PRO-90 scanner battery replacement question

[EdwardnNC]

I found some batteries on Ebay that look nice.. and sound nice.. but I am not sure if they will work.

The stock battery is an 800mah NiCD battery. I am looking at replacing it with a 2200mah Nimh.

Here are the two auctions. They both say 100% compatible. I am sure it will fit.. and work. I am worried about it charging. Can I charge a nimh battery pack safely in the scanner with the stock power supply?

4 8V 2200 mAh Ni MH Battery Replacement for RadioShack Pro 90 New | eBay

HQRP 2200mAh Battery Fits RadioShack 23 9063 23 9074 CS 90013 11975901 Pro 90 | eBay

Thank you,
EdwardnNC

 

[EdwardnNC]

I just found another battery pack for an even lower price.

BP 250 Replacement for Uniden Scanner High Capacity 4 8V Ni MH 2500mAh | eBay

 

[DickH]

... I am worried about it charging. Can I charge a nimh battery pack safely in the scanner with the stock power supply?

Yes you can charge them in the scanner, but many of us here on RR recommend you do NOT do it. My PRO-95 ended up with a burned out resistor and others have had much more serious things happen because they charged their batterys in the scanner.
You will be much better off to buy a charger and another set of batteries and change them when they run out.

 

[EdwardnNC]

DickH,

Thank you for the response.

This scanner uses a battery pack, not loose cells.

The only way to charge it is in the scanner.

If you click on one of the ebay links, you can see what it looks like.

Thank you,
Adrian

 

[DickH]

DickH,

Thank you for the response.

This scanner uses a battery pack, not loose cells.

The only way to charge it is in the scanner.

If you click on one of the ebay links, you can see what it looks like.

Thank you,
Adrian

Ah, that's right. The PRO-90 is so old I forgot. Just be sure to unplug the A/C adapter when a thunderstorm is around.

 

[Ensnared]

Always Keep Pigtail

When I had difficulty finding said battery pack, I took a depleted pack to Batteries Plus & they built me a new battery pack. Of course, if you are handy with a soldering iron you could do the same thing. They told me they could do so as long as I had the pigtail.

After writing this post, I checked to see availability of said battery pack online. There are many people selling this item. Amazon has several different models varying by the composition of the batteries.

 

[jaspence]

New batteries

Some older chargers, such as the one I use on my Motorola HT600, do not have the ability to handle Nimh cells. It does not have the circuitry to know when to drop to trickle charge and just keeps sending full current. Going from 800 ma to 2200ma cells may also result in very long charge times, which is not an issue if the scanner is plugged in most of the time.

 

[Ensnared]

Nickel Hydride

Some older chargers, such as the one I use on my Motorola HT600, do not have the ability to handle Nimh cells. It does not have the circuitry to know when to drop to trickle charge and just keeps sending full current. Going from 800 ma to 2200ma cells may also result in very long charge times, which is not an issue if the scanner is plugged in most of the time.

I always used the original adapter that came with my Pro-90 prior to RS putting out the generic adapter with interchangeable tips for the nickel hydrides I bought from Scanner World. I never looked at the rating, but I never experienced problems. The BC245 adapter also worked for me.

 

[EdwardnNC]

So... you guys are saying that the stock power adapter ifs fine for charging the nimh batteries in the scanner?

I just want to be sure.

Sent from my Samsung S3 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Ensnared]

No Problem

So... you guys are saying that the stock power adapter ifs fine for charging the nimh batteries in the scanner?

I just want to be sure.

Sent from my Samsung S3 using Tapatalk 2

From my personal experience, I have not had any problems. I don't know what the mah rating was for the green-colored bundles I used to buy from Scanner World, but it was close to the original batter from what I recall. At present, Scanner World's web site is down due to the staff having some sort of medical issue.

Of course, you could take the pigtail, provided you have a spare, and specify what type of batteries you want to put into the bundle at Batteries Plus.. If you want to stay with the original power level, I suppose that is possible.

I've never heard of wall charging problems specific to the Pro 90 like I have with the Pro 106 or PSR 500. In my personal opinion, you will be fine. But, for safety sake, ask someone at Battery Plus. They have been quite forthcoming with me. If you don't have one in your area, I would find one to call and ask.