BCD436HP/BCD536HP: BCD436HD issue: 1 of 3 batteries die overnight, even powered off!

[buddrousa]

I agreed with you Kevin I said corrosion would cause the current draw to increase look at the last 6 words of the quote
sorry my post was not clear.

 

[rcool101]

My 2¢. Try a power bank (charged at 100 %) and take the batteries out of 436. Plug the bank in the 436 overnight. See if the bank goes down any % wise. Try both 436s. Send 1st 436 to Uniden and list everything wrong, including loose and low volume control, charge socket and dead battery etc. $100 to fix will turn into $300+ to sell. If the 2nd one draws down the power bank any, off it goes for a $100 facelift. Sell them both for $600+ and get a new SDS 100.

 

[wtp]

i have said for years,
just because something is new, does not mean it works.
new to you batteries could just be low in capacity.
same goes for rechargable.
and the better the voltmeter, the less accurate it is for battery testing.
that means it has less draw when checking.
i don't use my 50,000 ohms per volt tester, the the digital ones are 1,000,000+
to test a cell i use a flashlight bulb and a paperclip, it is cheap, fast and effective.

 

[Ubbe]

I always plug it in to either the wall outlet or the cigarette lighter socket in my car,

Do you even need those expensive batteries? I run only external USB power to mine and have no batteries in it.

/Ubbe

 

[RT48]

This is a handy device to measure current draw on USB devices.

USB Digital Meter, USB-A (Type A) - ET900 | Klein Tools

The Klein Tools ET900 is a USB digital meter for common standard USB-A (Type A) ports including Qualcomm Quick Charge® ports. It accurately and reliably measures and displays the USB port voltage, current, capacity, energy, and resistance simultaneously. It can function with any USB-A port that...

www.kleintools.com

Since you have two 436s, I would test the powered off current draw on both with no batteries and connected to a USB charger.

 

[dave3825]

Try a power bank (charged at 100 %) and take the batteries out of 436. Plug the bank in the 436 overnight. See if the bank goes down any % wise.

Does that one stay on? I have one similar and if it does not see a significant current draw, it shuts off and does not continue supplying power to my 436 w/o batteries.

 

[donc13]

I've been a photographer for over 40 years and have always used lithium batteries since they came out because rechargeable batteries have such a short life. Believe me, I've tried pretty much every type of battery known to man. As a drag race photographer, I shoot literally hundreds of pictures per day on race weekends, sometimes upwards of 2,500 shots at an event. When you're taking so many pictures, one after another, as fast as I do, and you're draining the batteries so fast you feel them getting hot in the camera, you KNOW you're putting them to their biggest test. I used to fire through a set of rechargeable batteries in less than a couple hours, about as fast as ANY brand of alkalines. When I discovered these lithium batteries and started using them in my cameras (I only used cameras that took AA batteries up until the last year or two and still have 4 or 5 that take AA's), I found that I could install a fresh set of Energizer ultimate lithium batteries on a Friday afternoon, and could shoot over 500 shots until they died. On a typical weekend with cars only running Saturday and Sunday, I can shoot all day Saturday and into about half the day on Sunday before the batteries died. NO OTHER BATTERY lasted that long, not even the square batteries that are used in my Canon DLSR's. So THIS is why I've been stuck on this battery for so long, in spite of it's cost.

