I use Sanyo battery charger for my Eneloop batteries for several years. All these years I hear hissing sound when the batteries are charging and I thought it was something normal. The hissing sound is clearly noticeable because I can still hear it when there is a working desk-fan in the same room. I did few minutes of Google search few years ago and I remembered reading somewhere that Sanyo claimed it’s something normal and we don’t need to worry about anything.
For years, I always thought every battery charger (AA and AAA) would do the same hissing sound. Few weeks ago I noticed that the hissing sound was getting slightly louder and it started to concern me. I check the batteries, they are hot, but not to an extreme level.
Then I did some Google search again trying to find a good battery charger. I got really surprised when I learned that some battery chargers that people say as “good” (Powerex MH-C9000) are very expensive. Then it got me thinking, why so much price difference? Would the expensive charger really make that much difference?
I was tempted to get one of those expensive chargers. But I decided to wait a little bit longer. I want to do one more experiment before. So I got myself a cheap $19 Duracell battery charger on sale. And I tested it to charge the same Eneloop batteries that got my Sanyo charger hissing. Surprise ! There is no hissing sound at all. Since the only thing that worries me is the hissing sound, and this new charger is free from the issue, then there is no need for an expensive charger.
Until today, I still haven’t got any believable explanation about the hissing sound. But I decide to follow some common sense. Unusual noise when charging something that theoretically can explode is never a good thing. And a more quiet charging process should put my mind at ease.
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