396xt Battery Error

[325xia]

Oh ya $30 or even $50 dollars is alot of money and my only vested interest is that I prevent someone from ruining their scanner.

... and the whole point I'm making here is that irregardless of where the batteries are charged, they can still leak once they are placed in the scanner. They don't just leak when charging. But, you obviously are too narrow minded to understand this yotebuster. With your juvenile remarks that blanket this thread.

 

[ButchGone]

Oh!

So, should I take the battery out of my cellphone and charge it in an external charger? Should I pry the battery out of my iPod and charge it externally? What about my cordless drill, or electric razor? While I agree an external Maha charger might deliver a better/faster charge and trickle ( I do use one sometimes ) there is nothing wrong with charging batteries in the 396. It was designed to do this.
How many documented cases are there (not just "hearing about a friend") of a 396 being damaged by charging batteries? I don't know why charging batteries in a scanner would be any different from other consumer electronics. The paranoia in these forums can be quite amusing!
Cheers!
BG..

 

[SCPD]

I think the thing that is the big difference is the charging time. I personally use a Maha charger and my batteries charge up in about 2 hours. So .. with my time being valuable to me, why would I possibly wait for 16 hours to charge them in my scanner. I have been scanning for over 30 years and I have NEVER charged any batteries in my scanner. I just don't and never will. I was once a semi-professional photographer and back in the 80's I could charge batteries for my electronic flashes in 15 min. Hmmm .. well guess what, that is the reason that I used the products that I did. Cause they didn't waste my time and got the job done.

Nothing has changed ... I still hate to wait for my batteries to charge. So .. having another set of batteries, I just pop them in my scanner and off I go. I leave the dead ones to charge and a couple of hours later, they are done. So ... for me it is all about convenience. I would never leave my scanner sitting there waiting around for the batteries to be charged. So .. if nothing else, that is my reason for using an external charger.

Everyone has their opinion, but that is mine and why I would never let my scanner be turned into a very non-productive battery charger.

 

[rwwheat]

Spare the Scanner!

Okay... If you do not purchase a MAHA Battery Charger by Tuesday of this week I will send a signal to your 396xt that will cause a Thermal Nuclear Detonation smack dab in the middle of Rancho Santa Fe, California and it will be your fault. Its in the Constitution that you must purchase a stand alone charger for your Uniden 396xt. So please do as I say and spare the entire western half of Planet Earth certain doom.

Use a Neutron Bomb and spare the scanner!

 

[325xia]

So, should I take the battery out of my cellphone and charge it in an external charger? Should I pry the battery out of my iPod and charge it externally? What about my cordless drill, or electric razor? While I agree an external Maha charger might deliver a better/faster charge and trickle ( I do use one sometimes ) there is nothing wrong with charging batteries in the 396. It was designed to do this.
How many documented cases are there (not just "hearing about a friend") of a 396 being damaged by charging batteries? I don't know why charging batteries in a scanner would be any different from other consumer electronics. The paranoia in these forums can be quite amusing!
Cheers!
BG..

^^^
Exactly!

 

[RickLeb]

I think the thing that is the big difference is the charging time. I personally use a Maha charger and my batteries charge up in about 2 hours. So .. with my time being valuable to me, why would I possibly wait for 16 hours to charge them in my scanner.

If you have a MAHA charger, you know that it can be used to measure the capacity of a battery.

The batteries that came with my 396XT have a rating of 2250mAh. After charging them in my MAHA charger, I found that the actual capacity closer to 2100mAh.

My next step was to charge the batteries in my 396XT for the default 16 hours, and then read the charge capacity in my MAHA. Once again they showed a full charge of 2100Mah.

Over a period of days I discharged and recharged the batteries inside my 396XT. Each day I changed the charging time of the 396XT. Eventually I discovered that I could charge a set of dead batteries for 6 hours inside the 396XT and the MAHA would show that they were fully charged.

The actual time required may vary for different models and capacities of batteries, but I doubt that any batteries require the default 16 hours.

Personally I prefer charging inside the radio ( even though I have three different external chargers, so obviously saving money isn't the reason).

I find it much more convenient, and as someone said, less likely to cause wear on the battery door, and wear of the metal contacts themselves. It also lets me give the batteries a few short charges each day whenever I am sitting at my desk for a few moments. I also feel that a 6 hour slow charge is better for the batteries than perhaps a 15 minute charge from a fast charger, but I guess if my time was valuable I could sacrifice battery longevity for the faster charge..

It looks like Uniden has put a lot of thought into the design of the 396XT power supply. I tried at least 1/2 dozen 6 volt adapters before I found one that would not give an illegal voltage message. We also know from the OP of this thread that the 396XT is monitoring battery condition as well. I think we can assume that the 396XT will protect itself from any damage.

Rick

 

[SLJ2137694]

^^^
Exactly!

