I have a couple of older VHFs that I'd like to keep as backups and was
wondering
if anyone has replaced the batteries in the packs themselves.

I have disassembled the packs but see that the batteries require soldering
small
metallic strips in a certain configuration to provide proper voltage, etc.

My question: HOW to properly solder the new batteries, hopefully easily
:-)

Appreciatively,

Courtney

"Courtney Thomas" wrote in
nk.net:

I have a couple of older VHFs that I'd like to keep as backups and was
wondering
if anyone has replaced the batteries in the packs themselves.

I have disassembled the packs but see that the batteries require
soldering small
metallic strips in a certain configuration to provide proper voltage,
etc.

My question: HOW to properly solder the new batteries, hopefully
easily
:-)


Just take the battery packs to any Batteries Plus Store
(www.batteriesplus.com) or ship it in if there's no store near you. Tell
them you want them to install the biggest capacity Nickel-Metal Hydride,
NOT NI-CD, cells they have. Since your cheaply made little Chinese NiCD
battery pack was made, long strides have been made in the battery biz.
Current AA sized Ni-Mh cells are 2300 maH (2.3 ampere-hour) and will
produce nearly enough current to crank a truck. Look on the battery
packs at the labels and you'll see it's, probably, a 700 maH NiCd pack
from the Chinese slavers....whatever was as cheap as they could get it to
maximize profits. Your new 2.3AH same-sized beast will take 4 times as
long to charge on the chinzy Chinese battery charger the walkie came
with.....but that's not an issue because it will RUN over 3 times as long
as it did the day you bought it before you have to charge it again.

Ni-Mh also has NO MEMORY problem, so you can use it and drop it back in
the charger, no matter what its state of charge is. Don't leave it in
the charger over a week...(c; Cheap chargers are NOT automatic shutoff
like your cellphone. When the battery pack gets quite warm to the touch,
it's fully charged.

The 2.3A recycled beast is about half the cost of another chinzy Chinese
cheapie from Standard or Icom or Waste Marine, etc.....

As to doing it yourself, forget it. You cannot solder to the cells. You
need a special little spot welder to weld the interconnecting straps on
the cells. Batteries Plus has one in every store. He touches the strap
to the cell, pushes up on it to make contact with the spot welder,
there's a little spark as the pulse from the welder makes a perfect weld
to the cell, which never even gets warm in the process. There'll be two
welds about 1/2" apart on the strap so it can't rotate. It'll take a
good set of pliers to pull them off and even then it rips the metal of
the strap because the weld is stronger than the strap....

Don't solder! First it is very hard to get the chromed battery terminals to
wet out and second the heat can ruin the battery. Battery packs are welded
using discharge type spot welders. You could make a welder based on a stack
of electrolytic caps but it would cost more than just taking your pack to
Batteries Plus.

As Larry said, NiMh batteries have amazing capacity and no memory. They
also maintain a more constant voltage until close to discharged BUT they
also have a much higher self discharge rate. Up to 10% in the first 24 hours
and 1 or 2% per day after that vs. a fairly level .4% for NiCads. If you
plan to use your handheld VHF frequently and at 5W get NiMh and just put it
in the charger stand every night. If it will be stored for a couple of
weeks between uses get Ni-Cads.

--
Glenn Ashmore

I'm building a 45' cutter in strip/composite. Watch my progress (or lack
there of) at: http://www.rutuonline.com
Shameless Commercial Division: http://www.spade-anchor-us.com

"Courtney Thomas" wrote in message
nk.net...
I have a couple of older VHFs that I'd like to keep as backups and was
wondering
if anyone has replaced the batteries in the packs themselves.

I have disassembled the packs but see that the batteries require soldering
small
metallic strips in a certain configuration to provide proper voltage, etc.

My question: HOW to properly solder the new batteries, hopefully easily
:-)

Appreciatively,

Courtney

"Glenn Ashmore" wrote in news:Q3fPg.49456$ok5.43395
@dukeread01:

Up to 10% in the first 24 hours
and 1 or 2% per day after that

Hmm....I wonder if that is still true on the new Ni-Mh batteries. I just
turned on a little flashlight I keep in my desk. It's got two Tokima 2200
maH Ni-Mh batteries I can't remember when I charged, but it has to be 8-9
months ago. The bulb, not LED, in the little flashlight is just as bright
as it ever is. I'm going to leave it on to see how long it will be until
it's dead. 230maH in the first day? Wow, that's a lot of loss...

