Xcal battery upgrade

[dewcon4414]

I decided to upgrade my Blue Xcals rechargable battery packs. The packs are 700 mah.... which after years of use will get you about 5 hours hunting out there. The Xcal IIs are 1000 mah and ive never had a problem hunting all day..... but its only 3 or 4 years old. I looked into the MaxxPacks and other companys that might put one together to me. So i ended up buying the Maxxpack. They have two.... the 1600 mah and the 1500 mah (im told are a tad bigger than the 1600s). Well if you have a blue you best not get the 1500s. The tube on the Xcal blues start out larger at the top and get narrower... you cant visually see it. I ended up having to remove the plastic and the black covering on part of the pack to get them in. These babies are TIGHT and will NOT go without doing that. Ill be testing them getting the before and after charge for awhile and ill let you know how they perform.

The charger ..... highly recommemd you get one. Otherwise since the battery is twice the capasity it takes twice as long to recharge after use using the ML charger. The charger will charge a battery in less than a couple hours and it has a light to tell you when its charged. This charger can be used on your other Xcal batteries. Ill use mine to recharge them quicker then put it back on the ML charger. One thing they recommemded with any battery was to allow them to cool down or come to room temp before recharging otherwise they may self discharge. All batteries do it. Mine reads 14.46 when fully charged and not under load. That high reading will disapate to a normal reading in just a couple of min. under load. I also noticed.... they arent warm after charging like my other batteries. That has to be better for the pods. The charge under load puts out about 15 dcv while the ML is 14.06 dcv.

Dew

 

[KinTN]

Good report, Thanks. Always interested in what folks are doing re batteries.

 

[dewcon4414]

Kin..... there r a few things in the last few years that have really made a difference that aren't bells and whistles. Headphones, coils and batteries. These can really make a difference on about any machine

 

[John(Tx)]

I've got the 1600 mah from maxxpacks and they work great on my excal II 1000. I can do two 5 hour hunts before I recharge. I have an extra 1600 mah pack in my alkaline battery pod as insurance when I go hunt, they will hold their charge for a very long time. HH

 

[dewcon4414]

Here is a picture of how i HAD to mod the battery just to get it to fit the BLUE pod. I had to do that on all three sides since the tube tapers about half way down. Hey, but its in and working.

 

[John(Tx)]

The 1600's have a snug fit on my excal II battery pods but did get them in. HH

 

[dewcon4414]

The Xcal II pods are a little larger. Tested it today and after 6 1/2 hours it dropped approx. 1 dcv from fully charged.

 

[dewcon4414]

Someone mentioned to me about their pod blowing up when using the Maxxpack charger. The web site does say its for 1000 ma and higher batteries. The blue Xcal and earlier use 700 ma batteries. IF a battery isnt functioning properly or is on its last leg using the charger could be an issue of concern. The battery will heat up and the charger doesnt care it will do what it does continue to try and charge it to full capasity. If you use the quick charger on an old battery i wouldnt leave it on more than an hour. If the light dont turn GREEN.... remove the charger. However, you can use the ML chargers on the Maxxpacks.... but because of the capasity it will take a LOT longer to charge.

Dew