SDS100 battery

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KAUC1632

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Is there any data on how many times you can recharge the SDS100 battery? Basically looking for battery life. I alternate two batteries. One that came with the unit and the other I bought from Uniden with a charger.
 

n1chu

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I been told rechargeables can last upwards of 1000 charges. Of course, that’s only an estimate, a best guess. Getting an accurate number would require the battery would need to be kept in a test area where temperature and atmosphere where held constant, the amount of discharge monitored and kept the same, etc. Under normal everyday use we probably won’t come close to maintaining the exact same usage cycle all the time, so it’s a case of “your results may vary.”

The biggest factor affecting battery life will be heat. So, if we leave our radio in the car when it’s 95 degrees in the shade and closer to 250 degrees inside the car, and do this routinely, we can expect a shorter lifespan.
 

KAUC1632

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Thanks, if I can yet roughly 6 years equivalent from two batteries I feel the investment in the spare battery was worh it.
 

RandyKuff

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Lithium battery's also have whats called a "Calendar Life Span"...
Meaning used or not they will age and start losing capacity...
At 6 years you could be at 80% capacity or below... if your lucky...
 
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KK4JUG

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I been told rechargeables can last upwards of 1000 charges. Of course, that’s only an estimate, a best guess.
That depends on the battery. For instance, higher mAh AAs won't usually recharge nearly as many times as the lower mAh batteries.
 

RandyKuff

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KK4JUG... You are correct...
Also if you don't charge them to 100%... More like in the area of 95%... There lifespan will be longer...
 
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KAUC1632

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I guess rethinking I'll get 3 years as I use two batteries a day pretty much.
 

KK4JUG

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If you're able to hook it up to AC with the wall wart, it'll save your battery and, if the wall wart has enough amperage, it'll run the radio and charge the radio. If you're using it in a vehicle, a 3A cigarette lighter plug with USB will serve the same purpose.
 

RandyKuff

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You will know when they are starting to age... Because your runtime will start to shrink...
The Uniden external charger is very gentle on charging them... Meaning it's not a quick charger...
That helps with battery life...
 

n1chu

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The proper care and feeding of rechargeables will get you a few years of life, generally speaking. My experience with them has taught me that after a couple of years I should expect to see degradation and replace them. Recharging on a daily basis gets you 1000 days max. That’s about 3 years of daily charges. But not all batteries are equal. Slight performance variations could mean a shortened longevity. If you use aftermarket charging systems for your rechargeables, it would be smart to use the charger that “conditions” the battery. It’s simply a trickle charger that shuts down once the battery is fully charged, monitors that charge level while the battery is still in the charger, and “tops it off” when it sees a drop in the charge level. Some cheaper chargers don’t shut down after the battery is fully charged, requiring the owner to remove the battery from the charger. This is obviously not the kind of charger to use. It will continue to attempt to charge the battery which in turn generates heat within the battery. And as heat is the enemy of all things electronic, the battery will suffer. But Lithium-Ion batteries need to be charged, each cell at an equal level. This requires the charger have the ability to monitor the status of the battery as it is being charged. So Lithium-Ion chargers need to be used for lithium-Ion batteries. Not just any charger will do. To attempt to charge L-I’s using a charger other than one specified for L-I’s could be hazardous. Defective L-I batteries have been known to heat up, catch fire and explode. A shipment of L-L batteries caused a fire on a Boeing 747 air freighter which caused it to crash, killing the crew. (The fire warning and extinguishing methods worked as expected but the fire grew larger... even after they depressurized the cargo hold, which depletes The available oxygen at altitude. What they didn’t think about is L-I batteries generate their own oxygen when burning!)

Lithium-Ion batteries have a great shelf life... a good one can hold a charge for better than a year!

the long and the short of it is if you get at least a couple of full years service from the batteries, you did good. Anything more and you did better. Just remember to keep you batteries cool and your powder dry!
 

KK4JUG

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n1chu, that's good advice. Fortunately, I think they've stabilized L-I batteries since the 747 incident. L-I batteries are great but they do have their peculiarities.
 

n1chu

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n1chu, that's good advice. Fortunately, I think they've stabilized L-I batteries since the 747 incident. L-I batteries are great but they do have their peculiarities.
They’ve set standards for shipping the batteries. For example, the Formula E Indy style Electric race cars are air freighted from race to race. The batteries must be charged to 80% full charge and exhibit no damage. Otherwise they must be shipped via ground transport. As for quality control... can’t prove it by my experience-I’ve had two Apple IPhone batteries swell up!
 

KK4JUG

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They’ve set standards for shipping the batteries. For example, the Formula E Indy style Electric race cars are air freighted from race to race. The batteries must be charged to 80% full charge and exhibit no damage. Otherwise they must be shipped via ground transport. As for quality control... can’t prove it by my experience-I’ve had two Apple IPhone batteries swell up!
Yeah, but that's Apple. At least you didn't get that puff of smoke and a whiff of ozone before their demise. :)
 

Phillipsc84

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I may be insane here but I would Love to see a scanner manufacturer put some of the cost of the scanner into the physical features like the battery. I'd love a scanner built like an XTS or APX radio. Give me that 4500mAh Lithium-Ion battery that takes up the whole rear of the scanner. That would give you some long usage time. Maybe no one likes a big battery, I'm not sure. I just think the battery should be a bigger feature than they seem to be.
 
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