These batteries should have self-discharged long ago, by now.



--
There's amazing intelligence in the Universe.
You can tell because none of them ever called Earth.

I have one of those fancy Maha C777+ chargers that charge, discharge and
monitor mAh in, mAh out, voltage and charging time so I have been playing
with several different brands of batteries.

I use the Maha Powerex 2500s which are the latest version of the highest
rated Ni-Mh double A's. Definitely an improvement over a lot of the older
models. They have a first 24 hour self discharge rate of about 5% but even
Maha says they should not be expected to hold a usable charge longer than
about 30 days. The Energizer (Sanyo) Ni-Mh double As are among the worst
loosing up to around 25% in the first day.

One other thing I have found. You can't get a new Ni-Mh to accept a full
charge until it has been cycled 4 or 5 times. If you charge them then use
them until the voltage starts to drop and recharge several times you get 20
to 25% more capacity.

--
Glenn Ashmore

I'm building a 45' cutter in strip/composite. Watch my progress (or lack
there of) at: http://www.rutuonline.com
Shameless Commercial Division: http://www.spade-anchor-us.com

"Larry" wrote in message
...
"Glenn Ashmore" wrote in news:Q3fPg.49456$ok5.43395
@dukeread01:

Up to 10% in the first 24 hours
and 1 or 2% per day after that

Hmm....I wonder if that is still true on the new Ni-Mh batteries. I just
turned on a little flashlight I keep in my desk. It's got two Tokima 2200
maH Ni-Mh batteries I can't remember when I charged, but it has to be 8-9
months ago. The bulb, not LED, in the little flashlight is just as bright
as it ever is. I'm going to leave it on to see how long it will be until
it's dead. 230maH in the first day? Wow, that's a lot of loss...

These batteries should have self-discharged long ago, by now.



--
There's amazing intelligence in the Universe.
You can tell because none of them ever called Earth.

"Glenn Ashmore" wrote in message
news:rXiPg.49461$ok5.21130@dukeread01...
I have one of those fancy Maha C777+ chargers that charge, discharge and
monitor mAh in, mAh out, voltage and charging time so I have been playing
with several different brands of batteries.

I use the Maha Powerex 2500s which are the latest version of the highest
rated Ni-Mh double A's. Definitely an improvement over a lot of the older
models. They have a first 24 hour self discharge rate of about 5% but
even Maha says they should not be expected to hold a usable charge longer
than about 30 days. The Energizer (Sanyo) Ni-Mh double As are among the
worst loosing up to around 25% in the first day.

One other thing I have found. You can't get a new Ni-Mh to accept a full
charge until it has been cycled 4 or 5 times. If you charge them then use
them until the voltage starts to drop and recharge several times you get
20 to 25% more capacity.

--
Glenn Ashmore

I'm building a 45' cutter in strip/composite. Watch my progress (or lack
there of) at: http://www.rutuonline.com
Shameless Commercial Division: http://www.spade-anchor-us.com

"Larry" wrote in message
...
"Glenn Ashmore" wrote in news:Q3fPg.49456$ok5.43395
@dukeread01:

Up to 10% in the first 24 hours
and 1 or 2% per day after that

Hmm....I wonder if that is still true on the new Ni-Mh batteries. I just
turned on a little flashlight I keep in my desk. It's got two Tokima
2200
maH Ni-Mh batteries I can't remember when I charged, but it has to be 8-9
months ago. The bulb, not LED, in the little flashlight is just as
bright
as it ever is. I'm going to leave it on to see how long it will be until
it's dead. 230maH in the first day? Wow, that's a lot of loss...

These batteries should have self-discharged long ago, by now.



--
There's amazing intelligence in the Universe.
You can tell because none of them ever called Earth.


I have two comments on this discussion:

1. Batteries Plus probably uses crappy Chinese batteries like everyone else.
If you buy your own batteries from a place like Batteries America you can
get high quality Sanyo batteries and other good makes.

2. I have successfully soldered the flat metal tabs on these batteries
without any problem. I had no trouble getting solder to wet the tabs. I
line up the batteries in the proper series orientation and then bend one tab
back onto the battery so that the tab from the next battery lies over it. I
then tin both surfaces and then overlap them. Now applying some heat to the
outer tab melts the solder on both tabs and connects them. Taping the
batteries together beforehand helps keep things aligned.

Larry wrote:

. . . you can use it and drop it back in
the charger, no matter what its state of charge is.

