O K Excalibur guys,explain the battery replacement again please.....

[JoeSWFLA]

Someone mentioned getting replacement batteries from Batteries Plus,or somewhere similar.
They said they make it up for you with the connector.What's the next step(install).Mine
are holding a charge less over time,and I would like to get some new ones.Any tips
would be appreciated. Thanks Joe

 

[Mike (Virginia Beach)]

There's no "other" step...you send them your battery pack, they replace all the cells in it with NiMH cells, and you charge it and use it as you normally would, except it lasts longer and doesn't get a short memory. The stock charger is used but you now have to charge it for 16 hours to get a full charge, due to the higher capacity cells. The cost is $40.

 

[JohnA]

Simply order a Prue-made pack with a higher NIMH rating from onlybatterypacks.com for 45.00 and pop it in yourself. My local Battery's Plus couldn't make the conversion pack and in retrospect I am glad they couldn't because of the disparity in the NIMH ratings. Then buy a Duratrax Digital battery pack charger and you are good to go. Don't waste money on the El-Cheapo battery chargers. You can charge the pack in 1 to 2 hrs or less depending on in ital charge on the pack and the mAh settings. You can expect well over 12 hrs use on the pack with minimal drain during down-time. Great setup.

 

[Mike (Virginia Beach)]

I'm not sure how much "disparity" there is, because MY local Batteries Plus changes out the stock 700ma cells with 1000ma and I can easily go 12 to 15 hours on one charge, with the factory Minelab charger. As far as the one in your town not being able to do it, they may not WANT to do it but they certainly CAN do it. The have access to all the same stuff the other Batteries Plus stores do. But the one you specified at onlybatterypacks.com looks like a very good deal, being 1500ma. Other than having to buy another charger. How much is that?

Here's a link to the battery youre talking about, in case anybody wants it. http://onlybatterypacks.com/showitem.asp?ItemID=11530

 

[JoeSWFLA]

n/t

 

[JohnA]

The not so great chargers sell for under 30.00. The really good charger with a 5 year warranty sells for around 100.00. It is fully digital and adjusts the mAh charger from 500 mAh up. It also has a discharge and rejuvenate function, extending the pack life. The Minelab charger, if I am not mistaken, charges, at a fixed mAh at a very low rate, around 100 mAh , which necessitates overnight charging for the NICAD pack and way longer for a NIMH pack. The 1500 mAh pack may very well last longer than 12-15 hrs, but I monitor both the NICAD and NIMH packs with a VOM and when the NIMH pack hits a low 12 volt reading, I recharge it. I run the NICAD pack to just past the squeal to eliminate memory problems. A big advantage of the higher mAh pack is maintaining the charge while idle. The setup you use certainly works, but for basically 100.00 more you get a highly efficient system eliminating the overnight or longer charge process and an easy way to rejuvenate a pack, which will save money in the long run. Good luck in your land season.

 

[Mike (Virginia Beach)]

Thanks for the info...that makes sense. I usually have no problem with doing it my way because I generally hunt every Friday and Saturday night/early AM and hit the low tide for about 4 to 5 hours each time. So I charge it up once a week, use it for those two nights, and then cahrge it up for the following weekend again.

 

[NamVetLesTreasureSeeker]

MANY THANKS GUYS for that EXCELLENT INFO: I had (2) battery pods rebuilt by my closest Batteries-Plus Store a couple of yrs. ago. I specifically ordered the highest SANYO Nimh batteries that they could get, which I think at the time was 1000mah Nimhs. A couple of yrs. ago, Ralph at SunRay Products advised me to make sure, that I got GOOD JAPANESE Batteries, and NOT CHINESE Nimh Batteries, because he personally felt that the Japanese
Batteries were Much Better!! At that time, my replacement purchase cost was $85.00 per POD, plus shipping costs.