SDS100/SDS200: 2nd swollen SDS100 battery in 1 year

[W5ATX]

This is the 2nd battery to puff up in less than 1 year. below is the original battery that came out of my 4th SDS100 purchased new from HRO on 9/2021. This battery was sitting in the box on the shelf with about ~50% charge (I have 2 batteries and i cycle them every few months). It was literally stuck inside the box and I had to rip it open. I'll let the photos speak for themselves.

 

[n1chu]

Uniden should do whatever is needed to increase the quality of battery they spec to whoever it is that supplies them. My guess is these LI-ion cells come with a variety of quality ratings. I say that because the same LI-ion battery technology is used in the medical field with items like implanted defib/pace makers that last for many years! You don’t see these failing like the Uniden batteries, of course not, it’s unacceptable! Cell phones such as Apple iPhones and Iwatches don’t fail either (I have had a bad battery in my iPhone but not the watch.) Again, I suspect there are different levels of quality built into these batteries-Uniden should up their game.

 

[ToddWilkinson]

This is the 2nd battery to puff up in less than 1 year. below is the original battery that came out of my 4th SDS100 purchased new from HRO on 9/2021. This battery was sitting in the box on the shelf with about ~50% charge (I have 2 batteries and i cycle them every few months). It was literally stuck inside the box and I had to rip it open. I'll let the photos speak for themselves.


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@JoeBearcat

 

[mikec10]

I just sold my sds100 to upgrade to the sds200. My main reason to sell it was to do the upgrade. I did have concerns regarding the battery because of basic battery issues that cell phones and other battery-operated devices have at times. I had my sds100 for over a year with the larger battery with no issues. That being said I am glad I did an upgrade. Near where I live, we had a business burn to the ground that had a large supply of lithium batteries. No official cause yet but personally I do not feel comfortable with these batteries after they are over a year old. Also, I really like my sds200.

 

[belvdr]

This is the 2nd battery to puff up in less than 1 year. below is the original battery that came out of my 4th SDS100 purchased new from HRO on 9/2021. This battery was sitting in the box on the shelf with about ~50% charge (I have 2 batteries and i cycle them every few months). It was literally stuck inside the box and I had to rip it open. I'll let the photos speak for themselves.

How could you tell if it was stored at 50% charge when it was still shrink wrapped?

 

[MTS2000des]

How could you tell if it was stored at 50% charge when it was still shrink wrapped?

That is how most Lithium batteries are shipped from the factory.

 

[belvdr]

That is how most Lithium batteries are shipped from the factory.

I know, but it makes me wonder if that wasn't the case here.

 

[KD2BNC]

I have also had this issue with the large capacity battery from Uniden. It lasted about two years. Oddly enough the original original smaller capacity battery that shipped with the radio is doing just fine and is still in use.

 

[gmclam]

I bought two separate SDS-100s at about the same time from two separate retailers. One is powered from an AC-USB adapter ~99.9% of the time. The other is powered from an external source when in use (from 1 hour a day to 24 hours a day). I see the charging cycle on and off on the stationary unit so it was being kept at whatever charge level the radio wanted. The 2nd unit was always trying to "catch up" on charging but would reach 100% (green light) on trips/etc.

Knowing of this issue I've kept an eye on the physical batteries. Remove the cover and examine the battery. I decided to remove the battery from the unit powered from AC and set it on the desk. It didn't take long (a week or so) and the battery started to swell. It's now so large there's no way I could put it back in the radio. Hell I'm scared to even have it charging in the house. The battery in the 2nd unit is still OK, as I do cycle its use constantly.

I've spent a large part of my life as a Consumer Product Design Engineer. If this was mine, it would be unacceptable. It's not just a bad design, it's dangerous. I don't see a good solution other than to replace the existing LiIon battery with a form-fit function-compatible model from another vendor (even if that's a custom build for Uniden).

 

[Ubbe]

It's a management decision how much they think that a customers are willing to pay for a scanner and how cheap components they can use without having too much warranty repairs and getting a bad reputation.

I think they have gone too cheap with the SDS series. The bad receiver RF quality, the hum problem, the cold solder joint problem between RF and logic board and on the antenna connector, the erratic function of the rotator control, the swelling batteries, the sudden silence of the audio. It's more problems with the SDS series than in older scanners with the same features but use a less costly receiver chip compared to the discrete components in older scanners and SDS series use the same firmware features that have already been developed and payed for in the older models.

/Ubbe

 

[D5422]

I just sold my sds100 to upgrade to the sds200. My main reason to sell it was to do the upgrade. I did have concerns regarding the battery because of basic battery issues that cell phones and other battery-operated devices have at times. I had my sds100 for over a year with the larger battery with no issues. That being said I am glad I did an upgrade. Near where I live, we had a business burn to the ground that had a large supply of lithium batteries. No official cause yet but personally I do not feel comfortable with these batteries after they are over a year old. Also, I really like my sds200.

