TK-2180 Cold WX Charging Issues

[NoCoFire]

Greetings,

Anyone know of problems charging TK-2180 radios with a KNB-33L battery in a KSC-32 charger when the temperature is below freezing? I went to use my radio at a fire last week and the battery was near dead even though it has been sitting on the charger for several days. I replaced the battery with another from our rescue vehicle (always warm). After the fire I put it back in the charger and confirmed that the battery was charging. At a vehicle accident yesterday I noticed that the red light was on the charger, blinking, even though the battery was in the charger for a couple of days. Usually if the red light was blinking all I needed to do was to reposition the radio in the charger - but not this time. When I went to use the radio the battery was full...

This radio sits in the back of my truck in a kind of organizer that holds my fire gear and other related accessories. The truck is usually located in an unheated garage and temperatures have been around the 25 degree mark in the garage and about 10 degrees +/- (give or take but not usually over freezing) outside the garage.

Last winter was much colder and I had no problems. The batteries are about 4 years old and overall we have had excellent luck with them. Maybe it is just the end of the road and time for replacements? Or maybe like most sane people I should just move south.

As a caveat I will add that my 4 gas meter cannot be charged below 32 degrees. It is an MSA Altair 4x and it will audibly beep when the temp gets too low. I believe that has LiOn batteries as well. It does state in the manual that it will not charge below a certain temp (around freezing).

Any thoughts would be appreciated...

Thank you and stay safe -NoCoFire

 

[mmckenna]

Red flashing LED is a "battery error". Looking at the service manual for the KSC-32 it does check the temperature. If the temperature is lower than 0ºc or above 40ºc it will not charge.

Also, 4 years isn't bad, we've got a lot of KNB-33L's and they've been running for 3 or 4 years now, but I am starting to see capacity taper off a bit. I'd bet the temperature extremes isn't helping.

 

[NoCoFire]

mmckenna,

Thanks... looks like I will have to work on something this summer to overcome that. some kind of way of providing a heat source for my 4 gas and portable but on a thermostat, insulated, etc I have some ideas.

... wonder if there is anything commercially available. I would like to keep my 2.5 gal can available in the winter too. I love the challenge, keeps things interesting.

-nocofire

 

[mmckenna]

Keep the electronics in the cab. It won't help much on it's own, but it's a bit.
Also, you can purchase small 120vac "warmers" used in boats to keep things dried out. Goldenrod is I think the product name. You could install one of those near the chargers as a warming source. Keep it plugged in when the truck is in the garage.

Here ya go:
Golden Rod Dehumidifier rods |

These are technically sold as a dehumidifier. We've used them in boats that sit in storage and in equipment housings that sit outside. They put off a bit of warmth and would probably keep your cab temperature above freezing inside a garage.

Also, you could try ditching the rechargeable batteries and using the Kenwood KBP-6 AA battery holder. Just load it with some fresh alkaline AA batteries and you'd be good to go. They'll tolerate the cold better. We use them for "cache" radios. Keep a rechargeable battery in the house you can grab on the way out if you need to.

Probably just keeping the cab warm will help things.