BCD536HP question

[Voyager]

That gel cell might be the better option. Make sure there is diode protection to prevent reverse current flow.

 

[buddrousa]

No they all use power as long as it is not left on for hours it should be ok

 

[Voyager]

But if the Gel cell goes dead, your vehicle will still start...

 

[Bob132]

That gel cell might be the better option. Make sure there is diode protection to prevent reverse current flow.

I did a version of the gel cell set up on a base scanner to allow for power failures back in the 70's diode included. it worked great as a back up to AC power. Will have to go back in my brains memory bank and see if it saved the file.

 

[Bob132]

No they all use power as long as it is not left on for hours it should be ok

I am still interested in your suggestion as well. I may check with a couple of Fire departments in the area and see if they are using such devices and maybe get a better idea of the feasibility and exactly how they work.I might even talk to my old departments mechanic to get his take on the device.

Thanks again and be safe out there.

 

[buddrousa]

Our radios come on through Master Battery Switches. We turn on the Battery Switch which closes a relay to power the radios now with power run through the conditioner the radios stay on when the truck is started in stead of the radios rebooting.

 

[N9JIG]

We used a version of this on our squads for a couple years in northern Illinois. With 2 radios (4 plus a portable repeater on 2 cars), a laptop, dash-cam etc. we were having a lot of issues with dead batteries. We did have timer devices set to turn off the electronics after a certain time but they were not effective. We also had plug-in chargers/oil pan heaters but the guys rarely remembered to plug them in or worse, to unplug them.

On one year's new fleet we put in a hi-capacity gel-cel battery that powered all the electronics. A charging circuit kept it charged when the vehicle was running. This allowed an isolation of the added electronics and the vehicle power save for the charger. Our dead battery issues disappeared overnight. We had this for a couple years' vehicles.

While it worked well it was done away with on a new fleet of vehicles a few years later after we replaced the emergency lighting with LED's and got new radios and camera systems that used a whole lot less power. Newer timers proved more reliable, a whole lot less expensive and easier to install.

 

[Dutchster]

Jameco works very good but if you don't start the vehicle for a week or so it may not start as the Jameco does draw juice.

Yep, I bought a Jameco thinking it might be a good idea, and for $25 I wasn't talking a huge investment. Before I cut everything up though I put it on the bench and did some calculations on it. With no load attached it's always drawing about 100 mA. That's about 8 times the normal load on my vehicle's battery with the ignition off.

That will kill a healthy battery in just a few days. Even if I never went that long between starts it would wear my battery out quicker due to the repeated discharges. So I dispensed with the Jameco, turned off all recording/replay options in the scanner and don't worry about it. I've got hundreds of restarts on it with no SD card problems. If I was using replay it might be a different story because that involves lots of writes to the card.

 

[Bob132]

Our radios come on through Master Battery Switches. We turn on the Battery Switch which closes a relay to power the radios now with power run through the conditioner the radios stay on when the truck is started in stead of the radios rebooting.

All of our rigs also had the master battery switch and I don't recall any of the radios rebooting either now that I think of it, so they must have been using battery conditioners as well. I think I am getting a better understanding of this device.So could I use an inline switch to isolate the device from the battery (to prevent battery drain) when the vehicle sits unused for extended periods of time without it affecting starting of the vehicle with the switch off or on and only turn the switch on when I know thatI I will be using the scanner or driving the vehicle on a regular basis?

Sorry for all the questions, I used to have a pretty good handle on basic electrical wiring, but old age and too many drug lab fires are making it a bit more difficult to comprehend things like I used to

 

[buddrousa]

No problem my kenwood radios have no problems my EF Johnson 53SL Lighting Head radios were rebooting.

 

[Bob132]

Yep, I bought a Jameco thinking it might be a good idea, and for $25 I wasn't talking a huge investment. Before I cut everything up though I put it on the bench and did some calculations on it. With no load attached it's always drawing about 100 mA. That's about 8 times the normal load on my vehicle's battery with the ignition off.

That will kill a healthy battery in just a few days. Even if I never went that long between starts it would wear my battery out quicker due to the repeated discharges. So I dispensed with the Jameco, turned off all recording/replay options in the scanner and don't worry about it. I've got hundreds of restarts on it with no SD card problems. If I was using replay it might be a different story because that involves lots of writes to the card.

That sounds encouraging. That's what I was initially doing for awhile until I got to worrying about the damage it might do to the scanner, I don't use the record/replay feature anyway.

I think I might still at least explore the other options, then throw them all in a hat and draw one.

Thank you for your input

 

[Bob132]

No problem my kenwood radios have no problems my EF Johnson 53SL Lighting Head radios were rebooting.

I haven't scrapped your suggestion yet, just feel that I need to get a little more info from people in the field that use or have used them before decide if I want to make the investment. That sweet little 536 darn near broke the bank.

Thank's once again

 

[fenderblue]

I didn't know you could shut off the recording-replay options. I rarely use it in my vehicle. All though I do on my base scanner.

 

[Voyager]

Yes, you can (using the latest firmware), and it should greatly reduce the chances of corruption.