Wii Controllers not charging with new batteries

My Wii had sat for awhile and had not been played much prior to. I purchased new batteries with a new charging station but after being on the charger for over 24 hours, the batteries only charge up to the first or second blue square, therefore, playing time does not last. The contacts are clean. The system is clean altogether. I tried keeping the controllers off the charger to drain them completely down and then try to charge again but that appears to not have worked either. I am out of ideas. I have a cousin who has the same issue. They went as far as buying new controllers and get the same results.