enginerd Posted April 23, 2021 Report Share Posted April 23, 2021 So this weekend we killed two more radio batteries. These are motorola VX261 radios. If you leave these radios on long enough to drain the battery to zero, it will no longer take a charge. If you know a way to bring these batteries back to life and it saves them, I'll buy your team a round or a case of beer at the next race. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Technical Advisory Committee Andrew D Johnson Posted April 23, 2021 Technical Advisory Committee Report Share Posted April 23, 2021 Maybe you need a better charger? If these are the same radios we use in the Honda, I will find one left on from a race 3 months before and it will charge right up. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Technical Advisory Committee Chris Huggins Posted April 23, 2021 Technical Advisory Committee Report Share Posted April 23, 2021 Hook them up to a regular battery. Hold the battery cables onto the contact points if you have to. Once they get a base charge on them they should take a charge from the "smart" charger Google says they are 7.4v lithium, so you will need to find some way to put 8 volts into them at a low amperage, but not with any "smart" circuitry. As always, with lithium batteries, this stuff is an outdoor activity 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Technical Advisory Committee Andrew D Johnson Posted April 23, 2021 Technical Advisory Committee Report Share Posted April 23, 2021 (edited) @enginerd Get this:Adjustable DC power supply. Edited April 23, 2021 by Andrew D Johnson 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
enginerd Posted April 23, 2021 Author Report Share Posted April 23, 2021 I have several chargers... I can probably tear one apart and pull wires so I can connect a power supply directly to the right contacts. That will be easier than holding wires against the contacts. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MMiskoe Posted April 23, 2021 Report Share Posted April 23, 2021 This doesn't really answer your question, but Batteries Plus stores can assemble you a new battery that will fit if you give them the old one. I've bought knock-off motorola batteries from them for much cheaper. But agreed with others, the smart charger needs a bit of power to know what it is doing. Sometimes warming the battery up will help give it just enough juice to trigger the charger. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
enginerd Posted April 26, 2021 Author Report Share Posted April 26, 2021 (edited) @MMiskoe Sure enough, weather warmed up a bit and after days of resetting and attempting to charge the batteries they both took full charges! Thanks for the input. Edited April 26, 2021 by enginerd Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mender Posted April 26, 2021 Report Share Posted April 26, 2021 Leave them disconnected for a week then check them to see if they held the charge. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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