Standard Horizon - Battery Reusability?

[night0wl]

Hi All,

One of my pet peeves in boating is how disposable things are...especially when it comes to electronics. Seems like designers/engineers build in a certain degree of planned obsolescence in order to force you to rebuy gear every few years.

I recently faced this with my marine handheld vhf. A perfectly serviceable HX850s, the battery stopped holding a decent charge. I'd barely get a few hours of standby time with it. So, I go and hunt for a new battery pack. *ugh*...$45-$60 and out of stock everywhere. A whole new vhf is $150 with a few rebates. So I ended up buying a new vhf, but staring at this old one on my desk got blood roiling.

THe battery is clearly a lithium ion 1500 milliamp cell pack thats used in every RC car and toy out there...available on Amazon for $8-10. However, the engineers have made this housing virtually impregnable without seemingly destroying it. While I have my new vhf, any advice on cracking this case open so I can replace the powerpack and have a useful backup vhf for the dinghy or kayak excursion?

This is the powerpack.

[john61ct]

Or use the new one as backup / portable

and just hardwire the right polarity and voltage to the old one in a fixed location?

[night0wl]

Originally Posted by john61ct

Or use the new one as backup / portable

and just hardwire the right polarity and voltage to the old one in a fixed location?

Entirely possible, but I have a ships station/fixed mount VHF already. Annoying to just toss something. What a waste of resources.

[diesel45mpg]

There are companies that rebuild battery packs, with really old radio s the nice thing is if you had old tech like nicad, they could update the pack to modern cells.

I used "The Battery Lady" in the past, not sure if they are still around. A Google search should turn up options, the ham radio forums will be helpful.

I would not try to open/rebuild the pack myself, especially with Lithium. Special tools and parts are required, I destroyed a few packs before I learned my lesson...

[svHyLyte]

BTDT. The case can be opened and the internal batteries replaced inexpensively. See http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...es-177036.html for more information.

FWIW...

[oleman]

Some of the Mfg have an AA battery pack optional. We run an ICOM IC-F60V this is a commercial UHF handheld programmed for operation on GMRS freqs. When the expensive LI goes dead 8 AA bats will get it going while the LI's are on the charger. So the radio will always be usable so long as AA's are available. Expect shortlife with the AA's. I like using grms on the water because many times we are the only ones in the area on the freq. If you really want to play with it there are LI batteries in the AA footprint.

A word of warning: LI bats require the correct charger or could rapidly self destruct.

[svfinlandia]

I had the same problem. I ended up buying a new battery and while I was looking for the new one I found that Standard Horizon makes a battery tray that holds AA batteries that fits my radio, so I also bought one of those as a backup.

Al, S/V Finlandia

[tomrealest]

Thereis chain called Batteries + Bulbs that fix just about anything with a battery in it. You just have to decide if it's worth it. It's not the world we grew up in where things couldnbe readily fixes. Now we have the throw away society.

[night0wl]

Originally Posted by oleman

Some of the Mfg have an AA battery pack optional. We run an ICOM IC-F60V this is a commercial UHF handheld programmed for operation on GMRS freqs. When the expensive LI goes dead 8 AA bats will get it going while the LI's are on the charger. So the radio will always be usable so long as AA's are available. Expect shortlife with the AA's. I like using grms on the water because many times we are the only ones in the area on the freq. If you really want to play with it there are LI batteries in the AA footprint.

A word of warning: LI bats require the correct charger or could rapidly self destruct.

Originally Posted by svfinlandia

I had the same problem. I ended up buying a new battery and while I was looking for the new one I found that Standard Horizon makes a battery tray that holds AA batteries that fits my radio, so I also bought one of those as a backup.

Al, S/V Finlandia

So yes, I've bought the alkaline battery tray to get some extended use out of this vhf. ALthough, I'd really like to just be able to figure out how to crack it open and replace the battery pack. Why is there no disassembly guide!

I guess I'll have to try with a dremel and cutting disk over the weekend.

[maine50]

West marine and others "show" they have FNB 121li in warehouse, One west store nearby in Ct shows in stock as do other retailers. I recently looked for FNB 122 and that was very scarce.

[svHyLyte]

Originally Posted by night0wl

So yes, I've bought the alkaline battery tray to get some extended use out of this vhf. ALthough, I'd really like to just be able to figure out how to crack it open and replace the battery pack. Why is there no disassembly guide!

I guess I'll have to try with a dremel and cutting disk over the weekend.

Nightowl--

You don't need a dremel tool which may do more harm than good.. The "cover" is merely held in place with an elastomeric that you can cut through with an Exacto tool or (carefully) with a "box cutter". The battery pack can be replaced by Batteries Plus. (See my earlier post above and the link to my post concerning replacing the batteries in our hand held SH radio.) You can then reattach the cover with a few dabs of glue.

FWIW...

[night0wl]

Originally Posted by svHyLyte

Nightowl--

You don't need a dremel tool which may do more harm than good.. The "cover" is merely held in place with an elastomeric that you can cut through with an Exacto tool or (carefully) with a "box cutter". The battery pack can be replaced by Batteries Plus. (See my earlier post above and the link to my post concerning replacing the batteries in our hand held SH radio.) You can then reattach the cover with a few dabs of glue.

FWIW...

Thanks! I'll try using an exacto knife again tonight when I'm at the boat. I tried last time with a box cutter, and I just couldn't pierce the cover and get purchase to pry it open. Looks like its worth another shot...will report back soon!

[night0wl]

No luck...I cannot get that x-acto knife in the seam either.

Here are close up pics...any further advice?

[gmakhs]

Remove the tag , maybe there is a screw under it or maybe you need to use a little heat to melt the glue ( do not do this if you are not sure the batteries can explode ) .
In general Amazon and AliExpress is the cheapest option for batteries and trays maybe for VHF too the 150 USD you say it's.to high for a simple handheld.

[svHyLyte]

It took a little doing/patience with an Exacto tool for me, starting in the middle of one of the long sides but I was eventually able to score the joint deeply enough to cut all the way through the sealant and then worked that around, being very patient with the process. As noted above, you might find that heating the joint in battery holder somewhat makes the job a bit easier. To do so, however, I'd use a Ladies hair dryer on the lower setting rather than a "heat gun". I used this approach with an old Nicro Solar Vent that I had to disassemble for repair and the heating did help. Again, patience and persistence are the watch words.

Good luck!