BCD436HP/BCD536HP: BCD436HP Charging

[top13]

Hi All, Is there a faster way to charge the BCD436HP?
I plug it into a powered 6 port USB hub.
It seems like it runs for a day and almost takes 2 days to charge.

Thanks

 

[palmerjrusa]

Hi All, Is there a faster way to charge the BCD436HP?
I plug it into a powered 6 port USB hub.
It seems like it runs for a day and almost takes 2 days to charge.

Thanks

Get another set of 3 X Ni-MH AAs and a decent charger.

The Japanese-made Panasonic Eneloop AAs are the Gold Standard for Ni-MH cells. I've Eneloops that are more than 10 years old and they're still going good, never had one fail.
Avoid like the plague most other Ni-MH brands, including the major ones, all made in China and mostly junk.
A good cheaper second choice are Amazon Basic brand AAs (not the high capacity ones though), made in China but I've had good success with them too.

 

[top13]

Get another set of 3 X Ni-MH AAs and a decent charger.

Thanks, I have tried the batteries I use in my Pro-106, same thing. I use an external charger for those batteries.
I was trying to avoid taking the batteries out of the radio. Is there a better USB charger? Or is the best way to use an external charger?

 

[mikewazowski]

Hi All, Is there a faster way to charge the BCD436HP?

By an external charger from a company such as Maha AAA batteries, aaa charger, nimh battery charger

 

[top13]

By an external charger from a company such as Maha AAA batteries, aaa charger, nimh battery charger

Ok, Thanks, I will do that.

 

[palmerjrusa]

Thanks, I have tried the batteries I use in my Pro-106, same thing. I use an external charger for those batteries.
I was trying to avoid taking the batteries out of the radio. Is there a better USB charger? Or is the best way to use an external charger?

I almost never charge the batteries internally with my handheld scanners, it's slow and if something goes wrong it can ruin the radio, happened to me once, something went wrong and there was burning plastic smell.

I would get some AA Eneloops and one of the Panasonic chargers made for those cells, I believe they now make one with a USB port, hunt around on Amazon for the best price. The panasonic chargers will monitor the charging process and stop charging when it detects the cells are fully charged. so it's not trickle charging, and it's also much faster.
Also, avoid high capacity Ni-MH AAs, they're intrinsically much more fragile and very intolerant of misuse, they also have a much reduced charge cycle number life compared to normal capacity Ni-MH AAs

 

[palmerjrusa]

By an external charger from a company such as Maha AAA batteries, aaa charger, nimh battery charger

This is the best charger out there:

Battery Charger & Analyzer | Powerex by Maha Energy

Maha Energy is the maker of Powerex batteries, NiCD Batteries, aa nimh batteries, aaa nimh batteries and charging solutions. Powerex batteries offer the highest performance available today. Powerex chargers use advanced techniques for optimized battery charging and to optimize battery life

mahaenergy.com

I own one, and the previous iteration, excellent chargers.

If you decide to purchase a Maha charger, sign up for their newsletter and they'll send you a discount code, probably 10% off.

 

[top13]

This the best charger out there:

Battery Charger & Analyzer | Powerex by Maha Energy

Maha Energy is the maker of Powerex batteries, NiCD Batteries, aa nimh batteries, aaa nimh batteries and charging solutions. Powerex batteries offer the highest performance available today. Powerex chargers use advanced techniques for optimized battery charging and to optimize battery life

mahaenergy.com

I own one, and the previous iteration, excellent chargers.

If you decide to purchase a Maha charger, sign up for their newsletter and they'll send you a discount code, probably 10% off.

Great Thanks

 

[top13]

Thank you all for your recommendations!

 

[RandyKuff]

The reason your being told to use an external charger is...
The 436 does not have an "Intellegent Charger" built in...
It charges at a very low current and at a charging time that YOU set it to..
In a pinch yeah... Otherwise thats a good way to overcharge them and drastically reduce the life span of them over time...