I've had the SDS100 for several years and use the bigger batteries as well. Never had any problems with them. Keeping my fingers crossed. As a side note, how does your SDS200 sound v. the SDS100? I'm a retired deputy sheriff, so we had very good, rich sounding portables. The 100's sound cheap. No deepness at all. Do the 200's have better sound? Thanks!

 

[gary123]

I agree with Ubbe. We are seeing the results of cutting corners to reduce cost. The flagship model(s) are becoming one step removed from unreliable junk.

Many of us will pay $1000+ for a good reliable unit. The more features and options the more most of us would be willing to spend....provided we are not being gouged. Proof of the willingness to invest the dollars into good hardware is to look at the Motorola threads. Uniden is missing a huge financial and market share opportunity here.

Back on topic. is there anyway to get your SDS100 batteries replaced under warranty? I do not see any issues with sipping the now discharged and dead pack back to them.

 

[W5ATX]

I've had the SDS100 for several years and use the bigger batteries as well. Never had any problems with them. Keeping my fingers crossed. As a side note, how does your SDS200 sound v. the SDS100? I'm a retired deputy sheriff, so we had very good, rich sounding portables. The 100's sound cheap. No deepness at all. Do the 200's have better sound? Thanks!

The 200's have a better sound than the 100's in my opinion. but neither compare to my old xts5000, maybe i'm just used to those radios as I worked with them for 15 years.

As far as the batteries go, I guess quality control isn't what it used to be.

When my 3rd sds100 had it's original battery swell up, I sat on the phone with uniden customer service for about 30 minutes and they had to get a managers approval to send me just a battery. They wanted me to ship the whole scanner to them and I said no. I sold that sds100 a few days later with a spare battery that uniden sent me. For some reason when i purchased another new sds100 2 years ago, uniden mailed me a little white box that had a new extended battery with a larger battery door. (I've owned 4 sds100s and received 2 of these packs). So when uniden sent me the latest new battery a few months ago, I removed the 1-year old sds100 #4 battery with about 50% charge and stuck it in the box and put it in the closet. I cycle batteries every 3-6 months. I went to cycle them and discovered the ticking timebomb.

The new battery however is working great. When I plug in the radio to charge on the new battery it will charge, go green and stay green. even when you turn it off and back on, it will stay red for about a second and immediately switch to green. With the 1-year old battery it would go red for 10 minutes, and green for 10 minutes, and red for 10 minutes and so on. after owning 4 sds100's it seems the batteries may become faulty after just 1 year. I dont even want to bother with uniden or joebearspy at this point for a new battery honestly. I'm tempted to sell this sds100 so that i dont have any more surprises. If one of these explodes in the radio or on a shelf it's not going to be pretty. Someone else can roll the dice with this fire hazard. I still have the battery for now, but it's isolated in the garage in case it does catch on fire. I'd like to see an aftermarket battery option for these scanners.

 

[bearcatrp]

Was considering upgrading to a SDS100 but after reading this thread, I now have second thoughts.

 

[belvdr]

Was considering upgrading to a SDS100 but after reading this thread, I now have second thoughts.

I don’t think this is as widespread as it seems. Forums tend to generate the bad news, across various technologies. I would not be inclined to halt my purchase based on the forums.

 

[Omega-TI]

The 100's sound cheap. No deepness at all.

Itsy bitsy, teeny weenie, tinny little speakers sound like that. << ONE SOLUTION >> then you can blast it everywhere in your house adjusting the graphic equalizer bass and treble or tone control on the individual radio(s) in your home.

-- EDIT --
Or if you don't mind purchasing directly from China, and waiting longer, you can save $36.47 on the same exact item
<< HERE >>.

 

[JoeBearcat]

Uniden should do whatever is needed to increase the quality of battery they spec to whoever it is that supplies them. My guess is these LI-ion cells come with a variety of quality ratings. I say that because the same LI-ion battery technology is used in the medical field with items like implanted defib/pace makers that last for many years! You don’t see these failing like the Uniden batteries, of course not, it’s unacceptable! Cell phones such as Apple iPhones and Iwatches don’t fail either (I have had a bad battery in my iPhone but not the watch.) Again, I suspect there are different levels of quality built into these batteries-Uniden should up their game.

One thread that seems pretty common is that it happens to batteries that are not used for a long period of time - perhaps batteries that are allowed to discharge nearly completely. Would that correctly describe the case here?

 

[W5ATX]

update... battery is even more swollen after being out of the package for just 1 day. uniden do you really want me to mail this back and put the postal service at risk??

 

[bearcatrp]

I don’t think this is as widespread as it seems. Forums tend to generate the bad news, across various technologies. I would not be inclined to halt my purchase based on the forums.

I will wait awhile before deciding now. Lets see, battery swollen issues, cold solder joint issues, and a sucky speaker. Cost over $600 for these flaws.

 

[belvdr]

I will wait awhile before deciding now. Lets see, battery swollen issues, cold solder joint issues, and a sucky speaker. Cost over $600 for these flaws.

I thought the cold solder joint was fixed in the latest runs, but the speaker isn't very good and there's just no overcoming the physics of a tiny speaker in a tiny package.