Fully Draining battery before re-charging question
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I note that my chargers red light keeps flashing long after the batteries should be charged.? ?I wonder why.? Several different batteries.? New and old.
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AF0DJ
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开云体育There is no need to completely discharge the battery.? NiMH batteries do not need that. ?Even the old NiCad batteries only had that problem if they were habitually discharged to the same capacity repeatedly. ? The one thing you can do that will harm the FT-60 battery is to overcharge it.? If the charger that came with it is not a smart charger make sure not to let disconnect it after a few hours or when the battery starts getting very warm.? I think the FT-60 comes with a smart charger now.? Such was not the case when I bought mine years ago. ? 73 de AC7EW Kelly ? ? From: [email protected] <[email protected]> On Behalf Of KC9REN
Sent: Tuesday, 4 July, 2023 4:43 To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [Yaesu-FT-60] Fully Draining battery before re-charging question ? My answer is no. That was the case with NiCad batteries because they had a memory. Today's batteries aren't NiCad and they don't have that memory effect. When your battery is low, charge it.
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The best way to tell if a charger is "smart" is to RTFM (Read The Freaking Manual). The manual will tell you if you can just leave the battery on the charger or if you need to not charge more than a certain number of hours. My manual tells me that I shouldn't charge the battery with the supplied charger (NC-88B) for more than 10 hours. I think the new radios all come with a charging cradle but the actual charger that you plug into it is still only a 10 hour charger that you need to disconnect the radio from when the battery is fully charged. Yaesu does sell the VAC-370B Rapid Charger that is smart and will not overcharge the battery. With that you can leave the radio in it all the time and it will stay topped-off without overcharging.
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I leave my radio pugged into my charger and have the charger plugged into a timer so it comes on and charges the radio for 10 minutes every day. That keeps it charged without overcharging the battery. 73 de AC7EW Kelly -----Original Message-----
From: [email protected] <[email protected]> On Behalf Of Christian Sweningsen KD2LIN Sent: Tuesday, 4 July, 2023 12:18 To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [Yaesu-FT-60] Fully Draining battery before re-charging question How does one know whether or not the charger is "smart"? ----- Original Message ----- From: Kelly Bersch <kelly.bersch@...> To: [email protected] Cc: Kelly Bersch <kelly.bersch@...> Sent: Tue, 04 Jul 2023 11:47:44 -0400 (EDT) Subject: Re: [Yaesu-FT-60] Fully Draining battery before re-charging question There is no need to completely discharge the battery. NiMH batteries do not need that. Even the old NiCad batteries only had that problem if they were habitually discharged to the same capacity repeatedly. The one thing you can do that will harm the FT-60 battery is to overcharge it. If the charger that came with it is not a smart charger make sure not to let disconnect it after a few hours or when the battery starts getting very warm. I think the FT-60 comes with a smart charger now. Such was not the case when I bought mine years ago. 73 de AC7EW Kelly From: [email protected] <[email protected]> On Behalf Of KC9REN Sent: Tuesday, 4 July, 2023 4:43 To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [Yaesu-FT-60] Fully Draining battery before re-charging question My answer is no. That was the case with NiCad batteries because they had a memory. Today's batteries aren't NiCad and they don't have that memory effect. When your battery is low, charge it. Dean - KC9REN On Mon, Jul 3, 2023 at 08:39 PM, Scott Thomas wrote: I am sorry if I overlooked this answer somewhere else. I just purchased my first ft-60 and wondered if it was best to let the battery "completely drain" before recharging, and just re-charge when the battery indicator shows low? Someone mentioned letting it "completely drain" before re-charging - left it on for about 20 minutes after the low battery indicator started flashing . I just want to do what is best for the battery. Also, approx. what low voltage reading will trigger the low battery indicator? Thank you. -Scott |
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The "smarts" of a charger have to be in the cradle. After doing some more research it looks like the SBH-13 cradle that now comes with the FT-60R is a "smart" charger and will turn off when the battery is charged. I bought my FT-60R about 15 years ago so I'm not familiar with the configuration of the modern radio and accessories. I have been wanting to get a smart rapid charger. Maybe I should get an SBH-13 cradle and an SAD-24B wall charger. Also, it looks like the VAC-370B is no longer available.
