the Eneloop Pros. Well I found this video on you-tube Eneloop Prov v. Ikea Ladda. He talks about the difference in rechargeable battery manufacturing and some quick differences between the pros and non-pro models, and then finally the Ikea batteries.

I'm leaning towards grabbing a stack of the Idea and a stack of the Eneloop Pros and try them both out. See if I can see a difference in real world use, if not I'll just drop more on the Ladda's.

Any recommendations on a Charger? I was looking at the Nitecore charges. Specificly the UMS4 or the i4 as I'm looking at grabbing a few of their batteries to replace my rcr123A batteries I have in some of my flashlights.

We are past the Thomas train stage thankfully, but I've used both Eneloop Pro and IKEA and can't really tell the difference. The only ones I've had that sucked were Tenergy. Don't buy those.

I've had a Nitecore charger for years, works great.
 
We are past the Thomas train stage thankfully, but I've used both Eneloop Pro and IKEA and can't really tell the difference. The only ones I've had that sucked were Tenergy. Don't buy those.

I've had a Nitecore charger for years, works great.

sounds good. Thanks for the input
 
When are we going to finally see all the promised battery tech of graphine and the like? Or things like passive RF charging from wifi? Your AA's are just sitting there in a remote or something and your neighbor's (totally not pornhub) streaming is charging them passively.
When are we going to see a cell phone
that doesn't drain the battery when plugged in to the mains
just because the screen is on?

4kwtd2.jpg
 
This is a new charger that looks like it works well, and a good deal for the money. I think I will pick one up (I have a problem with batteries, chargers and flashlights), I wonder if there is a support group and a 12 step program.

It can charge/discharge 4 18650's, and can charge the larger Lion batteries as well. The only issue with my C4 is it can only process two 18650's at a time. The interface is very simple as well. It is good to have a charger that tells you the capacity (actual), and can test the battery to let you know what you can expect from it. Or if it is old and should be discarded. You don't want to put batteries that are functioning at half the rated capacity in your EDC, or emergency equipment, or as backup batteries for those items. Chargers that can cycle and test capacity are definitely worth having, and especially when they give you the data for the battery. Time, Capacity, etc.

Amazon product ASIN B083K9WGFBView: https://www.amazon.com/LiitoKala-Lii-500S-Battery-Charger-Capacity/dp/B083K9WGFB
 
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Our charger will cycle the battery and measure it's actual mAH capacity. I write that, plus the date on the battery with a sharpie. It quickly became clear Duracell NiMH batteries suck. Every year or 2 I check a battery. The few Amazon Basics we have seen to be doing OK but we only buy Enelopes and I'm not sure I've ever had one go weak.
 
Hi,

Today I needed a couple of my AA IKEA Ladda cells, I had a couple that have been sat by themselves for almost exactly 6 months since purchase and first charge.

I did a discharge on my C9000, at 500 mA, and it came out as:

Cell 1: 1791 mAh
Cell 2: 1765 mAh
EBL battery charger with AA AAA 9V C D Batteries Kit
These cells are fresh in the sense that they are not old, have only been charged once since purchase, so doing the math based on a rated capacity of 2450 mAh, it comes down to...

Cell 1: 73% SoC
Cell 2: 72% SoC

Doing a refresh and analyse now but don't expect the capacity to be much over 2450, so I believe the numbers are good and to the point.

Just throwing the numbers out there for what they're worth, given the small sample, but might be useful to someone in comparison when choosing what to buy when it comes to NiMH.
 
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