WA Radio Scanner Users' Group

Hi,

I have 2 DSE 1801 UHF CBs. I'm happy with them, but the rechargeable battery units are a bit annoying. If the CBs are left unused for more than 2 months the batteries totally discharge. And sometimes a fully charged unit will go flat after 5 mins use.

I've sent them back to the manufacturer to check it all out, but they say there are no probs with the battery or battery charger.

I'd really like to be able to store them in my car and know that they won't be flat or quickly go flat when I want to use them.

Any ideas?

I've got one of these, quick question.

When you charge it, does the red light come on, and you wait for it to go green a few hours later correct? Does the battery get hot at all when it charges? And when you transmit after the charge, does the blue back lighting on it dim a bit when you transmit?

Thanks for the reply Yorky.

The red charge light normally stays on for a couple of hours before going green, and it does get hot.

The blue background lighting does dim a little when transmitting (when first switched on). Then the display stays unlit from there on unless other buttons are pressed - so I assume that is normal.

Have you ever had battery problems with your 1801s?

I haven't had problems but another one I know does have problems.
It apparently got very hot, and the red/green light never came on properly. It now charges and shows a full voltage however on transmit it dims and the battery bar goes to about half straight away, and lower after minimal usage (EDIT: And that now using my charger which the red/green light works but I think the battery is ultimately stuffed).

My personal one, I can use for two weeks once a week and it will be about 1/2 to 3/4 drained so could get 'three nights' use from it I'd say and even then it doesn't dim and only drops one bar off the battery bar. But after that it could drop dead without the battery bar dropping. I just stick a multimeter on it. If its down near 7.2V its about to drop dead. I usually charge around 7.4V or lower for another two weeks use (again only 1 night a week).

Generally speaking then, maybe I'm expecting the batteries to last longer than they're meant to? I tend to store them in the car for long periods of time before using them - is it plausible they could discharge if left this long?

It may explain why when they're turned on after this long they suddenly make that 'beep' sound when you try and transmit - and the battery bar just plummets.

Perhaps I should get a multimeter and test to see how much power they have at 'full charge', after 1-2 uses, and after they've been stored for a bit. At least this'll give me an indication if they're working normally.

PS - not sure if this has happened to anyone else, but I once had a battery melt in the charger. Got a replacement, but a bit of a worry.

So you already had one battery go melt down on you?

And I'd say my one can sit around for 3 weeks with power to still use.