PSR-500 A/C and internal charging circuit

[Maglite]

In the manual it states that you must plug the power adapter into the scanner first, and unplug it from the wall first before removing. I currently use a power inverter and the standard A/C power supply,

A. Will it cause harm to the scanner using a power inverter?

B. Will it cause harm to the scanner if the power supply happens to get knocked out of the power inverter, as it sometimes happens in a car?


Also, is the internal battery charger circuit active if the scanner is not on?


I've wrote to GRE concerning this, but they haven't replied...


Thanks

 

[kf4sek]

Seeming that the PSR-500 and the PRO-106 are the same, internally, the internal battery charger is not active while the scanner is off. As for the other 2 questions, I cannot help you.

One suggestion I always see others making on the forums is that it would be much better to charge the batteries using an external charger. If a cell decides to leak, you won't ruin your $500 scanner. I personally agree and have purchased an external charger. That way, should a cell actually leak, it won't ruin my $500 PRO-106 scanner, just my $30 external charger. Just something you might want to think about.

 

[DonS]

Seeming that the PSR-500 and the PRO-106 are the same, internally, the internal battery charger is not active while the scanner is off.

On the PSR-500 and PRO-106, the battery charger is most certainly active while the scanner is turned off. Additionally, when the scanner is "off", you lose the charging timeout feature - meaning the batteries will be charged indefinitely, no matter what your "battery type" or "charge time" settings might be.

EDIT: yours truly only remembered this fact when, in a moment of idiocy, he left his PSR-500 turned off, attached to external power, with alkaline cells installed in the yellow battery holder. Alkaline cells in the yellow holder wouldn't normally be a problem for me, since I have set the scanner to a "battery type" of "alkaline" - disabling the charger. However, with the scanner turned OFF, that setting is ignored, and the charger is turned on no matter what type you've selected in the PGM GLOB menu. Fortunately for me, the scanner was standing upright (limiting the damage from the leaking cells) and the AC adapter self-destructed (preventing a possible fire).

 

[lowboy654]

I have charged all of my hand helds with the batterys installed, one time I left one sitting ontop of my laptop while charging well guess what to this day you can tell where my scanner was sitting, it was a pro-39 and she is dead now but the old laptop a compaq presario that came with windows 95 now 98 can still power up I wish that the pro-39 would to, I have a lot of scanners that are a lot older and still work,so pull the batterys out. P.S. the battery in the compaq is dead.


73's

 

[kf4sek]

On the PSR-500 and PRO-106, the battery charger is most certainly active while the scanner is turned off. Additionally, when the scanner is "off", you lose the charging timeout feature - meaning the batteries will be charged indefinitely, no matter what your "battery type" or "charge time" settings might be.

EDIT: yours truly only remembered this fact when, in a moment of idiocy, he left his PSR-500 turned off, attached to external power, with alkaline cells installed in the yellow battery holder. Alkaline cells in the yellow holder wouldn't normally be a problem for me, since I have set the scanner to a "battery type" of "alkaline" - disabling the charger. However, with the scanner turned OFF, that setting is ignored, and the charger is turned on no matter what type you've selected in the PGM GLOB menu. Fortunately for me, the scanner was standing upright (limiting the damage from the leaking cells) and the AC adapter self-destructed (preventing a possible fire).

I withdraw my other post. I did not think the internal charging circuit would be active with the scanner off as the little charging icon does not display. That and the fact that I have tried to charge the batteries in the scanner with it off and the batteries were still dead 2 days later when I went to go portable with my PRO-106. I guess I was doing something wrong. I still prefer to charge the batteries externally, as a personal preference. Thank you for the clarification, Don.

 

[JoeyC]

That and the fact that I have tried to charge the batteries in the scanner with it off and the batteries were still dead 2 days later when I went to go portable with my PRO-106.

Assuming the 106 came with the same 2 battery holders as the 500, you can only charge batteries using the yellow holder.

 

[kf4sek]

Assuming the 106 came with the same 2 battery holders as the 500, you can only charge batteries using the yellow holder.

Yes, I was using the yellow holder. Maybe I was doing something wrong. It does not matter now as I charge the batteries using an external charger that trickle charges them to keep them at full charge. That way, I always have a fully charged set of batteries when going mobile.