OK,
Captain, I guess this post wasn't directed to you.
I certainly tried to avail myself of an ACR certified
service center for battery replacement, but they are extraordinarily liability conscious and unwilling to replace the battery on an EPIRB that has any type of defect in the case. In this instance, it was easy enough for me to destress and seal the crack at the base of the
antenna, but they still would not do the
service. I don't blame them, but I don't want to throw away an otherwise perfectly good EPIRB.
It is true that the service center does more than just replace the battery. If you need a certified 406 EPIRB for reason of regulation, or don't want to take the responsibility of
wiring a new battery pack and ensuring your EPIRB is still watertight and practically as good as new, then you certainly wouldn't want these cells.
I'm not advocating that anyone else do this so no need to sermonize.