Leave handie monitoring whilst on charge?

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Philm5d
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Leave handie monitoring whilst on charge?

Post by Philm5d »

Once my hand held transciever is fully charged in it's cradle whilst powered off -is there any reason it shouldn't be switched on and left monitoring whilst remaining in the charger? Thank you.
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bigpimp347
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Re: Leave handie monitoring whilst on charge?

Post by bigpimp347 »

A bit like putting in petrol while the engine is running ??
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Mikel
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Re: Leave handie monitoring whilst on charge?

Post by Mikel »

I sometimes do this but not with every handie, but I do have about 10 different models and some just get charged so they are ready for when I go out on the weekend.

It is a bit like using your laptop whilst it is plugged in as most people seem to do without any problems,(and phones!) but I tend to think you should flatten batteries every know and then before charging them fully again, so I do not do it constantly with any radio or laptop unless the battery has lost capacity to hold a charge.

In my professional life I would always be inclined when asked this type of question, to direct people to look in the manufacturers instructions for a particular device or to see what the manufacturers say directly (fire off an e-mail to them maybe?) as different batteries and chargers can behave differently because of different designs, chemistry’s and construction.

Does the charger or radio get excessively hot whist doing this or does it run cool?, this would be a factor that I would take into account as well. I use an infrared thermometer for this and you can pick them up in in Lloyds chemists for less than £20.

I never leave batteries of any kind charging unattended or at least I would never leave the house and leave something on charge, and the same would apply in these circumstances, as this for me would be to much of a fire hazard.

So the quick answer would be - it depends on the particular device and whether I was going to be around or not and does it get hotter than usual when doing it.
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Philm5d
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Re: Leave handie monitoring whilst on charge?

Post by Philm5d »

Thank you. I've spoken to a former electrical technician. Seems to hinge on whether the charger is a smart charger or not. I've come to the conclusion that it does no harm in my particular case- these are Bapofengs by the way. The charger kicks in when necessary (red light) and recharges the battery when monitoring to full - green light. Sometimes there is a rapid red/green flickering presumably between charging and almost full - maybe trickle charge. The radios, cradle and wall plug stay cool throughout. Thanks again.
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Transwarp
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Re: Leave handie monitoring whilst on charge?

Post by Transwarp »

Li-ion batteries are to be used carefully, discharging while charging at the same time shortens the life expectancy of. Modern smart phones and tabs have an option to only charge to 85% of capacity but the battery level meter will show fully charged, the reason is that li-ion batteries live longer if not charged to the absolute capacity all the time. You should also not store for long periods fully charged li-ion's as it doesn't do them any good, store them 25% charged for long periods like months.
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Re: Leave handie monitoring whilst on charge?

Post by 26mb04 »

It depends on the radio. Some Icoms will display "HiVolt" if you leave them on whilst in the charger. I'm not sure if this damages the radio (I've not noticed any damage to mine), but I don't think Icom intend them to be left on whilst charging. It's possible the message was designed to make you turn the radio off, not because of damage, but because it will charge quicker (on the regular slow chargers, at least). A High Voltage warning will probably be a more convincing reason to switch it off than some random eco-saver warning which is probably easier for most to ignore, so in other words the warnings could be purely for psychological effect.

Some of the more deterministic chargers assume the radio will be off in order for them to make decisions about battery charge state, and if you leave the radio on they can get confused. This is a particular issue with certain Kenwood oldies (TK-359, 350 etc- still good rigs though!).
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