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Battery will not charge
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It appears that I am the latest victim of the x6100 battery charging issue -- all of sudden the battery refuses to charge, even with the charger on, the radio off and powered by the AC adapter overnight. I have done all the obvious -- reloaded the latest software, checked the output voltage of the AC adapter, etc.? The green LED flashes indicating that charging is underway, but when the radio is booted the next morning, the battery icon is still all red, and the lightning bolt is on, indicating that the charging cycle was in process, but obviously not working.? I emailed support at Radioddity, and "Nora" replied to my message suggesting that I needed to charge the battery, and if this did not work, to replace the battery. No further suggestions were forthcoming.
Two questions for the group: 1. Has anyone discovered a fix for this? 2. Is there a Xiegu (not Radioddity) tech support location here in the U.S.? If so, does anyone have contact info for it? 73, Mark, WA0ZIG |
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Mark, WA0ZIG ?I suggest you need to determine if the charging circuit is working.? You need to use an external 12V source with a current meter between this source and the X6100.? I see about 750ma with battery charging and rig off, little over 1A with both on and in rcv mode. Your problem might be the battery, but also could be the charging circuit.? Replacing the battery if charging circuit is bad will not solve the issue. I use an inline voltage/current meter when operating and when charging the battery.? I like monitoring my power sources.? You can get a good inline meter on Amazon for $18.? Here is same with power poles.? I have it, does great, reads voltage, current AHr and more.
On Monday, February 19, 2024 at 03:14:31 PM EST, Mark WA0ZIG <wa0zig@...> wrote:
It appears that I am the latest victim of the x6100 battery charging issue -- all of sudden the battery refuses to charge, even with the charger on, the radio off and powered by the AC adapter overnight. I have done all the obvious -- reloaded the latest software, checked the output voltage of the AC adapter, etc.? The green LED flashes indicating that charging is underway, but when the radio is booted the next morning, the battery icon is still all red, and the lightning bolt is on, indicating that the charging cycle was in process, but obviously not working.? I emailed support at Radioddity, and "Nora" replied to my message suggesting that I needed to charge the battery, and if this did not work, to replace the battery. No further suggestions were forthcoming. Two questions for the group: 1. Has anyone discovered a fix for this? 2. Is there a Xiegu (not Radioddity) tech support location here in the U.S.? If so, does anyone have contact info for it? 73, Mark, WA0ZIG |
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Is the battery-management logic under the control of firmware?? I.e., if I load and use Oleg's firmware, should I expect different charging behavior from default Xiegu? Lou KC1PKD On Feb 20, 2024 14:56, "Ron Wright via groups.io" <lt_wright_flg@...> wrote:
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Frank Fertitta AA5IT
Just so you know,,,,? Mine won't charge either. The battery charger circuit is broken. I suspect it's the FET that the controller switches but I haven't taken the time to troubleshoot it yet. I've lost enough respect for the radio for it's half-baked design that I'm really not interested in it at the moment. But, you might have the same problem. I'll tell you it was caused from one of my batteries failed and the circuit isn't built to handle problems like that, apparently. 73 Frank On Tue, Feb 20, 2024 at 2:37?PM Lou <lhm@...> wrote:
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Frank Fertitta AA5IT
Mark, I haven't changed the suspected bad part in mine yet but when I do I'll contact you with the results. 73 Frank AA5IT On Mon, Feb 19, 2024 at 2:14?PM Mark WA0ZIG <wa0zig@...> wrote: It appears that I am the latest victim of the x6100 battery charging issue -- all of sudden the battery refuses to charge, even with the charger on, the radio off and powered by the AC adapter overnight. I have done all the obvious -- reloaded the latest software, checked the output voltage of the AC adapter, etc.? The green LED flashes indicating that charging is underway, but when the radio is booted the next morning, the battery icon is still all red, and the lightning bolt is on, indicating that the charging cycle was in process, but obviously not working.? I emailed support at Radioddity, and "Nora" replied to my message suggesting that I needed to charge the battery, and if this did not work, to replace the battery. No further suggestions were forthcoming. |
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Like a previous poster I've lost any faith I had in Xiegu because of this radio. I too have charging issues. After a full charge cycle the radio will only receive for about thirty minutes before the battery voltage drops so low it turns off. Even from a full charge the radio will not transmit due to excessive voltage sag. I've checked the cells and one of them has failed and refuses to hold a charge.
I contacted Radioddity EU and they suggested I look on Aliexpress. When I questioned this they replied that because I didn't purchase the radio from them they would not offer any support. I contacted Xiegu and received an auto reply and nothing more. I also contacted the UK importer and they didn't even reply. In all three instances I emphasised that I wasn't after a freebie and that I was prepared to pay for a full battery assembly (two cells, BMS board, and rear panel). My radio uses the second version of the Battery assembly. This is where the two cells are stacked lengthways on the backplate, wrapped in blue hestdhrink, and fixed directly to the BMS board i.e the cells are not attached by wires and don't have there own little protection circuits as the earlier version did. Nidge G0NIG.? |
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Frank Fertitta AA5IT
On Thu, Feb 22, 2024 at 5:15?AM Nigel Smith <nidge.g0nig@...> wrote: Like a previous poster I've lost any faith I had in Xiegu because of this radio. I too have charging issues. After a full charge cycle the radio will only receive for about thirty minutes before the battery voltage drops so low it turns off. Even from a full charge the radio will not transmit due to excessive voltage sag. I've checked the cells and one of them has failed and refuses to hold a charge. |
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I am sure as most know anything from China will have problems for repairs and service.? Like the UV5R for which so many Hams have, it is a throw away rig when it dies.? I had one die and for fun took it apart to see how it was built.? Was made very well, all on one board except for the display and antenna connector.? And parts so small had to be assembled by a machine.? I am sure the X6100 is similar. I do like the X6100, gives a lot for the money.? Is not a KX2/3 or IC705, but cost about half.
