Charging
The battery is a critical component of your radio/device. A degraded battery will reduce the effectiveness and reliability of your system.
Should you see any of the following signs, please stop using it and obtain a replacement.
- Physical damage to the casing.
- Battery becomes excessively hot during use or whilst charging.
- Expansion of the battery body.
- Significantly reduced operating time.
- Charge indicator immediately goes green upon insertion of a flat battery.
- Battery no longer fits onto the radio.
Do not use sticky tape to secure the battery to your radio or to fix a damaged case.
Modern Lithium-ion battery packs can be safely charged following partial use. They do not suffer from the ‘memory effect’ associated with NiCD or NiMH battery packs.
However, the batteries do have a finite operating life. As they reach the end of their life you will notice reduced operating time.
A fully charged battery can be stored for around 12 months without noticeable degradation. However, if you are storing you battery unused for a longer period please try and achieve about 70% charge by either partially charging or discharging as required.
When charging the battery on the radio, always turn off the radio. Unlike a mobile telephone, the battery charging process is not managed by the attached device. The battery charger delivers power to charge the battery, not to power the device. Failure to do this will damage the battery, reducing it's capacity and operational life.
Try and avoid leaving batteries in the charger longer than necessary. Although chargers will stop charging there is always a risk of an electrical fault. If you want to store the radio in it's charging cradle, simply turn off the mains power once the battery is fully charged.
Observe the charging status led indicator. Slowly flashing red indicates that power is being supplied to the charging cradle, but the battery is not present.
Orange/Yellow indicates that charging is in progress.
Green indicates that charging is complete.
Rapidly flashing red can indicate a charging fault. Remove the battery and turn off the power. Wait for a few minutes and reapply the power before inserting the battery. Check the led status after 1 minute.
If the led continues to flash rapidly, try placing the battery in another charger. If the issue follows the battery, this indicates a battery issue.
Charger faults are not common, but you can test the charger with another battery pack.
Your battery connects to the radio by aligning slots and clips. These can be vulnerable to drops or other physical damage. Please take the relevant precautions to minimise the risk of damage.
Note that the chemicals in battery packs are hazardous. A damaged battery pack is dangerous. Do not attempt to dispose of a battery in fire. Use a designated recycling point/facility.