Heat is The Enemy

[El_Kabong]

Back in the Summer I left the SDS-100 inside the Subaru while attending an event.

Had not used it in a while and decided to listen last night. Dead.

Oh, okay just charge it.

Nope. Got the infamous blinking red light. Removed the battery and it was ruined. Grrr.

I should know better.

Ordered a new one from Amazon.

 

[CrabbyMilton]

At least the scanner itself is ok. I don't know about the SDS but the 436 takes standard AA's. You could use non rechargables if you wanted but I don't recommend that. New rechargables can be found just about everywhere.

 

[hiegtx]

At least the scanner itself is ok. I don't know about the SDS but the 436 takes standard AA's. You could use non rechargables if you wanted but I don't recommend that. New rechargables can be found just about everywhere.

The SDS100 uses a proprietary battery, not AAs.

 

[CrabbyMilton]

I wasn’t aware of that. That’s too bad.

 

[IC-R20]

I wonder if it really was the heat though or just storing it discharged too long.

 

[buddrousa]

Lucky with that amount of heat you do not have the COLD SOLDER JOINT PROBLEM.

 

[ratboy]

The dead battery pack has been something that burned me so many times over the years. For a long time, after buying pack after pack for my Bearcat BC-205XLT, and having them start getting shorter and shorter run times (Even after the infamous clip mod), I swore off any radio that couldn't be run on AA batteries or an umbilical cord and belt worn pack. My Yaesu HT has a 6AA battery pack for it, along with the decently sized rechargeable one it came with. I had a 9(6AA) volt pack I used on several handhelds, when I had like 30 of them. Some were amazing battery hogs and would kill that pack in like 6-8 hours, others ran all day on it.

 

[CrabbyMilton]

That’s what I love about the 436. It can run on batteries or I can plug it into a wall outlet or power bank when the batteries start to get old. I do empathize with the pain of proprietary battery packs. My old 250D had that. Every year or less I had to replace it. I always bought 2 so I would be ready.

 

[buddrousa]

Sir you can do the same with a SDS100 and a usb battery bank now back to our Regularly Scheduled Programming heat and the SDS100

 

[merlin]

Summer time, in direct sunlight, closed in a vehicle, temperatures can easily exceed maximum storage temperatures.
Displays can cook, batteries fried beyond recovery, plastics deformed, keypads warped beyond use.
And not just scanners.
(My very nice HP calculator went to total loss)

 

[El_Kabong]

It was in the center console and not in the direct sun. Yet, I still think about other electronics integrated into the dashboard and such.

Regardless it was a bonehead move on my part.

 

[Wilrobnson]

When I moved to the Gulf Coast a few years ago, I was initially concerned with the heat issue as well (I run two TRX-1s in Ram Mounts in the car whenever I leave the house). Most days after mid-February climb above 80 degrees, and mid-May through October usually peak in the mid-to-upper 90s.

I tried keeping the windows slightly cracked but hordes of insects looking for a place to party, along with pop-up thunderstorms quickly disabused me of that notion.

Next, I tried a rechargeable fan aimed at the radios, but the battery lasted 4-6 hours and the car was often left unattended for 12-13 hours at a time,

The next step was one of the window-mounted solar powered fans, but again, the window has to be cracked and a clear 96 degree day the first time I tried it produced a thunderstorm...It didn't seem to matter as the fan steadily refused to work. Damn CCF (Cheap Chinese Fan).

In the end, simply placing a spare boonie hat over the radios to keep the direct sun off them has been the best solution. No melted radios, batteries or any issues.

 

[CrabbyMilton]

If the radio is small enough, put it under the seat. Or put it in a big freezer bag in a small cooler with ice. Make sure the bag is sealed. Just a few ideas.

 

[buddrousa]

Putting a Electronic device in a cooler with ice even with it in a baggie is like putting matches or a lighter in the hands of children you are asking for a problem

 

[Wilrobnson]

I will caution on that. I was in Vegas in late August and placed a TRX1 with a power supply (I never run off batteries unless it's some sort of emergency) in a soft sided cooler (the size of a six pack). I placed an ice pack in the bottom and separated the radio from the ice pack with a hotel washcloth. I ran the antenna cable through the zipper on the cooler, using a roof-mounted Comtelco tribander on a mag mount.

Left in 115 degree heat for 9 hours on the passenger seat of my rental car with a shirt or something covering it, there were no ill effects and the scanner never got damp or anything, even though the ice pack was full of warmish water at the end of the day.