Larry, will the fact that the charger was designed for NiCads be a
problem? If it's a "trickle" charger, will it fully charge NiMH
batteries, just take longer?

"Mark" wrote in news:1158636694.029797.229090
@b28g2000cwb.googlegroups.com:

Larry, will the fact that the charger was designed for NiCads be a
problem? If it's a "trickle" charger, will it fully charge NiMH
batteries, just take longer?




No problem at all. Even the simplest NiCD charger will charge them fine.
Being much larger, they charge at a slower-than-design rate, which makes
their charging even less destructive than normal. I have an old Yaesu FT-
727 ham walkie with a rebuilt Ni-Mh battery pack that's one of the first
NiMh batteries I ever saw. It charges and runs great!

--
There's amazing intelligence in the Universe.
You can tell because none of them ever called Earth.

Where do you get the flat metal tabs and what kind of solder/gun/etc/ do you
use, please ?

Thank you,
Courtney
"Gordon Wedman" wrote in message
news:uCzPg.20189$bf5.5278@edtnps90...

"Glenn Ashmore" wrote in message
news:rXiPg.49461$ok5.21130@dukeread01...
I have one of those fancy Maha C777+ chargers that charge, discharge and
monitor mAh in, mAh out, voltage and charging time so I have been playing
with several different brands of batteries.

I use the Maha Powerex 2500s which are the latest version of the highest
rated Ni-Mh double A's. Definitely an improvement over a lot of the
older
models. They have a first 24 hour self discharge rate of about 5% but
even Maha says they should not be expected to hold a usable charge
longer
than about 30 days. The Energizer (Sanyo) Ni-Mh double As are among the
worst loosing up to around 25% in the first day.

One other thing I have found. You can't get a new Ni-Mh to accept a
full
charge until it has been cycled 4 or 5 times. If you charge them then
use
them until the voltage starts to drop and recharge several times you get
20 to 25% more capacity.

--
Glenn Ashmore

I'm building a 45' cutter in strip/composite. Watch my progress (or lack
there of) at: http://www.rutuonline.com
Shameless Commercial Division: http://www.spade-anchor-us.com

"Larry" wrote in message
...
"Glenn Ashmore" wrote in news:Q3fPg.49456$ok5.43395
@dukeread01:

Up to 10% in the first 24 hours
and 1 or 2% per day after that

Hmm....I wonder if that is still true on the new Ni-Mh batteries. I
just
turned on a little flashlight I keep in my desk. It's got two Tokima
2200
maH Ni-Mh batteries I can't remember when I charged, but it has to be
8-9
months ago. The bulb, not LED, in the little flashlight is just as
bright
as it ever is. I'm going to leave it on to see how long it will be
until
it's dead. 230maH in the first day? Wow, that's a lot of loss...

These batteries should have self-discharged long ago, by now.



--
There's amazing intelligence in the Universe.
You can tell because none of them ever called Earth.


I have two comments on this discussion:

1. Batteries Plus probably uses crappy Chinese batteries like everyone
else.
If you buy your own batteries from a place like Batteries America you can
get high quality Sanyo batteries and other good makes.

2. I have successfully soldered the flat metal tabs on these batteries
without any problem. I had no trouble getting solder to wet the tabs. I
line up the batteries in the proper series orientation and then bend one
tab
back onto the battery so that the tab from the next battery lies over it.
I
then tin both surfaces and then overlap them. Now applying some heat to
the
outer tab melts the solder on both tabs and connects them. Taping the
batteries together beforehand helps keep things aligned.

What was your procedure and what materials did you use to solder, please ?

Thanks,
Courtney
"ray lunder" wrote in message
...
I soldered some flat tops using that braided ground strap you can get
at rat shack etc. I cleaned the tops with alcohol first and tinned
both parts. They're supposed to be welded but I've done so many
foolish things in my life.
p.s. I've been looking for Samsung ICR18650-24 batteries for about 5
years now so if anyone knows how to get 16 of these weird 3.7V dogs
please let me know. Best of luck.

On Sun, 17 Sep 2006 13:33:53 GMT, "Courtney Thomas"
wrote:

I have a couple of older VHFs that I'd like to keep as backups and was
wondering
if anyone has replaced the batteries in the packs themselves.

I have disassembled the packs but see that the batteries require
soldering
small
metallic strips in a certain configuration to provide proper voltage,
etc.

My question: HOW to properly solder the new batteries, hopefully easily
:-)

Appreciatively,

Courtney