SDS100/SDS200: Battle of the Bulge, SDS100 battery wise

[10-43]

Today I discovered one of the tabs on the battery cover of my SDS100 had broken loose. I was able to superglue it back, but I ordered a spare cover.

Neither of my 2 batteries looked bulged. One of them the cover closes quite easily. The other the cover closes without much effort, but seems a slight bit tighter. I had not really noticed before the difference in ease of battery cover closure.

I used a digital caliper and measured the thickness of each in the middle. One is 28.6mm thick and the other is 29.7mm thick. I assume the thicker one put extra pressure on the already inferior tab.

Has anyone else measured these batteries to see what the usual thickness is? Is 1.1mm extra thickness the issue, or did the battery cover just not hold up because it is not very sturdy to begin with. Both batteries are charging and working fine. I already had to replace the battery cover latch when it was only a year old. The 3D printed latch is much more sturdy.

If they bulge, wouldn't it have been better if Uniden had encased the cells to allow some minor bulge instead of a tight clearance of the cells within the case of the battery itself?

For the price of these radios you would expect a more durable case. The case of my not very expensive 2 meter/ 70cm handhelds are as robust as a Motorola brick. Dropping them never results in cracks, just scuffs or dents. I have not dropped my SDS100 yet, but it does not evoke much confidence of survival without case cracks or battery cover damage.

 

[Colin9690]

I’m having the exact situation going on, a 2021 battery is noticeably larger than a 2022-stamped battery I have. The 2022 battery fits like it should.

I’m very interested to hear what others have to say in this thread.

 

[rgchristy]

I’m having the exact situation going on, a 2021 battery is noticeably larger than a 2022-stamped battery I have. The 2022 battery fits like it should.

I’m very interested to hear what others have to say in this thread.

A picture is worth a thousand words... 2020

 

[10-43]

A picture is worth a thousand words... 2020

View attachment 168769

Wow! Pretty amazing. While one of my batteries is slightly fatter by 1.1mm, it still charges and has plenty of runtime. It does make closing the battery cover tighter. I am not sure if I should trust it. I ordered a battery cover from Uniden where the cost is reasonable. Elsewhere they are ridiculously expensive. I'll keep using the cover I repaired until it breaks or gets destroyed by a battery. I also decided to get a new battery.

 

[10-43]

I received a new battery from Amazon today. The thickness as measured by my digital caliper is 28.0 mm. It is labeled CR2022G. The battery I have that is labeled CR2021G measures 28.6 mm thick. These two batteries seem to exert the same pressure when latching the battery cover. The older original CR2021D that measures 29.7 mm thick exerts a much more noticeable pressure when closing the latch.

Obviously the foam pads in the battery cover could be changed to allow a thicker battery, but that would not accomodate a continuous battery expansion.

At this point I will monitor the thickness of the CR2021G and CR2022G batteries. The CR2021D is still usuable, but may be the reason the battery cover tab broke. I do not routinely change these batteries. In fact the older CR2021D was in the scanner for at least 2 months being charged in the scanner.

Maybe a battery should be suspect if the battery cover latch seems to be a little bit harder to close.

 

[Ubbe]

Maybe a battery should be suspect if the battery cover latch seems to be a little bit harder to close.

When latch or unlatch, always push hard on the battery cover. But now you have that stronger latch but it could still wear out the dent it goes into in the scanner chassi if not helping it by pushing on the cover. If it gets increasingly harder to push in the battery cover to make the latch go on or off easily then that battery are beginning to swell.

It's electrical tape around the battery and you lift it up from its plastic shell at the opposite side from the connector, its just a press fit as shown in that picture, and you can inspect the cells. I cut off the most bloated cell and still use the battery but with just 2 cells.

/Ubbe

 

[10-43]

When latch or unlatch, always push hard on the battery cover. But now you have that stronger latch but it could still wear out the dent it goes into in the scanner chassi if not helping it by pushing on the cover. If it gets increasingly harder to push in the battery cover to make the latch go on or off easily then that battery are beginning to swell.

It's electrical tape around the battery and you lift it up from its plastic shell at the opposite side from the connector, its just a press fit as shown in that picture, and you can inspect the cells. I cut off the most bloated cell and still use the battery but with just 2 cells.

/Ubbe

I have been pressing the battery cover down before latching ever since I replaced the latch. Apparently the slightly swelled battery force broke the tab at the top while just sitting in there during use. I glued the tab back, but also ordered a spare battery cover from Uniden.

