Help with Strange Battery Problem for 396T

[rswayze]

I have spent the past two days searching the forums for similar problems but no success:

After running through a set of batteries in about a month (I listen about every other day for an hour or so), I decided to switch to Rechargeable Batteries. I Went to RS and picked up a set of their 2100mah Ni-Mh Rechargeables. After a two full charges on an external charger, I threw them in the scanner and it turned on, then immediately turned off after giving the low battery beep.

I have switched the selector inside of the battery compartment to the correct setting (Ni-MH) and plugged it into the AC adapter. The screen shows "Pre-Charging" for about 30-40 seconds then displays "No Battery". I checked the battery contacts and there is no sign of any damage that I can see. I have tried and tried to get the scanner to run on batteries, but have just about given up.

Does anyone have any suggestions??? I would appreciate hearing any relevant solutions so that I can get this think working before the bad weather moves into the area tomorrow. Thanks in advance- Robby

 

[k2ns]

Batteries

It sounds like 1 or more of your R/S batteries are bad. What happened to the original rechargeable batteries (GP brand) that came with the scanner ??? Those work very well for me.


RON

 

[qt31005]

Check your switch

did you put the switch on NI-MH if not its still on alkalne. On that setting the recharge batteries run out faster. The switch is inside the batter aera just use a pin or something to movie the switch. Now if you pluge it in to a power coard and you have alkalne batteries in that will miss everything up couse it will charge the nonrecharge batteries

 

[qt31005]

ok never mind you did that sorry

 

[rswayze]

The original rechargeable batteries stopped holding a charge. I have made sure that the switch is in the correct position (Ni-MH). I left the power cord plugged in overnight and when I looked at it this morning, the display read "Battery Error". I unplugged it and turned it on. The batteries must have received a charge overnight because they are up to about 3.5v, but now I have the "Battery Error" message. Any thought?

-Robby

 

[garikfox]

Ditto ! here

I just bougt 4 x AA Sony 2500mh, They were bad

Then went too walgreens got the famous energizer greens 4 x AA 2450mh, They were bad also.......

Something going wrong with batteries lately.

Energizers are made in Japan, Im suprised I got a bad bunch.

 

[rswayze]

I am truely stumped.... somebody out there must have a fix for this

 

[UPMan]

"Battery Error" appears if the scanner detects that one or more of the cells are bad. Charging does not proceed when this error appears.

You either have one or more bad cells or there is something wrong with the charging circuit in your scanner.

 

[rswayze]

UpMan,

Thanks for the reply. I will try to change the batteries first. If the problem is with the scanner, what can I expect to pay to have the repairs done by Uniden?

 

[UPMan]

The flat rate repair price is currently $49.50 + shipping.

Specific repair policy information is at http://www.uniden.com/repair/rates3.cfm

 

[Dewey]

did you put the switch on NI-MH if not its still on alkalne. On that setting the recharge batteries run out faster. The switch is inside the batter aera just use a pin or something to movie the switch. Now if you pluge it in to a power coard and you have alkalne batteries in that will miss everything up couse it will charge the nonrecharge batteries

Is this a fact??? I know the switch stops current from the AC adapter from reaching the batteries in alkaline mode so you wont blow your batteries, but I nver knew that the switch had anything to do with actual battery consumption.

Dewey

 

[UPMan]

It doesn't.

 

[grodgers]

NiMH Battery Chargers

Not all NiMH battery chargers are alike.
MOST chargers will require you to charge your batteries by the pair. The problem comes when you put batteries that are either of different capacities OR have a different initial charge level in them.... Since the 396T takes 3 batteries, it makes it difficult to use an external charger because you always have the single ODD battery.

Delkin Devices makes a 4-AA/AAA charger that has independent charge circuits for EACH cell. I highly recommend it.

The Engergizer charger requires you to charge 2 identical cells at the same time.

Yes, there are a LOT of bad rechargeables out there. If you get a charger like the Delkin, you can QUICKLY identify which cell is the bad one - each compartment has its own status LED and will indicate a bad cell.

 

[rswayze]

I came home from work today and the screen shows "Normal Charging" !!! Finally. I was worried for a second there. Thank you all for your suggestions and I look forward to the new firware. Can't Wait!! Happy Scanning- Robby