SDS100/SDS200: **SAFETY ALERT** SDS100 battery severely swelled

[Ubbe]

Constantly being on charge is not recommended for any battery and may cause premature failure.

Yes, that's a problem when wanting the battery to have a full charge when you take the scanner with you and if that time cannot be planned. Unidens battery self discharge quite rapidly. I have a constant power to its micro USB port so it doesn't take any power from the battery but still loose its charge over a short time.

I used to rent out radios for events and those had NiCd batteries and when I charge those and take them out of storage after a year they still have a full charge. I use a lot of LiPo batteries for different R/C models and when I put a battery away for the season and take it out again the next season it still has at least half its charge left in them. Li-Ion probably have better power size/weight ratio but needs them to be constantly topped up, or perhaps the battery quality that Uniden receives are not the best.

/Ubbe

 

[tvengr]

NO NO NO I know what happens when lithium and water mix saw that in hazmat class.

I remember the same results with sodium and water from chemistry class. The violent reaction releases hydrogen gas which can be ignited and burst into flames. To my knowledge, there haven't been any heat or fire problems associated with the swelling of the Uniden batteries.

 

[Colin9690]

I have a constant power to its micro USB port so it doesn't take any power from the battery but still loose its charge over a short time.

/Ubbe

Good idea. So if I'm understanding correctly the micro port will maintain the full charge, but not actually put out any charging current? I've had two batts bulge, replaced two battery cover doors because of it 😒

 

[Mickee]

Not sure if anyone is keeping track of the swollen batteries, if so I just had my second occurrence.

 

[Ubbe]

Not sure if anyone is keeping track of the swollen batteries, if so I just had my second occurrence.

Carefully lift the battery at the opposite end to the battery connectors and inspect if several cells have expanded. If one cell are still okay then you can cut off the bad cells, they are all in parallel, and continue to use the battery with a lower capacity. My un-swollen cell are still okay after several years of use and works fine when used at home with a power cable connected and 1/3 of the battery capacity. I have another battery to use if a want to run the scanner for several hours without a cable or power bank.

/Ubbe

 

[n1chu]

What’s the sense of running the battery on less cells while you’ve also got it plugged in to the recharging cable? If it’s only being used while stationary at home, you shouldn’t need the battery at all?

 

[Ubbe]

What’s the sense of running the battery on less cells

The recording function stops working without a battery in place.

/Ubbe

 

[rbuxton]

Now i am wondering what the REAL reason was for Uniden swapping out batteries. Now should we trust the bigger Batteries not to do this?

Bigger batteries expand too. I have one and just bought a replacement.

 

[Hit_Factor]

Now i am wondering what the REAL reason was for Uniden swapping out batteries. Now should we trust the bigger Batteries not to do this?

Nature of the beast, this happens with LiPo batteries.

 

[KK4JUG]

Carefully lift the battery at the opposite end to the battery connectors and inspect if several cells have expanded. If one cell are still okay then you can cut off the bad cells, they are all in parallel, and continue to use the battery with a lower capacity. My un-swollen cell are still okay after several years of use and works fine when used at home with a power cable connected and 1/3 of the battery capacity. I have another battery to use if a want to run the scanner for several hours without a cable or power bank.

/Ubbe

While I don't have a chemical or electrical engineering degree, I don't think I'm the dumbest person on the planet and I would be reluctant to start trying to re-engineer these batteries. It just seems that there are way too many problems that could raise their ugly heads. The toxicity of the components seems to have the potential to create too many challenges that I'm not equipped to deal with.

 

[Ensnared]

When I fall asleep listening to the SDS 100, I will sometimes fall asleep with the radio beneath the covers. The battery was hot to touch on several of these occasions. I would imagine this type of heat is not an optimal operating situation. Thus far, I had two batteries out of 8 that have swelled.

 

[AB5ID]

I will sometimes fall asleep with the radio beneath the covers.

Just make sure not to wake up in Hot Springs!

 

[Ubbe]

I would be reluctant to start trying to re-engineer these batteries.

It's your choice. It's three identical cells in parallel, so the charge cicruit have no control over one single cell, if one could be overcharged and the others not charged enough. Logically you should never have batteries in parallel while charging but Uniden choose to use that method.

The charge circuit are voltage controlled, when the battery reaches the voltage for a full charge it stops charging, so the number of cells are irrelevant. There's also a temp sensor in the battery to cut off the charge if it gets too hot.

/Ubbe

 

[Ensnared]

Just make sure not to wake up in Hot Springs!

As Rob Zombie said from the 2nd stage at Ozzfest some time back, "It is so hot out here my tennis shoes are melting." Texas heat is unbelievable.

 

[wizzardproduction]

I WANDER WHY THIS ISNT CALLED OR LISTED AS A MAJOUR SAFTY HAZZARD RECALL ?
ILL MAKE SOME CALLS AND SEE IF WE Can get it listed as a major recall mine did it over night i wasnt evan charging it what has to happen before it will be a recall someone gotta get hurt wow ill post back after i dig into this

 

[Chris0516]

I WANDER WHY THIS ISNT CALLED OR LISTED AS A MAJOUR SAFTY HAZZARD RECALL ?
ILL MAKE SOME CALLS AND SEE IF WE Can get it listed as a major recall mine did it over night i wasnt evan charging it what has to happen before it will be a recall someone gotta get hurt wow ill post back after i dig into this

Did that happen last night? I have had my SDS100 since 2023. Even the though the battery swelling issue has been around for several years. I have never encountered a swelling battery. Even with my SDS100 on 24/7.

 

[Hit_Factor]

I WANDER WHY THIS ISNT CALLED OR LISTED AS A MAJOUR SAFTY HAZZARD RECALL ?
ILL MAKE SOME CALLS AND SEE IF WE Can get it listed as a major recall mine did it over night i wasnt evan charging it what has to happen before it will be a recall someone gotta get hurt wow ill post back after i dig into this

Recall all of the LiPo batteries for every product that uses LiPo?

 

[wizzardproduction]

nope for the batteries used in the sds 100 uniden scanner iam gonna try my sons in a position to help and said he can move mountains ill post back when we find something out

 

[108Homeradio]

I have had Two of those Batteries swell up. The first one the company sent out a new one for No change. And send back the old one, I don’t remember if was still under the warranty.
The second one just happened after I stopped using it because it stopped working. I had it in the original box getting ready to send it in for repair. I was waiting for someone to help me with the plug in the wall. I’m totally Disabled and I couldn’t get to the plug, and they said that I had to put everything back in the original box for repair or they wouldn’t even try to fix it.
One of the worst radios I have ever bought. I would not even recommend one to anyone. Waste of money…

 

[KK4JUG]

I have had Two of those Batteries swell up. The first one the company sent out a new one for No change. And send back the old one, I don’t remember if was still under the warranty.
The second one just happened after I stopped using it because it stopped working. I had it in the original box getting ready to send it in for repair. I was waiting for someone to help me with the plug in the wall. I’m totally Disabled and I couldn’t get to the plug, and they said that I had to put everything back in the original box for repair or they wouldn’t even try to fix it.
One of the worst radios I have ever bought. I would not even recommend one to anyone. Waste of money…

For the record, I've never had a problem with either of the batteries I have for my SDS100. Furthermore, I also have an SDS200. Both are excellent radios if one takes the time to learn the intricacies. Admittedly, is has a pretty steep learning curve (and I think I'm still learning after 7 years).