On Thursday, February 22, 2024 at 12:44:16 PM EST, Frank Fertitta AA5IT <frankfertitta48@...> wrote:
On Thu, Feb 22, 2024 at 5:15?AM Nigel Smith <nidge.g0nig@...> wrote: Like a previous poster I've lost any faith I had in Xiegu because of this radio. I too have charging issues. After a full charge cycle the radio will only receive for about thirty minutes before the battery voltage drops so low it turns off. Even from a full charge the radio will not transmit due to excessive voltage sag. I've checked the cells and one of them has failed and refuses to hold a charge. |
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Frank Fertitta AA5IT
Hi Ron, The?X6100 has a couple of bad ideas in the design, not the least of which is having a too small battery to do any real good. But my main gripe with it is their?use of two processors.? It's fun to do stuff like that for proto-typing, and?it makes programming the UI really easy, and fun,? but for a production unit it should have all been built around a single processor and gate array. The User Interface computer is constantly exhibiting? communications issues that wouldn't be there if they were only using one processor. I'll say if they hadn't come out with the X5105 I would have thought they're in the wrong business! It's as solid as a rock?for that low price! We all make bone-head decisions sometimes in design and I'm not exempt from that. I once designed a hand-held unit using an off the shelf ARM processor CPU board. I gathered data from the test with a Microchip PIC processor?and sent the data over to the ARM. That machine shows the same once-in-a-while lags in communications the X6100 does. I hate it on my own design and I hate it even more on that radio!? Live and learn... Oh, and the parts in the 6100 are HUGE compared to the ones I used in my design. I used 0402 size capacitors and resistors. Now those things are small.? You could land a 747 on the resistors and capacitors in the X6100... :) 73 Frank On Thu, Feb 22, 2024 at 1:04?PM Ron Wright via <lt_wright_flg=[email protected]> wrote:
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On Fri, Feb 23, 2024 at 08:45 AM, W8ISM wrote:
Yes, that is my understanding. ?If you break the tape seals, you have invalidated your warranty. ?However, if you bought your X6100 from Radioddity, I would contact Radioddity about any issues you may have. ?I want to say that the warranty is 18 months, but I have not verified that from Radioddity’s website. |
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Though the X6100 comes with an “anti-tamper” sticker on its cabinet to detect “unauthorized/warranty-voiding” behavior, I do believe that it is and has been illegal in the United States for decades to void a warranty for “such tampering”. On Fri, Feb 23, 2024 at 07:45 W8ISM via <W8ISM=[email protected]> wrote: If you open the case to replace the batteries have you invalidated the warranty (Radioddity)? |
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Well, it's a bit odd that Radioddity now sells a parts kit for the X6100 that unfortunately doesn't include the battery or charging circuit, and it does say this:
Warranty-Friendly:?Don't worry about the warranty of your radio being affected by replacing accessories. These Xiegu original accessories are designed to seamlessly integrate with your radio without voiding any warranties. Rest assured and enjoy peace of mind. |
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That is very odd, and begs the question: exactly what voids the warranty, when the tamper seals are broken?
All-in-One Accessories:?Our kit includes all the essential accessories, carefully selected based on big data provided by our maintenance department. For example, encoder, TF self-elastic deck, side plastic frame, decorative parts, fuse, MIC seat, Antenna Q9, knob, tempered glass, and so on. You can be assured that this is a comprehensive and suitable list that covers all your needs. |
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Like death and taxes there is a 100% certainty the battery in your 6100 will fail. ?Not stocking batteries indicates the manufacturer identifies its product as disposable. ?There are a couple of choices we have when it does fail and that is to leave it in the radio and use an external power source, remove the batteries, or fix it. ?I don’t like leaving lipo batteries that have failed in anything. ?I have at least two experiences of iPhone batteries swelling so much that it cracks the screen. ?So that leaves option 2 and three. ?Since no user repairable notices ever scared me I first do 2 remove the battery and then try to rebuild it. I did a description of how to rebuild a x5105 battery on their groups.io group. ?
Tom |
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Tom, I got your message, and when the time comes to replace the battery, I will crack the case and get the part numbers off the battery and source it that way. It is not a special battery, just the one they chose for the radio. A 3ah battery will power the 6100 for quite a while on 5w, and a 5ah battery gives acceptable time at 10w. Honestly, I would just as soon use an external battery than the internal one.
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In this discussion of the X6100 battery, it was suggested to look on AliExpress for the batteries (there are 2).? I did get the batteries, but have not had issues with my X6100.? I normally use external 12V battery to get the full 10W output.? I have not tested the AliEx batteries so cannot comment further.
On Monday, February 26, 2024 at 08:41:12 PM EST, Gale Smith <galews@...> wrote:
Tom, I got your message, and when the time comes to replace the battery, I will crack the case and get the part numbers off the battery and source it that way. It is not a special battery, just the one they chose for the radio. A 3ah battery will power the 6100 for quite a while on 5w, and a 5ah battery gives acceptable time at 10w. Honestly, I would just as soon use an external battery than the internal one.
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SA5QED/David
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