Charging a portable radio while the radio is on.

[olesouth919]

I've always heard that having a portable radio on the charger while the radio is on and scanning is not good on the battery.
I've tried to preach it to our folks not to do it, but it doesn't work.
So, I'd like to get some opinions on the matter.
Does it hurt the life of the battery?
And is there anything else it could harm?

Thanks
Kevin

Sent from my XT1097

I had the same problem with my personnel as well. Per the manufactures instructions, the vendors, and personnel experience, leaving a portable radio on while in the charger is bad for the battery. I find that NiCad batteries and their life cycles are a fickle thing to manage as well.

What I did combat this occurrence was to issue each member a second battery so that one battery would always be charging while one stayed in the radio. I also had to go through our entire inventory and remove all non motorola brand batteries and chargers as I had several batteries and chargers go bad or some cases melt while in the charger. It looks cheaper to buy off brand batteries that fit and work with the radios, but in the long run it's more expensive. Another recommendation is to let the batteries drain completely then charge them. Since I drilled those reforms in my personnel, we are seeing longer battery life and better life cycles.

I can't comment on the usage of Li-Ion batteries yet, as we have just transitioned to them. But I did issue each person with two batteries for their portables

 

[wa2chj]

I seem to have a different experience than most of you. Several of the departments that I belong to and manage the radios for, use portables (mostly Vertex) as 2-tone alert receivers. As such, whether in the charger or not, they are on pretty much 24/7. All members have them, so there are around 150 units in the field most of the time. I've rarely had a battery go bad...unless it was an infant failure in the first few months of use. Most of the batteries last at least five years. I just checked my radios, and some have batteries older than seven years that are still going strong. All are OEM batteries and chargers, and I have a mix of NiCad, NiMH, and now Lithium batteries (all with appropriate chargers). YMMV!

Scott

 

[trlrdrdave]

I agree with wa2chj. I have been a radio tech for 30 years and in a volunteer fire dept almost that long. I carry 3 radios at all times and they are never ever turned off. Never had a problem. These are all Motorola radios and batteries.

 

[MTS2000des]

and I work for a large agency as a radio technician and I am going through about 200 XTS NNTN4435B batteries that are essentially worthless because they were left on in V3.40 IMPRES SUCs.

Most of these batteries are just outside the 18 month warranty. After several "forced" calibrations on one of my IMPRES V3.90 MUCs with displays, most of them barely get over 42 percent capacity. Some are just plain gone.

meanwhile one agency on our system (who uses two batteries) has 150 or so NNTN4435Bs with date codes in early 2007 and most are still 70 percent or more.

You do the math.

 

[wa2chj]

I didn't mean to offend anyone with my comment above, I was just reporting my experience, not challenging your experience. I would never presume to know what anyone else's experience with their equipment is.
Perhaps it is a matter of different radio manufacturers, and the different battery vendors they use along with different charging circuitry.

 

[mformby]

I would tell my customers that a radio in the charger was like a pot of stew or chili on the stove. Leave in there for as long as needed to do the job then remove it from the heat (charger). Take the radio out, turn it on and leave it out until it dies. Repeat as necessary. Also, the charger is not a stand, do not leave the radio in there all the time.