I agree with 325xia and ButchGone. Since 1976 I have continually recharged hundreds of batteries in expensive equipment (mostly nicad) in place and never experienced a leaky battery or capacity problem. If you need a very quick turnaround on batteries in your scanner then use a high quality external charger and some extra batteries. I have several scanners so I just trade off scanners when one is charging on the factory supplied charger which performs just fine for me and I get 11+ hours of use on the batteries. I also have a couple expensive high quality chargers that I use for other applications where an internal battery charging circuit is not provided.

 

[KI4VBR]

OP Is Now Confused

I didnt expect this thread to develop the way it did.....I'm glad it did, as I have read a lot of things that make sense to me.....from both sides (internal & external chargers).

Sometimes these discussions put you perfectly in a 50/50 split on what to do and lock you up in analysis/paralysis.

Allthough my original post was more about my expectations of the original batteries, I have learned quite a bit about charging and hardware concerns. Thanks to everyone how took the time to share their points of views.....they ALL seem valid in one way or another.

73,
Vince _/\_ KI4VBR

 

[rvictor]

The problem with charging in the scanner is that NiMH cells cannot be optimally charged with multiple cells in series. They are best charged with each cell individually controlled by the charger circuitry. That isn't practical within the scanner.

You may be able to charge them in the scanner and not have a problem. On the other hand, if you do have a battery that overheats would you rather have it in your $500 scanner or your considerably less expensive charger? You pays your money and you takes your chances. At least the risks have been disclosed and one can decide whether they feel lucky or not.

If you are going to charge in the scanner, at least make sure that you don't mix different makes, capacities and conditions of the batteries since this could increase the risk of problems.

Dick

 

[SLJ2137694]

When you consider the number of battery packs (packs made up of 2 or more cells) that are in products that we use everyday, portable phones, shavers, etc., that are recharged continually and continue to work just fine and don't leak, I have to say that some of you continue to make a mountain out of a mole hill! On the remote chance that some of the internal cells in a battery pack only reach 95% of a charge, so what! The device continues to work just fine and you would never notice it. I don't worry about the individual cells in my many battery packs. When they get old or capacity drops after several years I replace them. Technically, some of you bring up valid points but in the big picture the points don't mean much. That is my opinion and experiance in using MANY rechargeable battery packs in 30+ years. I have never had a cell leak in any of the packs I use.

 

[325xia]

When you consider the number of battery packs (packs made up of 2 or more cells) that are in products that we use everyday, portable phones, shavers, etc., that are recharged continually and continue to work just fine and don't leak, I have to say that some of you continue to make a mountain out of a mole hill! On the remote chance that some of the internal cells in a battery pack only reach 95% of a charge, so what! The device continues to work just fine and you would never notice it. I don't worry about the individual cells in my many battery packs. When they get old or capacity drops after several years I replace them. Technically, some of you bring up valid points but in the big picture the points don't mean much. That is my opinion and experiance in using MANY rechargeable battery packs in 30+ years. I have never had a cell leak in any of the packs I use.

^^^
You are so right. I can't believe how many people on here think these 3 AA batteries are the "Mother Lode". Charge it and forget it!

 

[yotebuster]

The problem with charging in the scanner is that NiMH cells cannot be optimally charged with multiple cells in series. They are best charged with each cell individually controlled by the charger circuitry. That isn't practical within the scanner.

You may be able to charge them in the scanner and not have a problem. On the other hand, if you do have a battery that overheats would you rather have it in your $500 scanner or your considerably less expensive charger? You pays your money and you takes your chances. At least the risks have been disclosed and one can decide whether they feel lucky or not.

If you are going to charge in the scanner, at least make sure that you don't mix different makes, capacities and conditions of the batteries since this could increase the risk of problems.

Dick

This has to be the most logical reply on this thread. rvictor I stand with you on this one.

 

[JamesPrine]

I have seen some fascinating material here, and some highly informative and, in some cases, extremely amusing observations and advice.

I've had my 396XT for a short time, and have already grown extremely fond of it. I've charged the issue batteries once since I received it; I like to operate the 396XT with Freescan and the AC power charger hooked in.

Today is the first time I got the low battery flasher after using the receiver for something like 11 hours in the past two days on batteries only and, interestingly, when I shut down and also lowered the volume of the receiver, it worked without the low battery alert when I powered up again a short time later.

I see that Freescan has charging time options, from 1 hour to 16 hours; I set it at 16 hours, thinking that a long, 'cool' charge would be safer for my receiver than 'faster' jolts to the batteries...does this make any sense until I get a decent external charger and some more rechargable batteries?

After all, it *is* a waste of a fine receiver to convert it to a 16-hour battery charger <g>.

Thanks!

 

[UPMan]

The charge time setting does not change the charge rate. A one-hour charge charges at the same current as a 16-hour charge (you just get about 1/16 of the energy into the battery).