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G5 Battery Care

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Jimco

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I just got my G5 and amplified charger. Really nice stuff and now I'm watching it sit in the charger and eagerly awaiting the initial charge to finish. :) While that's happening, I have a question.

I typically take great care with rechargeable batteries by making sure they don't sit on a charger all the time, not charging them until they are discharged, etc. Can anyone who's had a G4/G5 for a while comment on how careful you have to be with these batteries? I know you can buy a replacement for about $30, but I want to ensure this one lasts as long as possible.

Thanks!

Jim
 

IAmSixNine

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What i would watch out for is charging error 7. I get that about 25% of the time when using my drop in amplified charger. Not sure why i get it. But pulling it out, waiting 30 seconds and re-seating it fixes the issue.
Its very rare i got a charging error when using micro usb to charge the unit vs charging it with the drop in charger.

As far as care goes. I would hope that Unication has put in over charge protection into the hardware to prevent it from always charging.
The fact that it goes from red to green makes me think they did. :)
If your only using it for an hour or so a day you dont need to charge it daily. If your using it to say 50% capacity each day then yeah sure charge it daily.
Thats what i do and usually follow the same rule with my phones and other 2-way radios.
 

Jimco

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What i would watch out for is charging error 7. I get that about 25% of the time when using my drop in amplified charger. Not sure why i get it. But pulling it out, waiting 30 seconds and re-seating it fixes the issue.

Thanks! Good info.

So far, love this radio. I do think it's a little funny that when you change zones, it says "Please waiting. . ." :)
 

troymail

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A fellow forums G5 owner has told me he has had some issues with battery overheating in the drop in charger. He mentioned that the battery pack actually "expands" --- all sounds bad to me.

I have a G4 and keep it on the charger (USB cable - I don't own a drop in charger) almost all the time when not mobile.

The only problem I've ever seen may have been the "error 7" (may not have been "7" but that sounds right) and that seemed to be caused by (maybe) a low voltage condition feeding the USB cable. If I remember correctly, the radio "appeared" to quickly recover from that error and indicates that it was charging but in fact, I learned later that it was not. To get it to actually charge, I had to unplug everything and start over. It was fine after that.
 

IAmSixNine

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I have not noticed any unusual heating from mine.

troymail can you ask that other owner if he is leaving his unit on while charging and if its inside or in a warm environment.
My charger sits in my kitchen and i have my unit powered off when i charge it. I really dont need an amplified speaker, i just wanted a drop in charger.
 

cpetraglia

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A fellow forums G5 owner has told me he has had some issues with battery overheating in the drop in charger. He mentioned that the battery pack actually "expands" --- all sounds bad to me.

I have a G4 and keep it on the charger (USB cable - I don't own a drop in charger) almost all the time when not mobile.

The only problem I've ever seen may have been the "error 7" (may not have been "7" but that sounds right) and that seemed to be caused by (maybe) a low voltage condition feeding the USB cable. If I remember correctly, the radio "appeared" to quickly recover from that error and indicates that it was charging but in fact, I learned later that it was not. To get it to actually charge, I had to unplug everything and start over. It was fine after that.
I had the same overheating problem (battery expanded a lot) when I first got my G4. Plugged in only to USB cable. Through Ray's they sent me a whole new pager. I have never had the problem since. I still say it was a defective battery. (Made in China)
 

doctordave

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Just now seeing this. I have a handful of G5s sitting in amplified chargers and active 24/7 (in the house). Periodically, the charger cradle's indicator light will (inappropriately) change from "fully charged" to "charging." If I don't catch this quickly, the system seems to continue with unregulated / non-stop charging...resulting in significant battery heating/swelling. Thus far, no ruptures or explosions. If I catch this charge indicator light change quickly, I can pull the radio out and do a hard reset (battery pull) before battery damage ensues -- and I also pull the booster unit's power cord. I've found that the only reliable sequence for restablishing proper charging is to: Pull the battery and re-insert it 30 sec later (simultaneously yanking and re-inserting the booster device's power cord, although unclear if this truly is impactful) , Power on the device and let it boot up, Power down the device, Place the device onto the cradle, Power back up the device. If I simply hard-reset the device and place it back onto the cradle, the charging trouble seems to not go away.
I've noted that AC power flickers seem to trigger this problem. For example, power was lost at my house for 2 minutes a few weeks back - and this caused the aforementioned issue for 3 device-charger combos. I got to them quickly and all was fine. At other times, while away from home, brief known power outages have occurred and by the time I got home, several batteries were already swollen. There have been a few scenarios in which I've gotten home from work and found this issue - but there was no indication (from home appliance clocks, etc) of any power failures having occurred.
In total, I've replaced 6 total batteries across 4 devices, in 6 months. A fifth device has never suffered such a failure.
Clearly, brief AC power loss seems to trigger some sort of charging dysregulation. It is not clear to me if the charger booster device circuits plays a role in this. I've contemplated setting up uninterrupted /highly regulated power supplies (with battery backup) - as used for computers - for each of the Unication combos ....but that sure would be costly & cumbersome.
 
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