APX7000 Low Battery Level

[Spankymedic7]

Hello to all,

My APX7000's low battery alert is being triggered at 40%. I thought there was a way to change this to a lower percentage level in the CPS, but I am unable to find it. The only thing that I'm able to find is the "Smart Low Battery Alert" which was set at "Early Warning", which I've set to 'Standard'. I looked in the "Radio Ergonomics" to no avail. Would anyone be able to nudge me in the right direction?

I'm using CPS 27.00.01.

Thank you in advance.

 

[chrismol1]

This is what it says for that smart lo batt alert
Standard 10% battery power left.
Early Warning 15% battery power left.
if it's flashing battery symbol far out of whack, have you tried put battery into a recondition cycle?

 

[Spankymedic7]

This is what it says for that smart lo batt alert
Standard 10% battery power left.
Early Warning 15% battery power left.
if it's flashing battery symbol far out of whack, have you tried put battery into a recondition cycle?

Yeah I just did the recondition cycle a few days ago. There has to be a way for me to change the low battery alert setting...

 

[KevinC]

Does this happen with every battery?

 

[Asunakiyori]

new question, How old is said battery

 

[Spankymedic7]

Does this happen with every battery?

I haven't tried a different battery, I'll have to give that a whirl.

 

[Spankymedic7]

new question, How old is said battery

Brand new.

 

[Spankymedic7]

This is what it says for that smart lo batt alert
Standard 10% battery power left.
Early Warning 15% battery power left.
if it's flashing battery symbol far out of whack, have you tried put battery into a recondition cycle?

I put it through another recondition cycle, so we'll see what happens in a little bit. Right now it's at 45%...

 

[Asunakiyori]

it is entirely possible theres a bad cell in it

 

[Spankymedic7]

it is entirely possible theres a bad cell in it

Yeah I'm going to have to try another battery to find out.

 

[MITTYCPD]

I'm noticing a number of my batteries exhibiting the same thing. They will start beeping around 40% then just go dead. All have been reconditioned but are about 5-6 years old under 200 charges.

 

[K2NEC]

Motorola recommends changing batteries every 2-3 years

 

[MITTYCPD]

$ure they do.

 

[Asunakiyori]

Motorola recommends changing batteries every 2-3 years

of course the /\/\onoply on alot of radios wants that.... My batteries are atleast 6 years old, with 270+ charges

 

[chrismol1]

op is the new battery still wrong? does happen with every battery, is the radio firmware old, i maybe recall updates for battery fuel gauge some batteries

 

[K2NEC]

of course the /\/\onoply on alot of radios wants that.... My batteries are atleast 6 years old, with 270+ charges

You probably take good care of your batteries though and don't put it through harsh conditions like in public safety. I can't even tell you how many times ive seen people skip the reconditioning because they need a quick charge up. Lets say this, if someone in public safety is working Pittman schedule, after 3 years is roughly 500 charges. That's plenty to get out of a battery. If it's something like FD where the battery is constantly charged and pulled when needed, that wears the battery life down too. So 3 years on a regular daily use is pretty fair. Battery life is no joke. On a foot pursuit is a bad time to find out your radio battery is shot. Moto plays it safe.

Also, just because the service life is good doesn't mean the cells inside are. I've had batteries at 98% service life go dead after a transmission.

 

[MTS2000des]

5 years is way past any device's recommended battery replacement cycle. Even if they are taken care of, LiON cells do not age like old NiCD and NiMH. Their performance starts to sag considerably after 3 or more years of use. Any device in IDLH or life safety service should have a battery no more than 3 years old. For hobby/ham gas bagging who cares, but if one's life depends on the device to work, is it really worth the chance?

 

[KevinC]

I thought Kenwood/Harris/Icom/RELM/pretty much everyone else had batteries that were guaranteed for 10+ years?

But seriously, I do have my original battery from my first APX. It’s 12+ years old now and around 80%.

 

[Spankymedic7]

op is the new battery still wrong? does happen with every battery, is the radio firmware old, i maybe recall updates for battery fuel gauge some batteries

The new battery continues to trigger the alarm at 40%. I tried another battery which did function as expected. So, I will be exchanging this battery with a new one. That being said, I could swear that I saw a feature on CPS (unknown if APX or not) where you could change the level at which the low battery alarm is triggered. Oh well, I guess a new battery is in my future.

Thank you for your help!

 

[GTR8000]

That being said, I could swear that I saw a feature on CPS (unknown if APX or not) where you could change the level at which the low battery alarm is triggered.

Answered in post #2. You can select between 10% (standard) or 15% (early warning), that's it. It is not customizable beyond those two choices.