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Question about Impres Chargers

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SCPD

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Question about Impres Chargers... I have an XTS2500 with an Impres battery and I understand that the XTS "speaks" Impres to the battery. I also have an HT1000, and a couple of Impres batteries which fit that. Although I'm sure the HT1000 isn't Impres capable, would I get the benefit from using the Impres battery/charger combo with the HT? Does the radio need to be Impres-capable to benefit or is it more a relationship between the battery and the charger?

Thoughts?
 
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bezking

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The only benefit you would get from running Impres on the HT1000 would be that the battery will talk to the charger to optimize charging. You don't lose or hurt anything by running an Impres battery on a radio that doesn't utilize the Impres protocol, however - if you ever charge the Impres battery in a non-Impres charger, you lose all Impres functionality and the battery functions like any other non-Impres battery.
 

SCPD

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Thanks... Impres chargers have LED 'codes' which indicate they are conditioning, charging, etc... (flashing orange, I think) if the battery/charger combo never enters this state, is it safe to assume the Impres functionality is toast?

Forgetting Impres for a moment... is there a school of thought associated with battery usage, charging, and conditioning? I ask not because I'm too lazy to search, but because if I do, I will get every answer with the possible exception of the correct one. I'm sure there are a ton of threads here on the matter... can you point me to one you agree with?
 

bezking

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I would think so. The nice thing about Impres is it does everything automatically for you, so it might take a while for it to go into conditioning, etc, if the battery is brand new, but if it *never* happens I would say it's probably toast.
 

RodStrong

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if you ever charge the Impres battery in a non-Impres charger, you lose all Impres functionality and the battery functions like any other non-Impres battery.

However, that loss is not permanent. Point being, if you are in a jam and need to charge an impres in a non impres charger, don't be under the impression (no pun intended....IMPRESsion) you are going to permanently lose your impres functionality. You can always get it back once you get the battery back to its mother charger and cycle it a couple of times.
 

MTS2000des

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actually if an IMPRES battery isn't returned to an IMPRES charger after 10 charges in a non-IMPRES charger, the IMPRES chip disables itself, or so our product training on IMPRES batteries told us. The initial charge MUST be on an IMPRES charger or the chip disables after the FIRST charge on a non-IMPRES charger.

IMPRES is a great system IMO. IMPRES batteries have a longer warranty when used exclusively with IMPRES chargers.
 

RodStrong

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actually if an IMPRES battery isn't returned to an IMPRES charger after 10 charges in a non-IMPRES charger, the IMPRES chip disables itself, or so our product training on IMPRES batteries told us. The initial charge MUST be on an IMPRES charger or the chip disables after the FIRST charge on a non-IMPRES charger.

IMPRES is a great system IMO. IMPRES batteries have a longer warranty when used exclusively with IMPRES chargers.

That is very interesting, thanks. If you find any online documentation on this, I would appreciate a PM.

I deal with hundreds of batteries, many Impres, and charge them many different ways. Hence my previous post.

I never knew this. Almost inclined to take a brand new impres battery and put it in a non impres charger to see what happens.
 

N4KVE

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While the Impress system is a great idea in theory, sometimes in the real world, it isn't. It normally takes a couple of hours to charge my 1600 ma Impress batteries with my non Impress Motorola WPPN4065 pulse charger. The batteries work perfectly, however sometimes with my WPLN4114AR Impress charger with 3.4 f/w, it can take 7 hours to complete the charging cycle because the charger/battery combo decide to go through several charge/discharge/condition cycles before the complete light comes on. Too long to wait. GARY N4KVE
 
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RodStrong

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While the Impress system is a great idea in theory, sometimes in the real world, it isn't. It normally takes a couple of hours to charge my 1600 ma Impress batteries with my non Impress Motorola WPPN4065 pulse charger. The batteries work perfectly, however sometimes with my WPLN4114AR Impress charger with 3.4 f/w, it can take 7 hours to complete the charging cycle because the charger/battery combo decide to go through several charge/discharge/condition cycles before the complete light comes on. Too long to wait. GARY N4KVE

This is a major negative issue with impres chargers. The charger has a mind of it's own, so to speak, and at times wants to recondition the battery when you don't want it to.

If you don't catch the charger when it's trying to recondition the battery, and manually take it out of that mode, you could later pull a nearly dead battery out of a charger when you need it the most, and this obviously could get someone hurt or worse.

This can really be a factor in vehicles that have gang impres chargers for caches and such.
 
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krokus

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Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry8530/5.0.0.973 Profile/MIDP-2.1 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/105)

You can halt the current process, and make the charger change modes, by pulling the battery out, and reinserting it within five seconds.
 

ed_blair01

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Impres battery in non-Impres Chargers

I have experienced Impres batteries "dying" in non-Impres chargers. Does anyone know if this is common or has experienced the same? I know the literature states it can affect capacity and charge time accuracy, but I thought my experience was a little extreme. I'm not sure how old the batteries actually were, but I was told they were within a year old and not used prior.

Thanks.
 
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