 

[dave3825]

I have 2 Opus 3100 chargers and like the Maha @mikewazowski posted, they can charge individual cells. I can also choose my charge rate starting at 200mah up to 1000mah. It will recondition nimh as well.

I use 2450mah Ikea Ladda batts and also use Eneloop pro. Pretty sure Ikea Ladda rechargeable AA & AAA are rebranded Eneloop Pro and they are a hell of a lot cheaper than Eneloop branded. I have many sets charged and ready to go especially during hurricane season.

Amazon.com

 

[palmerjrusa]

This the best charger out there:

Battery Charger & Analyzer | Powerex by Maha Energy

Maha Energy is the maker of Powerex batteries, NiCD Batteries, aa nimh batteries, aaa nimh batteries and charging solutions. Powerex batteries offer the highest performance available today. Powerex chargers use advanced techniques for optimized battery charging and to optimize battery life

mahaenergy.com

I own one, and the previous iteration, excellent chargers.

The reason your being told to use an external charger is...
The 436 does not have an "Intellegent Charger" built in...
It charges at a very low current and at a charging time that YOU set it to..
In a pinch yeah... Otherwise thats a good way to overcharge them and drastically reduce the life span of them over time...

Yep, you've no idea what the actual status of the batteries really are.
One could have gone south, and you wouldn't know, or they could have just lost a lot of their capacity.

The Maha charger is an intelligent charger.
You can set the charge parameters and it will monitor the charging process and indicate their capacities (best to do this via its discharge mode though for a real capacity determination).
It will also do a battery check and if a cell fails the test it will tell you a cell has gone bad.
There are also "break-in" and "refresh/analyze modes" to revive sluggish cells or batteries that have been in storage and not used in a while.

 

[palmerjrusa]

Yep, you've no idea what the actual status of the batteries really are.
One could have gone south, and you wouldn't know, or they could have just lost a lot of their capacity.

The Maha charger is an intelligent charger.
You can set the charge parameters and it will monitor the charging process and indicate their capacities (best to do this via its discharge mode though for a real capacity determination).
It will also do a battery check and if a cell fails the test it will tell you a cell has gone bad.

I have 2 Opus 3100 chargers and like the Maha @mikewazowski posted, they can charge individual cells. I can also choose my charge rate starting at 200mah up to 1000mah. It will recondition nimh as well.

I use 2450mah Ikea Ladda batts and also use Eneloop pro. Pretty sure Ikea Ladda rechargeable AA & AAA are rebranded Eneloop Pro and they are a hell of a lot cheaper than Eneloop branded. I have many sets charged and ready to go especially during hurricane season.

Amazon.com

The Ladda's are rebranded high-capacity Eneloops.
The issue I have with high-capacity Ni-MHs is that they appear to be intrinsically much more fragile and very intolerant of misuse. This seems to apply to all the high-capacity Ni-MH out there (except some of the obscure Chinese brands that claim to be "high-capacity" but they're really not, they just drastically inflate the cells' capacity (EBL AAs that claim to be "2800mAh", are actually a max of 2500mAh)
The max capacity the Ni-MH technology is currently capable of is 2700mAh and only the Maha Powerex brand produces them, they are accurately rated.
High capacity Ni-MH AAs also have a much lower life expectancy vs. regular Ni-MH AAs = 500 charge cycles vs. over 2000 charge cycles.

 

[hunterca]

By an external charger from a company such as Maha AAA batteries, aaa charger, nimh battery charger

I totally Agree with the Maha/PowerEx charger since there is an odd number for the scanner. There is a model that charges one battery at a time.

This is the model I misplaced at my Ex's house.
Powerex MH-C401FS Charger (mahaenergy.com)

 

[RandyKuff]

I totally Agree with the Maha/PowerEx charger since there is an odd number for the scanner. There is a model that charges one battery at a time.

