Good advice but it's good that it can be charged in place. Infrequently on the road, I've had to charge the battery in the radio. For me, it's a great backup.
SDS100/SDS200: **SAFETY ALERT** SDS100 battery severely swelled
- Thread starter maus92
- Start date
Ubbe
Member
Just a note about Li-ion batteries. I have a Connect System DMR radio and had the drop in charger modified to charge at a low voltage. When the radio was pulled from the charger it would only run for 30-60 minutes, so held a very low battery voltage. The charger started to show battery error and when looking at the battery it had swelled and cracked its housing. So even when not being heavily charged and only keep a trickle charge at a low voltage and not getting warm or overcharged it still swelled after 3 years. It says made in China on the battery. I would say that it's probably more luck involved than proper battery care if a battery will swell or not, at least with cheap China batteries.
/Ubbe
/Ubbe
I have both the thin and thick battery, purchased original and sent the thick one in 2018. both are charged in the scanner and neither showed any expansion, and still doesn't. For those that had this problem, do you charge the batteries in the scanner or with the external charger?
For the record, I bought the 100 in '18. It came with the large battery. I subsequently ordered another large battery and external charger. Jon repaired some cold solder joints and added an internal GPS. I use the external charger more than 95% of the time. I only charge internally when the external charger is not available. I've not had any problems with the batteries.
Thanks for the advice, I am ordering an external charger that comes with an extra battery. Safety first, my concern is the clip on the SDS100.
I've been reading these posts, and checking my batteries every so often, and haven't experienced this while charging nightly (thick battery) in the scanner. My other "thinking aloud" moment points to the chargers. Was there any unknown issue with a certain serial number sequence?
I don’t believe there were any “bad batches” of batteries that could be tracked by serial numbers but I could be mistaken. I agree with the post that states it’s a random thing that happens with no pattern developing. I haven’t heard of the same person having more than one battery go bad on them either.
Possible that a series of external chargers might be at issue if all that reported it were charging by this method?
tvengr
Well Known Member
It was definitely a defect with the original thin batteries. When they were replaced with higher capacity batteries, I left my thin battery sitting on the original cover on a desk at my residence. It was a big surprise when I found it had popped open. Tha battery was not being charged nor had it recently been charged. The thin battery had been charged in the scanner until it was replaced, so it was not an external charger problem. Uniden requested that I ship the battery to them for inspection. They shipped a new large battery plus charger to me for my trouble. I haven't heard any reports of the swelling occurring with the large batteries.
BigC801
Member
correction.... I guess mine had swelled so much it looked like my big battery but it was actually one of my thin batteries, hadn't been charged or used in a few months
Yes but highly improbable. It’s certainly possible but I’m guessing the most common recharging method was by the internal charging circuitry of the radio. And I haven’t seen any correlation of incidences by radio production batches.
Bottom line, I think the incidences are so few and random that the chances of getting a bad battery are very low. How many SDS100’s are out there? How many times have we heard of a bad battery?
I have both style batteries from the very beginning, and have not had any problems, as of now. But those of you experimenting with charging slower, to reduce the possibility of damaging the battery, must remember that it's not the voltage, but the amperage, or in this case, the Milliamps that needs to be adjusted. Just like your vehicle battery is 12 volts, the vehicle charging voltage is around 13.5 volts. You must charge your radio battery above the stated voltage, for it to take a charge. You will never charge a battery if you are below the batteries operating voltage and may actually damage it. In this case, the charger that came with the SDS100 charges at 5.0 volts and 2000 mA. The battery is rated 3.7 volts. Try a wall wart that is 5.0 volts and say 1000 or 1500 mA. It won't charge as fast, but it will charge a little cooler, as it's not forcing the battery to charge as quickly.
Respectfully, not correct.
While I don't have the external charger the mA hour rating is max. available current @ 5 Volts. How much current the battery consumes during charging is about what the battery charging circuity will allow. In the case of my SDS100 with big battery the current at the charging port on the radio is a measured 700mA. The charging circuity will raise or lower the volts out to the battery to keep the current at or near 700mA. The wall wart will have to maintain a fixed voltage and supply current up to a maximum demanded of the charging circuit. In the case of the radio charging port its only 700mA. Changing the wall wart max. allowed current will have no impact in that configuration. I have my doubts that the external charging base works differently. Not having one I may be wrong. Not the first time.
While I don't have the external charger the mA hour rating is max. available current @ 5 Volts. How much current the battery consumes during charging is about what the battery charging circuity will allow. In the case of my SDS100 with big battery the current at the charging port on the radio is a measured 700mA. The charging circuity will raise or lower the volts out to the battery to keep the current at or near 700mA. The wall wart will have to maintain a fixed voltage and supply current up to a maximum demanded of the charging circuit. In the case of the radio charging port its only 700mA. Changing the wall wart max. allowed current will have no impact in that configuration. I have my doubts that the external charging base works differently. Not having one I may be wrong. Not the first time.
aascannerman
Member
How would one dispose of a battery in that state? Im sure you cant just toss it in the trash. Wow!
slicerwizard
Member
I'd take it outside and burn it.
I have a battery recycler that took it for me.
Home Depot has a bin for batteries
About a year ago, I dropped one of my large SDS100 batteries on my tile floor from about 3 feet. Didn't see any damage at the time but a couple weeks later, I noticed that particular battery start swelling. I number my batteries so that I can rotate their use properly. Maybe just a coincidence but maybe not. My original thin battery stopped taking a charge a year after I bought the radio in 2018 with no swelling. Also, one of my large batteries stopped taking a charge approximately a year ago with no swelling. I use an external charger 95% of the time.
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Thin battery in a drawer (no swelling) that was included with scanner purchased in June 2018, larger battery (sent by Uniden) has been in use approaching 4 years now. Charged in scanner only. Many problems (not all) in regards to these battery issues seem to be related to those using external chargers for these batteries. I have a cable and lighter plug in vehicle if needed. Still getting 7-8 hours after almost 4 years of usage.
Yup, now add swelling batteries the list of malfunctions. Poor speaker quality, cold solders, etc.
Maybe time for a recall....????
Maybe time for a recall....????
