I have a WS 1040 and I am wondering about the setting for the charge time. To get the longest lasting charge from batteries, what time setting should I be using ? As usual, the manual does not explain it at all.
WS 1040 charge time
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MichaelBhere
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DJ11DLN
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Most here will recommend that you get an external charger and never charge the batteries in the radio. Rechargeable batteries have been known to overheat or explode and that would be very bad news for your expensive new scanner. Much better that they ruin a relatively inexpensive charger instead, if it should happen.:wink:
MichaelBhere
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An external battery charger is best for the initial FULL charge but there should be no danger of overcharging in the WS1040 as the charge current was reduced compared to the charge current in the GRE radios.
Blackswan73
Active Member
The 1040 suffers the same fate the RS 651 has. You cannot charge the batteries in the scanner. You have California to thank for that. You will need an external charger. The internal charger only outputs 14ma max. A 2100 Mah would take a week to charge if the scanner is left off the entire time.
I have never charged batteries in my scanners. If you search here on RR .. there are pics of the damage in scanner charging may do.
MichaelBhere
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The 1040 will provide a maintenance charge when the scanner is on as long as you have the AC power adapter.
I nearly learned the hard way that charging the batteries in my PSR500 was a very bad idea. I fell asleep and the batteries were cooking away pretty nicely. A couple of people I know did learn the hard way, and had to either buy a replacement back of the scanner, or an entire new scanner when they let go.
Yes, and most here are ABSOLUTELY REDICULOUSLY DEAD WRONG on this subject. Your NOT going to damage your scanner by charging the batteries in it.
BUT, as already mentioned, it will take weeks to charge this way. So for that reason and that reason only, you are much better off charging your batteries in an external charger. Which is a horrible design flaw. I curse whomever made this decision on the TRX1 every single time I have to open the unit up and pull out the batteries.....
LOL!! I'd love for you guys to explain how you charge the rest of your electronics? Cell phones, wireless phones, ipads, ipods, ........ You take the batteries out of your $700 iphones to charge them in order to "protect them" from the god awful horrors of charging? LOL!
When you plug in the scanner, it says "CHARGING" in big letters on the display. If your doesn't, check the battery type setting in the scanner....
TrackChatter
Member
Charging batteries
Just charged my WS1040 for the first time (it was shut off) and likewise there was no indication it was charging. Left it plugged in for two days to charge and then ran it for a couple hours so I assume it went from totally dead to charged to (whatever degree it's completely unknown.) Hopefully 2-days was enough.
Maybe others know more about this? I'm new here and noticed there's not a lot of board activity so I replied, attempting to not let people hang for days, weeks or months like I've seen in other threads.
Also odd is the battery display. Whether fully charged or not it appears as an outline of a battery... Not filled in or any variation thereof.
Just charged my WS1040 for the first time (it was shut off) and likewise there was no indication it was charging. Left it plugged in for two days to charge and then ran it for a couple hours so I assume it went from totally dead to charged to (whatever degree it's completely unknown.) Hopefully 2-days was enough.
Maybe others know more about this? I'm new here and noticed there's not a lot of board activity so I replied, attempting to not let people hang for days, weeks or months like I've seen in other threads.
Also odd is the battery display. Whether fully charged or not it appears as an outline of a battery... Not filled in or any variation thereof.
Spitfire8520
I might be completely clueless! =)
There really isn't any indicator that the scanner is charging while it is off. The WS1040 is a good scanner, but it is not a battery charger and does not have the functions of one. It charges incredibly slow, and would take weeks before the batteries are fully charged. The scanner will try to charge the batteries even if they are full, and this can lead to a battery meltdown issue.
You should absolutely get an external battery charger to avoid damage to the scanner/batteries, and to be sure that the batteries are fully charged so that your scanner will last. I would even go as far as recommending not having batteries in the scanner while it is on external power. I have had a related scanner's charging circuit totally fail and cook my batteries in a matter of minutes. Trust me, there is nothing fun about the smell of melting plastic and realizing it's coming from your scanner.
Along with the above, the scanner does not have a good way of displaying battery charge status. No battery icon means that it the batteries have enough charge to work, nothing more specific. The battery icon means that it is low and that you should charge them. The flashing battery icon means that it is critical and will run out of power shortly.
You are probably seeing the battery icon because your batteries are not getting charged well by the scanner.
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TrackChatter
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Thank you so much! The external charger I have will be getting a workout! I'm so used to plugging my Uniden in and walking away until it notes 'charge complete.' That too might be a bad habit.
Again, thank you!
I have four packs of nihm rechargeable batteries and 4 chargers to go along with those batteries. I rarely have a down time on my scanner unless its at night if I go to sleep with it on and it dies.
Charging any quality radio using AA or AAA batteries in the radio is not a good idea. I had the case of a Pro-96 partly melt due to a NiCad that shorted and overheated. The best charger type is one with individual monitoring of each cell. Cheaper chargers such as those designed for four cells often charge in series. Chargers where each cell is monitored tend to give consistent results and can even recondition a battery. Ikea has one that can handle 12 cells, AA and AAA at the same time, and goes into maintenance mode charge when the full charge is completed. It sells for about $35.00.
Many threads on charging in the radio on here. Most as seen in this and others say in a separate charger,
Assuming your using good name brand, I can confidently say if you set it to 2 hours the batteries last for years and they don't get normally get hot. At 1 hour the radio usage doesn't last long, 2 hours seems to be the sweet spot. Been doing it that way for many years.
The chargers in these things works on a timer and doesn't look at how good the batteries you have in there, say you pull the plug at 1:59 of the charge time, reinsert, just restarts the 2 hour timer.
Use good name brand rechargeables, set it to 2 hours, no worries.
Assuming your using good name brand, I can confidently say if you set it to 2 hours the batteries last for years and they don't get normally get hot. At 1 hour the radio usage doesn't last long, 2 hours seems to be the sweet spot. Been doing it that way for many years.
The chargers in these things works on a timer and doesn't look at how good the batteries you have in there, say you pull the plug at 1:59 of the charge time, reinsert, just restarts the 2 hour timer.
Use good name brand rechargeables, set it to 2 hours, no worries.
BrianG61UK
Member
Can't really imagine the fact that it was charging had anything to do with it shorting. The insulation round the pip at the positive end was probably damaged.
That is unless those older radios charged much quicker than the newer models do so that the cells actually got hot during charging.
With the newer ones you can only barely call what happens in the radio "charging", it takes many days to bring dead batteries up to near full.
i hear people say use an external charger. idont disagree that they may protect your scanner from battery damage if you over charge the batteries. i have setup a number of pro 106-psr 500-pro651 and 1040s. i went into the scanner and set the time to 6 on all of the above mentioned scanners. and have never had an event with any that i have programed. you just have to remember that when using the wall wort that every time you turn the scanner on it starts the time cycle again. its easy enough to go into the scanner and set the time and read the voltage should be around 5.5 to 5.78 range in my experience. i also noticed no longer charge times on the 1040. just my experience.
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