This is the model I misplaced at my Ex's house.
Powerex MH-C401FS Charger (mahaenergy.com)

I still have a couple of the 401's... They still work great too... They work great in a vehicle with the 12v cig adapter cord...
They are nice and small in size...

I also have the older version of the one @mikewazowski pointed out above... The eight slot...
I have both the older version of and the new 9000 Pro...
They all work fantastic...

 

[hiegtx]

Hi All, Is there a faster way to charge the BCD436HP?
I plug it into a powered 6 port USB hub.
It seems like it runs for a day and almost takes 2 days to charge.

Thanks

You've already gotten good suggestions from several other members.

However, I would point out that, along with the low charging rate in the 436HP which Randy has noted, it also will not charge the batteries while you have it turned on & scanning. Only when you have it turned off, and have selected the "charge ?" prompt when connecting the USB cable will it charge at all. You definitely are better off with using a good external charger, along with one or more extra sets of batteries.

 

[hunterca]

The Ladda's are rebranded high-capacity Eneloops.
The issue I have with high-capacity Ni-MHs is that they appear to be intrinsically much more fragile and very intolerant of misuse. This seems to apply to all the high-capacity Ni-MH out there (except some of the obscure Chinese brands that claim to be "high-capacity" but they're really not, they just drastically inflate the cells' capacity (EBL AAs that claim to be "2800mAh", are actually a max of 2500mAh)
The max capacity the Ni-MH technology is currently capable of is 2700mAh and only the Maha Powerex brand produces them, they are accurately rated.
High capacity Ni-MH AAs also have a much lower life expectancy vs. regular Ni-MH AAs = 500 charge cycles vs. over 2000 charge cycles.

Ladda and Enloop batteries are made in the same plant that is owned by Matsushita Japan. Also never let these batteries discharge 100 percent. They will die and never be able to charge again. I learned this the hard way. This is why the scanners have a voltage limit before it tells you to charge again. When I had the 436hp I had two extra sets of batteries for the radio.

 

[wtp]

and it really helps to 'match' up the cells.
i use it for 12 cells and the unidens use 3 each.
so the top 3 get grouped then the next and so on.
and you might find that one is much lower than the others.
only one time did i get new cells and one was almost a dud.
a 2500 only got to 2000.
under 1600 they go to the solar lights.

 

[dave3825]

Also never let these batteries discharge 100 percent. They will die and never be able to charge again.

When they get that low, the intelligent chargers, and others wont charge them. Chargers need to see an actual voltage or the charge circuit wont activate. The threshold in the intelligent chargers are rather low so they wont even see the battery. Have it happen every once in a while. All you need to do is jump start the dead batt with a fully charged batt. I usually stand the dead one and a charged one on a paper clip connecting both negative sides. Then press and hold a second paper clip on top of both positive terminals for like 4 to 6 seconds. Then pop it in charger and it charges. Just like jumping a dead car battery..

aa nimh batt wont charge - Google Search

 

[palmerjrusa]

When they get that low, the intelligent chargers, and others wont charge them. Chargers need to see an actual voltage or the charge circuit wont activate. The threshold in the intelligent chargers are rather low so they wont even see the battery. Have it happen every once in a while. All you need to do is jump start the dead batt with a fully charged batt. I usually stand the dead one and a charged one on a paper clip connecting both negative sides. Then press and hold a second paper clip on top of both positive terminals for like 4 to 6 seconds. Then pop it in charger and it charges. Just like jumping a dead car battery..

aa nimh batt wont charge - Google Search

The intelligent chargers do a diagnostic impedance check, if the impedance is too high or beyond a certain value it assumes there's something wrong and rejects the batery. The other way to revive a battery that's been allowed to deep discharge and has been rejected by an intelligent charger is to trickle charge it for a little while, that usually brings the cell out of its deep discharge state and an intelligent charger will then accept it and charge it as per normal.