Poor battery performance with AT Pro:thumbdown:

[marcomo]

I had the impression that I hadn't been getting very good battery life in my AT Pro, nowhere near the 20-40 hours the manual says I should get, so with my last battery change I kept an actual record of battery performance.

Using fresh Energizer alkalines, I got an actual total of 8.2 hours before going down to one bar. At that point I turned the detector off while I paused for the cause and to make a phone call. About 10-15 minutes later I turned the detector back on and it came on at three bars. Within half an hour it was down to two bars and about an hour later back down to one bar. I used it the rest of the hunt without any noticeable loss in performance, but at one bar the batteries were obviously ready for replacing. Total usage 11.3 hours.

I keep the sensitivity wide open and almost always have the iron audio on, and I don't doubt that puts more drain on the batteries. Headphones in use the whole time so no extra drain from using the speaker. 11 hours of battery life with name brand alkalines doesn't seem very good to me, so I bought some Duracell rechargeable (white top Japanese made which I've been told are better that the black top Chinese made) to try.

I'll keep an exact log with those and see how they do.

 

[GoGoGopher]

You should be getting more out of them than that...You might want to contact Garrett and ask if this is a known issue with any detectors sent in...

HH,

 

[John-Edmonton]

Maybe you have a cheap set of batteries? Even my rechargeable get at least 8 hours and seem to stay at 2 bars for a very long time. I have never had my batteries run down to one bar, as I tend to recharge my batteries after 5-6 hours regardless.

 

[GoGoGopher]

I have noticed that after about 3-5 hours at 2 bars, that it drops to 1 bar, then drains a LOT quicker from there...
It takes almost all day (8 hours or more) for them to drop from full to 3 bars...About 8 hours to go from 3 to 2, and about 5 hours to go from 2 to 1 bar
After hitting 1 bar I know I only have about 1.5 hours left...


HH,

 

[Johnny Cache]

Wow, I'm actually impressed with my battery power. I don't remember exactly, but I'm sure I'm getting at least 30+ hours...

 

[TerraDigger]

Marcomo, the only way to be sure when using multiple batteries is to check each one for voltage & mah, with a good multimeter, prior to use. Just because its a major battery mfg doesn't mean you can't get a dud(s). However, that does not mean the unit isn't having issues.
Recently my newer unit was doing (not a ATPro) exactly the same as yours, along with a minor LCD issue. Sent it back to mfg, they replaced all the internal components. Works like a charm now.

Also, on the rechargeables, make sure the charger you use is capable of fully charging those particular brand batteries. High capacity rechargeables (higher voltage/mah capacity) sometimes need a charging unit that provides more input amps fom the mains. Example, my 9.6 volt 230 mah Imedion NiMH needs the MAHA charger because it draws 16 amps vs my standard charger which only provides 12 amps. The MAHA charge will provide 9 hours run time. Using my other charger, I can only get 5 hours. Even though when the non-MAHA charged battery is inserted in the unit, the machine reads the charge as full.

 

[Stryker47]

I agree I go thru batteries like crazy. I am less than 15 hrs per set, I did mention it to garret before my upgrade and it came back the same. my sensitivity is usually at about 6 bars and I dont run iron audio .

 

[marcomo]

Thank you everybody for the input. My impression is that my battery life has not been as good since I got the detector back from having the factory upgrade and getting my pinpoint function repaired. But tracking battery life wasn't a priority so I didn't pay that much attention.

Maybe 4 or 5 sets of batteries ago I noticed a couple straight sets of batteries that seemed like they went down to one bar pretty fast.

Since I was not using name brand alkalines (Walgreens) and they always seem to be changing their manufacturing location - Mexico, Japan, China - I was thinking maybe not the most uniform quality control.

So the last couple sets I've used have been fresh Energizer alks and it hasn't seemed to help increase the hours. This last set I tracked the times exactly.

It could be an issue with my detector. But since I'm not seeing any performance problems, I'm not inclined to spend the time waiting for repair, time packaging and shipping, and cost to ship it to Garland.

The big thing I'm doing differently now that I am guessing is putting more drain on the batteries is the almost full time usage of the iron audio.

I'll post exactly how much time it takes to get down to one bar with the white top Duracell rechargables commonly referred to as Duraloops that are said to be rebranded Sanyo Eneloops.

 

[metalhead]

Sorry to see that your having problems with your machine's battery life usage. I've been using rechargeables for several years. I just make a habbit of charging them after every hunt. Since you do plan on using rechargeable batteries now, make sure that you bring a set of alkaline batteries in your pouch. Rechargeable batteries don't drain steadily like alkalines do. Rechargeables will drop rapidly after losing full charge, so it's always good to have some spare alkaline on ya to finish the hunt. Best of luck to ya!Happy Hunting!

 

[marcomo]

Again, thanks to all for the advice and observations. I always bring a spare 4-pack of alks and a 9 volt alk (for the Propointer) along just in case.

I have a good friend who is way into rechargable batteries and like Terra, he says I should get a Maha charger because he doesn't think the little Duracell one will charge the batteries to their full capacity. I'll find out soon I guess and let you guys know.

