Yaesu VX-150, VX-170 BATTERY question...

[Secret_Squirrel]

I'm hoping one of the battery gurus on this forum can help answers some questions I have. The Yaesu VX-150 will accept either the factory FNB-64 700 mAh Ni-Cd battery or the FNB-V57 1100 mAh Ni-Cd.

The VX-170 accepts the FNB-83 1400 mAh Ni-Mh battery.

All of these batteries are the same size and seem to interchange just fine between radios. They are all 7.2V batteries.

The questions is; Can I safely interchange these batteries between radios? I realize that I'll have to use different chargers to charge up the 3 different battery packs, however, once charged with the proper charger I would think that interchanging the packs would be okay.

Side question, can old battery packs that no longer hold a charge be taken apart and then rebuilt?

 

[kg4uad]

I'm hoping one of the battery gurus on this forum can help answers some questions I have. The Yaesu VX-150 will accept either the factory FNB-64 700 mAh Ni-Cd battery or the FNB-V57 1100 mAh Ni-Cd.

The VX-170 accepts the FNB-83 1400 mAh Ni-Mh battery.

All of these batteries are the same size and seem to interchange just fine between radios. They are all 7.2V batteries.

The questions is; Can I safely interchange these batteries between radios? I realize that I'll have to use different chargers to charge up the 3 different battery packs, however, once charged with the proper charger I would think that interchanging the packs would be okay.

Side question, can old battery packs that no longer hold a charge be taken apart and then rebuilt?

1.) Yes you can safely interchange all batteries - the trick replacement battery to get now for your vx-150/ft-60r is the FNB-83, why Yaesu even bothers with the others is beyond me.

2. Yes you can rebuild the packs but its a pain, if you want maximum versatility get the FBA-25 6AA battery case ( then its easy to pop out the batteries and recharge)

The answer for you right now is the UC-1 Universal charger by W & W associates - http://wwassociates.com/chargers.asp
I have one and it will charge any battery (provided you have the "cup" for your radio) it in every respect has out performed my stock rapid chargers. Its an investment that keeps paying off, every time you buy a new HT simply buy the "cup" for that radio and your in business. My problem was 15 different chargers sitting on my bench, these days its one charger with a milk crate underneath full of the cups.

73's

Kg4uad

 

[icom1020]

I own a 150, if they do interchange, I don't see a problem, in fact the FT60 will also work and I have 1 drop-in charger that fits both that I got from batteryzone. Having a single charger might be the way to go. As long as they are all 7.2v I put a Centurion antenna for RR band reception.

 

[Secret_Squirrel]

Just a quick update to this thread:

I bought a new FNB-83 battery pack and installed it on my VX-150. It works like a charm. I also called Yaesu and spoke to their tech support people. They said that charging the VX-150 with a FNB-83 battery pack installed and using the VX-170's NC-88B charger is perfectly fine. To me that's great news.

The ability to stock the same battery packs for all of my different portables and use the same charger for all of them makes things simple. Also, there's the interoperability factor there as well.

 

[DiGiTaLD]

Rebuilding Procedure

2. Yes you can rebuild the packs but its a pain

Anybody got a procedure for this or hints and tips? I have an FNB-64 that's totally dead, and an FNB-V57 that's well on it's way there. I also have two additional FNB-V57 packs currently in service that will be ineffective before too much longer. How hard are these to get apart, and what's involved? Once the case is open, they can't be that hard to rebuild. You can see the cells in there just by looking at the pack when removed from the radio.

 

[DaveH]

Anybody got a procedure for this or hints and tips? I have an FNB-64 that's totally dead, and an FNB-V57 that's well on it's way there. I also have two additional FNB-V57 packs currently in service that will be ineffective before too much longer. How hard are these to get apart, and what's involved? Once the case is open, they can't be that hard to rebuild. You can see the cells in there just by looking at the pack when removed from the radio.

I can't comment on the specific pack, but having worked on others, it can be
a real pain.

The cells are tab-welded together and you'll need to find and remove the bad ones,
or replace the whole stack. Sometimes cells are glued to each other, which can be
hard to separate. Then there's the challenge of getting the case apart without
damage (some are easy, others not) and making sure metal contacts don't get
bent/damaged.

The replacement cells should be graded i.e. matched for capacity. These should
be available but I'm not the expert on sources. Then you'll need to weld them
togther. Forget soldering, as it takes lots of heat and stresses the cells (been there,
tried it).

Not to discourage you from trying, but be careful e.g. don't short good cells out,
or have a piece of the case fly into an eye while you're prying it apart...

The battery shell route looks good but the shells aren't always cheap (shop
around), as they know how to get you one way or another. Battery shops can
rebuild packs, but don't expect that to be cheap either.

Dave