HP-1 Battery Fire?

[Muxlow]

Well!

Iv lost 8 batts now.. All rechargable ones iv used a number of times with this radio.. All of a sudden today it started to catch them on fire.. burn marks and exploded batts when in the unit, i herd a BEEP BEEP and looked at the radio and said charging disabled, looked at the battery area and was smoky and had burn marks, took the cover off and batts exploded and melted plastic

Here is some shots i got on it with my phone,

Should i give uniden a call and say HEY! WTF?
I got this off a person who had it for a few days.. its about 4 months old and worked super untill now.
Had the stock antenna and power adaptor with it too

Anyone els herd of this crazyness? Or would i be the first?

 

[garys]

I would definitely contact them and see what they have to say.

 

[wise871]

Yours is the first of any scanner I heard of that caught fire. I would defiantly call Uniden and let them know. They will most likely have you send it in. I love the HP-1 but I’m not thrilled with the battery charging system. I wish there was a switch like in the other models to select which batteries I’m using.

 

[n5ims]

If it's still under warranty you should definately call Uniden (may be a good idea anyway incase they have a recall that would cover repairs, etc.). That said, it's not really a good idea to charge the batteries in a scanner. Similar things have happened on several types of radios. It's better to charge them in the external charger and swap them out as needed since you'll burn up the $25 charger, not a $500 scanner. At least your damage was contained and you only damaged the batteries and scanner and didn't leave it charging while away and arrive back home to a charred house!

 

[n5ims]

Yours is the first of any scanner I heard of that caught fire. I would defiantly call Uniden and let them know. They will most likely have you send it in. I love the HP-1 but I’m not thrilled with the battery charging system. I wish there was a switch like in the other models to select which batteries I’m using.

There have been several threads on RR about issues charging batteries in the scanner. Here's one http://forums.radioreference.com/gre-scanners/201601-charging-rechargeable-batteries-psr-500-a.html

 

[Muxlow]

So i can give them a call and have it sent in even if i didnt buy it from them? I got it 3rd party private sale
SO i wont have a bill of sale and all that stuff that im scared they will want.

At first i was like ok.. crappy batts.. put the ones that i got with it (i assume came with the radio from uniden) and they did it too.. was fine last week with all 8 of these but not today

Ill give em a ring wednesday, well guess i can monday.. its a holiday in canada but dont think sooooo inthe usa.

What dept should i contact and what things should i say/ask?

 

[garys]

So i can give them a call and have it sent in even if i didnt buy it from them? I got it 3rd party private sale
SO i wont have a bill of sale and all that stuff that im scared they will want.

At first i was like ok.. crappy batts.. put the ones that i got with it (i assume came with the radio from uniden) and they did it too.. was fine last week with all 8 of these but not today

Ill give em a ring wednesday, well guess i can monday.. its a holiday in canada but dont think sooooo inthe usa.

What dept should i contact and what things should i say/ask?

It's President's Day in the US, but Uniden should be open. You'll have to discuss the warranty issue with them.

As to charging the batteries in the radio, I've never had a problem. I don't remove the batteries from my cell phones, cordless phones, truck, toothbrush, Motorola portable radio, ham portable radio, netbook, Toughbook, or flashlights to recharge them, why would I have to do that for a scanner? It's a battery, not a fusion reactor I'm recharging.

 

[Muxlow]

lol
same for me

Maybe its inthe fine fine print for uniden that states dont charge the recharable batts in the HP-1

Whats the number i should call to get a hold of somebody who deals with this stuff?

 

[mattl3320]

hp-1 battery fire

thank you for posting this i just got my hp-1 a week ago and i was charging the batteries in the unit. This worried me about having a fire in that part of the radio. and other handhelds that i had like the pro 97 and 96 that said that u could i always used a wall charing unit. and now i going to do the same for this one u my have just saved me or someone else from either messing up their radio or losing there home or life to a fire and again thank you.

 

[Dubbin]

Well since you took the radio apart and posted pictures of it for the world to see I doubt very much there will be any kind of warranty.

 

[n5ims]

lol
same for me

Maybe its inthe fine fine print for uniden that states dont charge the recharable batts in the HP-1

Whats the number i should call to get a hold of somebody who deals with this stuff?

You might want to send a PM to UPMan to get accurate answers to your specific questions. He is probably able to provide you the most accurate information on what is/isn't covered and what numbers a Canadian should call for support, repairs, and any required RMA numbers.

 

[XTS3000]

For years and years I would charge the 396T internally. During charging I always pick up the scanner to change volume or some other setting. Once I picked it up, and the scanner was much warmer that it usually gets during a charge cycle. Immediately pulled the batteries and let them cool down. Checked out each batteries internal resistance, and sure enough one had a much lower resistance than the other 2. Recycled the bad battery and added one from the same batch and no problems since.

Rechargables can go bad in many ways. They can possably short or open. I've had new batteries fresh out of the package bad on delivery, although not very common, it does happen.

 

[VE3RADIO]

That is messed up, I definatly will never charge my batteries in the HP-1 (I never did before, sure as heck wont now)

 

[magellat]

Uniden Repair Centre

Customer Support
4700 Amon Carter Blvd
Forth Worth TX
76155
1-800-297-1023
magellat (Montreal)

 

[tprmutch]

yes I found that you can use the HP-1 as a hand warmer after chargeing the unit

 

[MarMatthias]

There have been several threads on RR about issues charging batteries in the scanner. Here's one http://forums.radioreference.com/gre-scanners/201601-charging-rechargeable-batteries-psr-500-a.html

I've never had problems from mine, but its definitely something to be concerned over. I have noticed that the 396XT gets very warm when its charged in a nylon or leather case. I have always kept mine well ventilated and out of the case when charging. Looks like it might be a good time to find an external charger....

Where those batteries the ones that came with the unit?

 

[epilab]

Ul

I believe the underwriters lab will be interested in this unit. Contact them, and that they probably will want the product sent to them for testing. Uniden may wish to replace the unit because the UL could pull their approval if an design issue is found and if thers experience an issue a recall could be requested. Any electronic consumer product the could cause harm they take very seriously.

 

[rckydenver]

Thanks for posting!!! This would be something Uniden will have to look into. Now i just plug my radio in with the power cord and ask if i want to recharge the batterys, i just click on the NO. Might just take the battery out all together.

 

[Mark_Honie]

NiMH Batteries

Uniden needs to clarify something here:

Does the battery charge circuitry within the HP-1 have a thermal cutoff?

If not (ie: the charge routine is merely a simple timer), then I would recommend that NiMH batteries NEVER be charged within the unit. However, I find it hard to believe that Uniden would release an integral-charger design without a thermal protection device.

A common failure mode of NiMH is overheat during charge. Internal resistance is what many well-designed chargers use to gauge the "health" of a battery. Uniden should not allow self-destruction as a result of a likely scenario.

 

[VE3RADIO]

Suprised Paul hasnt chirped up