 

[Jerry-Wi]

Another quirk about rechargeables is that nickel Metal Hydride batteries seem to discharge slowly when not being used. They work very well with a fresh charge but if you charge them and leave them set for a few weeks, they do not last as long. This is something I have noticed using battery operated power tools, but I would think the same logic applies to anything powered with them.

Just remember to keep a fresh charge and they work fine.

Jerry

 

[Rick N. MI]

The batteries last a long time. Noticed when it is down it couple notches that when I turn it on agian on another hunt it is up a bar. So I don't pay attention to it much until it's down to 1 bar.

Rick

 

[TerraDigger]

Jerry, you are correct. Thats why one should buy 'low self discharge' NiMH batteries. They can keep a 85% charge after a year (good mfg's). If one uses and charges their batteries daily or every few days then low self discharge isn't a necessity. Some really high capacity NiMH do not come as low self discharge, that is why I am mentioning how often the batteries are being used/charged.

 

[TheGeorgiaCanuck]

I just wanna know if it's safe to use Lithium 1.6V rechargeable batteries in the ATPro.

 

[Reddog777]

I had the impression that I hadn't been getting very good battery life in my AT Pro, nowhere near the 20-40 hours the manual says I should get, so with my last battery change I kept an actual record of battery performance.

Using fresh Energizer alkalines, I got an actual total of 8.2 hours before going down to one bar. At that point I turned the detector off while I paused for the cause and to make a phone call. About 10-15 minutes later I turned the detector back on and it came on at three bars. Within half an hour it was down to two bars and about an hour later back down to one bar. I used it the rest of the hunt without any noticeable loss in performance, but at one bar the batteries were obviously ready for replacing. Total usage 11.3 hours.

I keep the sensitivity wide open and almost always have the iron audio on, and I don't doubt that puts more drain on the batteries. Headphones in use the whole time so no extra drain from using the speaker. 11 hours of battery life with name brand alkalines doesn't seem very good to me, so I bought some Duracell rechargeable (white top Japanese made which I've been told are better that the black top Chinese made) to try.

I'll keep an exact log with those and see how they do.

I agree with you marcomo, I am not getting the life expectancey from my batteries that I expected either. I used Energizers, Duracells, and others name brands. I have to make sure that I carry spares because I hunt from sun up to sun down sometimes. I use headphones to, but realize with the At Pro, the headphones have two larger speakers that drains more power compared with the smaller housing speakers IMO. It seem that it should be vice versa headphones using less power. Someone correct me if I am wrong.

 

[marcomo]

Jerry, Terra is right. The rechargable batteries you are using are the older technology NiMH batteries which have a high discharge rate and thus a short shelf life between charges.

From what I've researched, Sanyo came out with the low self-discharge batteries which they called Eneloops in 2005. There are other manufacturers of the LSD NiMH batteries as well by now.

They are now into the second gen of Eneloops and they claim they will hold 80% of their power after two years and 75% of their power after three years of non-use and can be recharged 1500 times.

 

[TheDualFieldBandit]

I just wanna know if it's safe to use Lithium 1.6V rechargeable batteries in the ATPro.

You mean 1.6 volt NiZn High Voltage batteries??? If so Yes!

 

[Reddog777]

Wow, I'm actually impressed with my battery power. I don't remember exactly, but I'm sure I'm getting at least 30+ hours...

Hi Johnny Cache. Do you get 30+ hours with or without headphones?

 

[Dream Catcher]

I hunted for about 8 hours wirh new batteries. (Four hour intervals...) No change in the bars. The following weekend for about 4 hours -- no change. Third trip out the indicator dropped 1 bar. I haven't been since but I think I'll get 20+ or more hours out of this set...It's been raining in the out here in the Pacific Northwest so I haven't been out lately,

 

[marcomo]

Update: This past Saturday my set of white top Duracell LSD rechargables finally went down to one bar at 15.1 hours. Definitely better than the slightly over 8 hours before going to one bar I got from the previously mentioned Energizer alkalines. Full time iron audio on and full sensitivity with both sets of batteries.

Kind of weird the progression of the bars. When I first put them in my AT Pro they started at 4 bars, dropped to 3 bars in less than half an hour, and then to 2 bars in about an hour. At this point I'm thinking I'm not going to get long out of these rechargables. But from that point forward, they stayed at two or three bars for the next 14 hours or so until they dropped to one bar. I charged these batteries in the little Duracell charger I paid $8.50 for that came with two black top Duracell rechargable AAs.

My battery dork friend (OK to call him that since he calls me the detecting dork) took four of my eneloops home and fully discharged and charged them on his $50 Maha charger. He checked the batteries before he did that and they were all in the mid 1800 mAh range. After he charged them with his better charger, they ranged from 1930-1960 mAhs.

Those eneloops he charged are what I'm using now. I'm at 3.6 hours at this point and they haven't dropped below 3 bars yet.

Next set of batteries I'll check another set of name brand alkalines. I'm very surprised to have gotten significantly longer life out of the rechargables than the Energizer alkalines, and I want to verify that it wasn't a defective battery fluke.