Battery Life

[CopyThat]

Hello, I just got my 396XT yesterday and I am trying to decide something. "Should I use rechargeable batteries or just use Duracell etc..

If I decide to use Rechargeable batteries what is the best method for battery life?? For example if I use my 396XT for my daily commute which is about an hour... would it be better to use the cigarette lighter adapter or just use the battery power until they need recharged again.

In other words when the 396XT is plugged into the cigerette lighter are the batteries bypassed. I am just trying to figure out the best method to make the batteries last longer, and not be drained when I unplug it from the cigarette lighter and want to go mobile.

Any information on this would be greatly appreciated!!!!

Thanks,

Dave

 

[davidbond21]

I would go with the rechargeables. They will pay for themselves more than once in the long run. I use those Enegizer Rechargeables NiMH and they seem to work pretty well, though I think there may be some better batteries that others may suggest.

Yes, if you have the scanner plugged into some kind of external power source, it only powers the scanner when it is turned on and bypasses the batteries; just plug the scanner into external power and pop the batteries out and you'll see the scanner doesn't miss a beat. It only charges the batteries when the power is off. Although I was just now reading something that says otherwise in another thread here. My experience certainly hasn't been what they're describing, but I've been known to be wrong.

 

[rvictor]

Hello, I just got my 396XT yesterday and I am trying to decide something. "Should I use rechargeable batteries or just use Duracell etc..

If I decide to use Rechargeable batteries what is the best method for battery life?? For example if I use my 396XT for my daily commute which is about an hour... would it be better to use the cigarette lighter adapter or just use the battery power until they need recharged again.

In other words when the 396XT is plugged into the cigerette lighter are the batteries bypassed. I am just trying to figure out the best method to make the batteries last longer, and not be drained when I unplug it from the cigarette lighter and want to go mobile.

Any information on this would be greatly appreciated!!!!

Thanks,

Dave

I'd use the rechargeables. It will get expensive to use alkalines.

Whether you use the built in charger or charge the batteries in an external charger is up to you. Some people put the battery switch in the alkaline position to keep the radio from charging their batteries and then use an external charger on the theory that the batteries will not be optimally charged in the radio. This probably gives maximum battery life but involves more effort.

Dick

 

[CopyThat]

So just so I understand. The best way is to run it down completly then recharge them. If I decide to recharge them in the scanner, does it take 14 hours to fully charge the batteries? What if I only have time to charge for 6 to 8 hours? Will that build a memory in the batteries and shorten amount of time they run before the lose there charge. I know the old cell phone batteries did that.
I guess what I am trying to say is, it would be best to charge it until it says 'Charge Complete". I just don't know if I have 14 hours when I need to use it daily. Thanks!

 

[UPMan]

NiMH are fairly immune to "memory effect." In any case, that was triggered by "top charging" a battery (i.e. repeatedly using <10% of the charge, then recharging).

How long it takes for the batteries to be fully charged depends on whether they are fully discharged or not. The supplied batteries, when run to the low-bat beep, take about 14-16 hours to recharge back to fully charged in the scanner.

Although it depends on exactly where you are in the charge cycle, you can roughly, approximately, estimate that 1 hour of charging gets you about 45 minutes of scanning, or 45 minutes of scanning can be restored by 1 hour of charging (did I disqualify that enough? In case I didn't it is a rule of thumb, a guesstimate, ballpark figure, rough measure...).

 

[robertmac]

Batteries

BCD396T-I use 2500 mAh batteries, 3 in the scanner, 6 charged. Run 3 down, put 3 recharged in, charge the drained 3 and put into circulation. Could manage with 3 and 3. External battery chargers [3 hrs or less] are cheap these days. Never have used AC charger to charge or run scanner. Today, there are a lot of rechargable type [NiMH, NiCd, etc.] batteries to satisfy every user. With 2500 mAh, I really only get 10 hours use, but it certainly saves $$$ over regular batteries. And saves the land fills!