SDS100/SDS200: Battery Life with larger battery

N9JIG · Sep 4, 2018

I had a caller who has said his SDS100 with the larger (Kardashian) battery who says he is getting only about 4 hours of service out of it between charges. He has the display set to go off between calls, keeping the volume down as much as possible and his area is not excessively busy.

Has anyone else experienced this type of battery life with the larger battery?

(I still have the smaller battery and I get about 4 hours most of the time myself...)

N9PBD · Sep 4, 2018

The first question would be, did the caller condition the battery? Contrary to conventional wisdom, there is ample evidence that Lithium Ion batteries require several charge-discharge cycles before they reach full capacity.

That's not to mean they should completely discharge the battery (100% dead), as that will damage Lithium Ion cells. They should take it down to the point where the radio shuts off, which should default to less than a full discharge. Then charge to 100%, and drain the battery again, doing this for 3 or 4 cycles should establish full capacity for the battery.

KK4JUG · Sep 4, 2018

I'm gettin' about 6 or 7 hours and my settings are about the same. When I first got the radio, I cycled the battery twice. if that makes a difference.

troymail · Sep 4, 2018

Kardashian. Nice!

baj76 · Sep 4, 2018

I'm gettin' about 7.5 hours with my battery

N9JIG · Sep 4, 2018

N9PBD said:
The first question would be, did the caller condition the battery? Contrary to conventional wisdom, there is ample evidence that Lithium Ion batteries require several charge-discharge cycles before they reach full capacity.

That's not to mean they should completely discharge the battery (100% dead), as that will damage Lithium Ion cells. They should take it down to the point where the radio shuts off, which should default to less than a full discharge. Then charge to 100%, and drain the battery again, doing this for 3 or 4 cycles should establish full capacity for the battery.

Anyway, he said he charged and ran the radio until it reported low battery at least 5 or 6 times and the battery life has not increased. I did ask him to run it a few more cycles before returning it for replacement.

Would it make a difference in performance being a Lithium Ion Polymer battery vs. a set of LiIon cells?

KK4JUG · Sep 4, 2018

N9JIG said:
Anyway, he said he charged and ran the radio until it reported low battery at least 5 or 6 times and the battery life has not increased. I did ask him to run it a few more cycles before returning it for replacement.

Would it make a difference in performance being a Lithium Ion Polymer battery vs. a set of LiIon cells?

I don't think Li-Po batteries are quite as powerful and they have a shorter lifespan but they are safer and that may be the trade-off.

seth21w · Sep 4, 2018

Im getting 7 hrs with the big battery default backlight brightness 30.

BigWonton · Sep 4, 2018

N9JIG said:
Anyway, he said he charged and ran the radio until it reported low battery at least 5 or 6 times and the battery life has not increased. I did ask him to run it a few more cycles before returning it for replacement.

Is he getting the low battery alert only or is he getting an alert and the unit then shuts off? If it's the former, what voltage does he have the low battery alert set at?

KF9L · Sep 4, 2018

I still haven't even got my battery. it's been months since I registered my radio and still haven't even got an email yet telling me that they were going to be shipping mine. Up man where's my battery

whatWhy · Sep 4, 2018

People chill Please,
Its not a life emergency ........................

wm8s · Sep 5, 2018

There is a sure-fire way to get one of the new batteries. It just costs $650.

TGP · Sep 5, 2018

Wow!,
Some People need to get a life.

Makes me glad I have other things to ponder other than when
I'm going to get a new battery which is a non issue for me anyway.

I keep dc or dc to usb power for all my radios in whatever vehicle I'm in at the time.

BTW,
Don't be surprised that if and when the new battery arrives your still not going to be
Satisfied.
Tom

K8EAA · Sep 5, 2018

baj76 said:
I'm gettin' about 7.5 hours with my battery

Same here!
Kardashian, I love it.

bcd325 · Sep 6, 2018

For someone that has the old and new battery, what are the specs of each in terms of mAHrs? Could you post a photo of both?

N9JIG · Sep 6, 2018

BigWonton said:
Is he getting the low battery alert only or is he getting an alert and the unit then shuts off? If it's the former, what voltage does he have the low battery alert set at?

A combination of both, the time difference is relatively small as he described. He was not watching the battery voltage as he was not a power user.

N9JIG · Sep 6, 2018

bcd325 said:
For someone that has the old and new battery, what are the specs of each in terms of mAHrs? Could you post a photo of both?

The small battery is 3600 mAH, the new one is 5400 mAh.

n1chu · Sep 7, 2018

“Would it make a difference in performance being a Lithium Ion Polymer battery vs. a set of LiIon cells?”

Not understanding the question. A “battery (or battery pack) is nothing more than two or more “cells”.

KK4JUG · Sep 7, 2018

I s'pose one could tie several batteries together to power the unit but it would not be practical. Uniden has already done that in a compact fashion with the battery they supplied.

N9JIG · Sep 7, 2018

Older Uniden battery packs (SC150 era) were basically an assembly of individual cells soldered together with a thermistor and shrink-wrapped. One could disassemble them and rebuild them with new cells, I had several rebuilt this way by Batteries Plus type places over the years. Many cordless phone battery packs are the same way, some of them use AA or AAA cells with solder tabs while Uniden scanner packs had shorter but pudgier cells.

The current battery appears to be built as a single unit inside the case, still with cells, but not a bunch of individual units, kind of similar to the way a car battery is built. The fact that it uses polymer gel as the electrolyte may also alter the performance characteristics, which is what I am trying to figure out.

SDS100/SDS200: Battery Life with larger battery

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