I like the idea of removing the most bloated cell. I tried lifting the cells out of the plastic shell. They are stuck in there pretty well. Will I need to insert a plastic spudger tool to get more separation?

Thanks for the idea. I also considered replacing the cells if they can be sourced.

 

[Ubbe]

I tried lifting the cells out of the plastic shell. They are stuck in there pretty well. Will I need to insert a plastic spudger tool to get more separation?

Thanks for the idea. I also considered replacing the cells if they can be sourced.

It's just a press fit, it isn't glued or anything like that. The exact measurements of a cell are specific to Uniden so isn't available anywhere, but there are others a little smaller that can be used. But I think that it runs enough on two cells. Instead of 7 hours it should run for 5 hours. You can always use an external power bank, a 10AH one are pretty small and will give you an additional 15 hours, if the capacity have been stated honestly but usually its half of that.

/Ubbe

 

[10-43]

It's just a press fit, it isn't glued or anything like that. The exact measurements of a cell are specific to Uniden so isn't available anywhere, but there are others a little smaller that can be used. But I think that it runs enough on two cells. Instead of 7 hours it should run for 5 hours. You can always use an external power bank, a 10AH one are pretty small and will give you an additional 15 hours, if the capacity have been stated honestly but usually its half of that.

/Ubbe

Thanks. I will keep trying to open it. I will try it with two cells. I will also see what cells may fit inside, but of course they will be lower capacity. I ordered and received a new battery so all good with two good batteries. I have used external USB power banks with my scanners, especially with the BCD325P2 which performance wise is a great radio, especially for VHF and UHF airband, but the battery life stinks!

 

[10-43]

I took the battery apart. This particular one was much more than press fit. Double sided tape on all sides of the metal cover. Stacked cells stuck together, and double sided taped to the bottom of the plastic base. Two cells were thicker than one. Of the two thicker cells, they were about the same thickness, so I removed one of thicker cells. The 2 cell battery charged up fine. The scanner operated about 4 hrs 45 minutes.

For the effort, I think I will just buy new batteries going forward instead of trying to replace cells. I found a cell on Amazon the same capacity, and the dimensions are quite close. It does not look to be larger than the cell I removed and not as thick. 3 stacked will probably fit. But, the cost for 3 cells is still $31.00. Amazon.com

This one will definitely fit, but a bit lower capacity 1500 mAh instead of 1800. But still $27 for 3 cells. https://www.amazon.com/EEMB-Battery-1500mAh-Rechargeable-Connector/dp/B09DPNCLQZ/ref=sr_1_28?crid=LUHSBL8503TK&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.Q65NaQVA-iV5X6b3nO8TOEIi5Ym12DvfYWORZbtbCT8p-EEKpVu9h-lrrEHtVlvuBlHZT8zK02QssCVMsRfGTcvRvyL6RUkWWuOJiw9gpgTbrgLp0jn1zZnJvvUqg5Oir0tN2cLIbfXg-32TfJxraiaXF0kESIb55VElI8YqJJB3g6M5uGHAwTNltB0fCYFkfxZfEE01u5Q4MfNF0Gfmexk1rJsMyQkB3oVXjSHlhnKtT6TeLV-gLpztOrM_QtyX8z6h6d6kYoNuYfL3b1cXwgEQebXlzvGByNz6BKhjBho.0dPuH9Yb43oKsnB_Wjx2j1dr18LDIoxvbrNbRIB92u8&dib_tag=se&keywords=lithium+polymer+battery+3.7v&qid=1726353870&sprefix=lithium+polymer,aps,116&sr=8-28

I would have thought an aftermarket would have been available by now.

 

[Ubbe]

My battery used plain one sided electrical tape, so it was much easier to lift out the cells. But the cells where actually hot glued together but where easily separated. It's probably not worth the hazle and cost to try and replace a cell with another one. I would had cut out that second bigger cell as well, as it will probably continue to swell and no longer fit in its plastic shell. Just use the battery as is with one cell and at a lower capacity.

My other two remaining cells have not swelled anything in size since maybe 2 years when I cut out that single swelled cell from the battery. I bought one small battery and battery cover to use when I go mobile but at all other times I use that 2-cell big battery. I power the scanner almost always by its micro USB connector so I anyhow only use the battery to make the recording function operational.

/Ubbe