I'm not going to read up on how batteries work. I'm 65 years old, and have used batteries in various things since I was a kid and NEVER, EVER had ANY of them die OVERNIGHT when something was turned OFF. It's obviously a short in the scanner. As a former auto mechanic who has worked with 12 volt car audio, security and pretty much everything else around cars and wiring, I know exactly what kills a car battery every few days even when the car isn't being driven... SOMETHING is causing a continuous draw. Could be as little as a light bulb staying on a a shorted wire, but it's something. Well, the same theory should hold true when it comes to AA batteries or any other size, SOMETHING has to be causing a draw. A battery doesn't just simply die overnight in something turned off, which brings me back to the original reason for my post: MINE ARE BEING DRAINED OVERNIGHT!!! Believe me or don't. I'm not making this stuff up. I have better things to do than get up at 6:00 on my day off and go online and post about something that is not true. If this thread can be closed or deleted it wouldn't bother me at all. Seems nobody believes me. In spite of people thinking you can't test a battery with a DMM, you CAN get a quick basic idea if a battery is up to charge or is low or dead. This isn't a car battery required to fire up a high compression engine, it's a simple AA battery used to power an electronic device. You can read all the thousands and thousands of online reviews about Energizer ultimate lithium batteries and I'd bet you anything you won't find anyone say they have one die overnight right out of the package when it's not even being used.

I was speaking about lithium rechargeable, not disposable lithium batteries.


I agree with the others here, it's a battery problem, not a scanner problem. Simple way to check... First, put 3 of your UNUSED lithium batteries in. Do NOT turn the radio on or plug anything into it and let them sit over night. What happens to the batteries? Now, do the same thing with plain old carbon or alkaline batteries in with nothing plugged in or turned on. What happens to those batteries?

 

[rcool101]

Does that one stay on? I have one similar and if it does not see a significant current draw, it shuts off and does not continue supplying power to my 436 w/o batteries.

I don't think so. But it would if there is a draw on it. That would eliminate the scanner. Try some regular AAs for the h*ll of it

 

[aubertine]

Is the battery charging feature turned on in the BCD436? When the scanner is turned on, the scanner will not charge the batteries. When the scanner is turned off, the scanner will charge the batteries. The batteries you are using are not rechargeable.

 

[rbluesky]

Hello In the menu and manual it says to USE NI-ma or Alkaline ONLY ! and to set the scanner's Menu to either one of the battery types your using the scanner can only charge NI-MA batteries not alkaline OR lithum rechargeables you WILL destroy the tadio if you try charging alkaline AA batteries and possible using lithium ion non rechargeble
Please read the manual

 

[buddrousa]

Read post #1 NOT CHARGING THE BATTERIES.

 

[kruser]

Has this 436 been modified to accept three 3.6 (or 3.7) VDC lithium rechargeable cells in place of the standard NiMH or alkaline cells?
I know there are AA size 1.5 VDC lithium cells that require a special charger as they have buck convertors in the cells to reduce their voltage back down to 1.5 VDC. But... there is also a lithium cell that shares the nearly identical size specs as a standard AA size cell but they put out 3.6 or 3.7 VDC when running and possibly as high as 4.21 VDC when fully charged.
I recall a post a few years ago where someone (Jon Wienke maybe) had modified a 436 battery compartment wiring to allow for three of the 3.6 VDC lithium AA sized cells to be used in parallel in the 436 for a longer runtime. This mod also allowed for them to be charged in the 436 but I don't recall if those AA sized cells have a BMS circuit built into them or if you run the risk of not charging them correctly.
I'd think the OP would have known about this mod however but the OP has not been back here to view this thread since last Saturday so who knows if the problem was ever found.

 

[dave3825]

I recall a post a few years ago where someone (Jon Wienke maybe) had modified a 436 battery compartment wiring to allow for three of the 3.6 VDC lithium AA sized cells to be used in parallel in the 436 for a longer runtime. This mod also allowed for them to be charged in the 436 but I don't recall if those AA sized cells have a BMS circuit built into them or if you run the risk of not charging them correctly.

Another user on another site also did the same and with wireless charging.

https://www.rdforum.org/threads/90207/#post-1301131

 

[kruser]

Another user on another site also did the same and with wireless charging.

https://www.rdforum.org/threads/90207/#post-1301131

Interesting!

 

[StoliRaz]

I'm more here to chime in on your 2016 era 436. Have you tried using a cheap bluetooth transmitter to use your car speakers for sound? Might make it easier to hear when on the highway. If your car has an AUX jack you could also try a cable. Just a thought