Uniden BC125AT - very poor battery life

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702Jeeper

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I bought a BC125AT recently. At first, the battery life seemed quite acceptable. But now, I'm only getting about four hours.

That is with either a fresh pair of brand-name alkaline AA batteries; a pair of Energizer rechargeable AA batteries (that I fully charged in a separate external charger); or with the included rechargeable AA batteries that recharge in the radio via USB cable.

I am aware of the little switch in the battery compartment. And no, the backlight is not being left on.

This happens whether I'm scanning the two banks I programmed (only about 10 frequencies total), or if I hold on one frequency.

This is ridiculous for a radio that only receives and doesn't transmit. I used "bricks" (handheld LMR's) during my working life, and they would easily last through a 12-hour shift even if making lots of radio calls.

Four hours isn't long enough to last through a NASCAR Sprint Cup race (one of the intended future uses of this). And if I am on a hike and want to scan my channels, the low battery beep will be going long before I finish my hike.

Do you agree there is something wrong, and I should contact Uniden to see if I can get a replacement unit?
 

Voyager

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4 hours is a little low, but not too much. 6-7 hours would be normal depending on your volume levels and levels of activity.
 

702Jeeper

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4 hours is a little low, but not too much. 6-7 hours would be normal depending on your volume levels and levels of activity.

Activity level is quite low. I am monitoring a few channels around Death Valley Nat'l Park, and can go long periods, occasionally close to an hour, without hearing a call. At any rate, I am not monitoring in a busy urban area with near-constant traffic, or anything like that.
 

wtp

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ext vs smart

can the charger tell you how much capacity the cells have or is it a dumb charger that just recharges them
if one cell gets low it will kill the radio fast. in one year my cells have half the power. but I use battery power all day in the lightning capital that I live in.
and if it is one of those quick chargers, they tend to kill the cells faster
I figure that heat kills them and charging in the radio is "cooking in the oven".
I spent $70 on a charger when I did not have a job. I means that much to me.
 

702Jeeper

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can the charger tell you how much capacity the cells have or is it a dumb charger that just recharges them
if one cell gets low it will kill the radio fast. in one year my cells have half the power. but I use battery power all day in the lightning capital that I live in.
and if it is one of those quick chargers, they tend to kill the cells faster
I figure that heat kills them and charging in the radio is "cooking in the oven".
I spent $70 on a charger when I did not have a job. I means that much to me.

The "stock" charging set-up involves using the NiMH batteries they supplied and recharging them in the unit via USB cable. (I normally have this plugged into an outlet with an adapter). The radio display reads "charging" and is supposed to say "charge complete" when it's done.

However, that is another issue I didn't mention. Sometimes, I've left this plugged in to charge for well over 24 hours and it never said "charge complete." At other times, it has (apparently) charged up and displayed the "charge complete" message.

According to the manual, this unit is capable of displaying a "battery error" message if it can't recharge the battery or batteries for some reason. Perhaps such reasons as you mentioned. However, this scanner is only a few weeks old, so the supplied batteries should still be good.

The scanner has a menu setting to control the charge time. I am using the setting recommended by the manual for the 2300 mAh batteries they supplied, which is 14 hours charge time.

As for the Energizer charger and AA batteries, the charger is a simple plug-in unit that displays a red light while charging, and a green light when the charge is complete. That charger and the AA batteries that came with it are fairly new as well.

I hope I've answered all your questions!

Link to the manual online: http://www.cabelas.com/assets/product_files/pdf/636073_uniden_bc125at_owners_manual.pdf
 

bharvey2

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One thing I forgot to mentioned that might be of benefit: TheCreative Inspire T10 speakers that I mentioned have an auxiliary input. I've used it specifically to connect to my PRO 668 scanner. As I recall it is an 1/8" (3.5mm) phone plug. It is probably 3 conductor.
 

robertmac

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The "stock" charging set-up involves using the NiMH batteries they supplied and recharging them in the unit via USB cable. (I normally have this plugged into an outlet with an adapter). The radio display reads "charging" and is supposed to say "charge complete" when it's done.

However, that is another issue I didn't mention. Sometimes, I've left this plugged in to charge for well over 24 hours and it never said "charge complete." At other times, it has (apparently) charged up and displayed the "charge complete" message.

According to the manual, this unit is capable of displaying a "battery error" message if it can't recharge the battery or batteries for some reason. Perhaps such reasons as you mentioned. However, this scanner is only a few weeks old, so the supplied batteries should still be good.

The scanner has a menu setting to control the charge time. I am using the setting recommended by the manual for the 2300 mAh batteries they supplied, which is 14 hours charge time. The longer I use the batteries, the shorter they last, but that isn't the fault of the scanner.

As for the Energizer charger and AA batteries, the charger is a simple plug-in unit that displays a red light while charging, and a green light when the charge is complete. That charger and the AA batteries that came with it are fairly new as well.

I hope I've answered all your questions!

Link to the manual online: http://www.cabelas.com/assets/product_files/pdf/636073_uniden_bc125at_owners_manual.pdf

Have you measured any amps/voltage of the batteries? Have you tried the rechargeable batteries in any other device? I get over 18 hours of use out of my rechargeable batteries in a uniden Trunk Tracker IV. About 10 hours in an HP 1 with display on most of the time.
 

702Jeeper

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Have you measured any amps/voltage of the batteries? Have you tried the rechargeable batteries in any other device? I get over 18 hours of use out of my rechargeable batteries in a uniden Trunk Tracker IV. About 10 hours in an HP 1 with display on most of the time.

