Icom IC-R3 not working with alkaline batteries - HELP

[Dax]

New to the forum, Hello World!

I just picked up an IC-R3 used. The Li-Ion battery it came with is dead dead dead, reading 0v on the multimeter. It has contacts to put in 3 AA alkaline batteries however when I put in the batteries I can't turn the device on.

It works fine when plugged into the wall.

I know there is a "battery spacer" that came with the unit for use with Alkaline batteries, however I do not have that spacer part. Can someone with an IC-R3 try putting in Alkaline batteries without the spacer piece and tell me if it works? I am wondering if the spacer is pressing a switch or shorting a terminal somewhere that enables the radio to use battery power instead of the battery pack.

Failing that, does anyone know of any troubleshooting steps to find out why it's not powering on with battery power? Is there a fuse in this radio? I found the service manual (http://www.rigpix.com/icom/icr3_service.pdf) however it wasn't as helpful as I was hoping it would be.

Any and all help is appreciated.

 

[Dax]

Doh. Fixed my own problem.

I was looking at images of the battery spacer online and noticed it has a protrusion at the bottom of the holder. Sure enough it was pushing down a piece of metal on the radio, enabling the batteries.

To anyone else having this issue: Looking at the radio from the back, on the lower-right corner there are two horizontal metal bits in a square hole. Just jam a piece of cardboard in that hole so it pushes down on the contacts. This enables the radio to power up from alkaline batteries.

Thanks anyways guys. I've been reading the past comments and I think I will stick around for a bit. Great site.