Radio Battery Rotation

JAS

Flashlight Enthusiast
Joined
Nov 16, 2002
Messages
1,304
Location
Rosemount
This post actually related to Kenwood TK-5400 radio battery rotation. We have, at work, five TK5400 radios. They, obviously, are not Motorola type IMPRES chargers. These radios typically sit in the charger all of the time. Essentially, they are used to monitor our local digital, trunked 800 MHz system.

I am trying to determine the bet way to "cycle" the batteries to, hopefully, extend the battery life. So far, I am thinking of having the dogwatch remove the radios from the charger and leave them on with the volume low. Then, the next night, have them re-insert the radios into the chargers. I am just looking for feedback to see what people think of or if they have a better idea of how to extend battery life. These are NiMH batteries.
 

SilverFox

Flashaholic
Joined
Jan 19, 2003
Messages
12,449
Location
Bellingham WA
Hello JAS,

Continuous charging usually shortens the life of NiMh battery packs. If the radios are used every day to the point where most of the capacity is used then that is different. If the radios are basically in storage and not used then you can take some creative steps to try to improve the life of the battery packs.

Your idea has merit, so that is a place to start.

Another idea is to hook your battery chargers up to a timer. Limit the charge time to a fraction of the day. With some testing you can find the sweet spot where the battery packs are mostly charged and ready for use, yet not being subjected to continuous charging.

Another thing you can do is number the radios and pick one each week to use for an extended amount of time to get a decent drain and then you can charge it back up.

That's a couple of ideas to get you started. Let you ideas run and give them a try. If you worry, pick up a couple of spare battery packs to serve as back ups should your plan end up with less than optimally charged battery packs.

Tom
 
Top