I have used the Energizer batteries in other electronics at home, and the life seemed to be more than acceptable. I haven't tried using the NiMH batteries that came with the scanner, in any other devices.

Question about the rechargeable batteries you're using in your Uniden: Are they the batteries that came with the unit? Or another brand?
 

br0adband

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You could simply have a defective unit, to be blunt. I'd do a complete factory reset on it (not sure what the particular method is for that model but I'm sure the user manual covers it) and get some totally fresh batteries to work with - and I mean totally fresh in terms of brand new never used before which would include some brand new fresh never used before rechargeables as well and see what happens from that point on.

If your battery life is still in the 4-5 hour range after that process, see about a warranty return to Uniden for that unit because of your issues.

I know from past experience owning a BC246T years ago - powered by just 2 AA batteries - I'd get 10-14 hours straight use from a fresh set of alkaline AAs or a freshly charged set of 2600 mAh NiMH batteries (not charged in the scanner itself) and that was on a very busy trunked system here in Las Vegas so, yeah, 4 hours on a more modern scanner seems way way low in my opinion, too low considering improvements in technology and efficiency for battery life.
 

bigcam406

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im still using the NIHM's that came with my 125at.they are 3 years old,and I usually get 6-8 hours out them.i'd invest in a Maha charger,they really are worth the money.
 

robertmac

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I have used the Energizer batteries in other electronics at home, and the life seemed to be more than acceptable. I haven't tried using the NiMH batteries that came with the scanner, in any other devices.

Question about the rechargeable batteries you're using in your Uniden: Are they the batteries that came with the unit? Or another brand?

The ones that came with the Uniden lasted about a year [so over 300 charges]. I am not alternating between Energizers and Duracell. Can't really say which is better as they are actually relatively new, replacing older ones [again used about 300 times each] that deteriorated to about 8 hours. So a little short for monitoring while at work.
 

702Jeeper

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8 hours is a lot more than what I'm getting. And as noted, there is little traffic where I am monitoring.

I saw the Maha recharger (which costs almost as much as what I paid for the scanner). I still find it hard to believe that the batteries that came with the Uniden are fried, given that I've used and recharged them only 5-6 times. Also, my rechargeable Energizers seem to work fine in other devices.

Finally, why am I experiencing similarly short battery life from new, non-rechargeable, brand-name alkaline batteries?

Thanks for all the info, but I really don't think it's a recharging issue. Sounds like I am, in fact, getting noticeably or exceptionally short battery life. Probably due to a problem in the radio.
 

sibbley

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As others have noted, you may find better results using a "smart" charger. They really do a much better job of charging. They can also condition the batteries to get much more life out of them. Regular chargers can actually give you less battery life over time.

I get about 6 hours on the 125AT scanning 5 banks about 3/4 full.

With a smart charger, you can actually read the charge left in the batteries. You may sometimes see that 1 battery has 1.21v left and the other is at 1.13v. It's the 1.13v that has killed your running time. I've found that these lower volt batteries are usually drained quicker than the others. I try to keep the lower volt batteries together for use.
 
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702Jeeper

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I get about 6 hours on the 125AT scanning 5 banks about 3/4 full.

Honest questions: Do you feel that is acceptable battery life? Using the same scanner, if you held on one channel and didn't scan, how long do you think the batteries should last?

At any rate, my use sounds very light compared to yours, yet I get less battery life. I'm scanning fewer than 10 channels, none of which get much traffic. And even if I simply hold on the primary channel, the battery life is still IMHO way too short (alkaline or rechargeables).
 

sibbley

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Honest questions: Do you feel that is acceptable battery life? Using the same scanner, if you held on one channel and didn't scan, how long do you think the batteries should last?

At any rate, my use sounds very light compared to yours, yet I get less battery life. I'm scanning fewer than 10 channels, none of which get much traffic. And even if I simply hold on the primary channel, the battery life is still IMHO way too short (alkaline or rechargeables).

Honest answer, for only 2 batteries, yes it's acceptable to me. I think the batteries would last longer if I was holding on a single frequency. How much longer I can't honestly say. I've never used alkaline batteries to offer a comparison. Although, since most if not all alkaline batteries are 1.5v rather than 1.2v of rechargeable, I would think they would offer longer life.

IMHO, the scanner should be at very least a 3 AA cell scanner. I don't have, nor do I remember, ever having a scanner that only used 2 AA cells. Most had 3, 4, or in some cases 8 AA cells.
 

Spitfire8520

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Heading back to what Voyager mentioned, do you have your volume maxed out?

The speakers can sometimes end up drawing more power than the backlight consumes.
 

sparklehorse

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And no, the backlight is not being left on.

I'm not familiar with the BC125AT. What options do you have for backlight settings? Can you reduce the amount of time the backlight is on? Or set it on a dimmer setting? The backlight can be a big battery drain.

Also, I would invest in a a couple sets of high capacity Eneloop Pro AAs, and a good smart charger like the Maha C-9000, or the La Crosse BC1000. Charge your cells in the smart charger. Keep a spare set charged up, ready to go. Forget using the radio as a charger. Your Eneloops will last for years, and you'll get as long a runtime with them as you're going to get with anything. You'll be happier.

.
 

bigcam406

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I have my backlight set to squelch.i find my batteries(factory and energizer2300mah) usually last 6-8 hours.i have quite a bit of traffic on my scanner,especially air freq's.i use a Maha charger,and it really does a good job charging the batteries.
 
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