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Perhaps someone with experience with the SBH-13 can chime in? 73 de AC7EW Kelly -----Original Message-----
From: [email protected] <[email protected]> On Behalf Of Christian Sweningsen KD2LIN Sent: Tuesday, 4 July, 2023 14:12 To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [Yaesu-FT-60] Fully Draining battery before re-charging question Thanks for responding. I had the original manual that would be a solution. As I don't, model numbers help. Are you saying "smarts" are in the wall wart, not the cradle? ----- Original Message ----- From: Kelly Bersch <kelly.bersch@...> To: [email protected] Cc: Kelly Bersch <kelly.bersch@...> Sent: Tue, 04 Jul 2023 17:00:42 -0400 (EDT) Subject: Re: [Yaesu-FT-60] Fully Draining battery before re-charging question The best way to tell if a charger is "smart" is to RTFM (Read The Freaking Manual). The manual will tell you if you can just leave the battery on the charger or if you need to not charge more than a certain number of hours. My manual tells me that I shouldn't charge the battery with the supplied charger (NC-88B) for more than 10 hours. I think the new radios all come with a charging cradle but the actual charger that you plug into it is still only a 10 hour charger that you need to disconnect the radio from when the battery is fully charged. Yaesu does sell the VAC-370B Rapid Charger that is smart and will not overcharge the battery. With that you can leave the radio in it all the time and it will stay topped-off without overcharging. I leave my radio pugged into my charger and have the charger plugged into a timer so it comes on and charges the radio for 10 minutes every day. That keeps it charged without overcharging the battery. 73 de AC7EW Kelly -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] <[email protected]> On Behalf Of Christian Sweningsen KD2LIN Sent: Tuesday, 4 July, 2023 12:18 To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [Yaesu-FT-60] Fully Draining battery before re-charging question How does one know whether or not the charger is "smart"? ----- Original Message ----- From: Kelly Bersch <kelly.bersch@...> To: [email protected] Cc: Kelly Bersch <kelly.bersch@...> Sent: Tue, 04 Jul 2023 11:47:44 -0400 (EDT) Subject: Re: [Yaesu-FT-60] Fully Draining battery before re-charging question There is no need to completely discharge the battery. NiMH batteries do not need that. Even the old NiCad batteries only had that problem if they were habitually discharged to the same capacity repeatedly. The one thing you can do that will harm the FT-60 battery is to overcharge it. If the charger that came with it is not a smart charger make sure not to let disconnect it after a few hours or when the battery starts getting very warm. I think the FT-60 comes with a smart charger now. Such was not the case when I bought mine years ago. 73 de AC7EW Kelly From: [email protected] <[email protected]> On Behalf Of KC9REN Sent: Tuesday, 4 July, 2023 4:43 To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [Yaesu-FT-60] Fully Draining battery before re-charging question My answer is no. That was the case with NiCad batteries because they had a memory. Today's batteries aren't NiCad and they don't have that memory effect. When your battery is low, charge it. Dean - KC9REN On Mon, Jul 3, 2023 at 08:39 PM, Scott Thomas wrote: I am sorry if I overlooked this answer somewhere else. I just purchased my first ft-60 and wondered if it was best to let the battery "completely drain" before recharging, and just re-charge when the battery indicator shows low? Someone mentioned letting it "completely drain" before re-charging - left it on for about 20 minutes after the low battery indicator started flashing . I just want to do what is best for the battery. Also, approx. what low voltage reading will trigger the low battery indicator? Thank you. -Scott |
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SBH-13 is what mine came with and it does a great job charging. ?Gets warm but not hot at the end. ?I don't like to put full batteries in for a cycle, but if they're under 80% or so, I don't have a problem keeping them topped up in case I need them. ?I never prefer a <50% battery. ?With the dumb charger, the pack should get slightly warm as soon as it is full, so if it's not empty, you can tell if it's done before 10h if it warms up. Shelf life? ?I wouldn't count on more than 5 years. ?Having an extra pack you maintain (don't let it go to zero and just sit there for years) is a fine idea. ?After 10 years you can pretty much count on them being dead no matter what you do. ?I do have some 2008 Eneloops that still work, though, so YMMV. ?Yaesu's cells are not, I think, low self discharge, so that's against them. ?They are incredibly low capacity (1500?), which counts for them. |
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Why depend upon nickel metal hydride and battery charging in case of a widespread, regional problem? Get the FBA-25 alkaline battery tray, and use either AA Alkalines, or, if you have AC power, nickel metal hydride, rechargeable, AA cells.
The Yaesu, FT-60R is one of the few HTs on the market that allows up to full transmit power using AA Alkalines. Of course, one really doesn't need full 4or 5 W if they improve their antenna. -- Clint Bradford K6LCS http//www.work-sat.com |
Dave Jeffries AF0DJ
Kelly Bersch
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Clint Bradford