ICOM battery replacement question

[Martin Gregorie]

I have a hand held ICOM IC-A3E with a throughly dead battery pack.

In the past I've revived similar packs (e.g. on an HP-25 calculator) by
cracking into the plastic shell of the pack and replacing the cells,
which are usually AA size NiCds. Doing this is normally vastly less
expensive than buying a new pack.

So, before I dig out the heavy duty modeling knife and screwdrivers and
start levering at it, do any of you know how to get into these ICOM
battery packs without damaging them? I can't see any obvious clips,
catches or screws on the pack.


--
martin@ | Martin Gregorie
gregorie. | Essex, UK
org |

[BT]

Pacific Coast Avionics has NiMH replacement battery packs for the IC-A3, and
IC-A3E.
According to the manual the original battery is a CM-166

why deal with NiCd, dump them for a new NiMH and no more problems

http://www.pacific-coast-avionics.com/detail/8389/Miscellaneous/Icom/Ni-MH_Battery_Pack/

the new battery is CM-166NM, $80 retail plus shipping.

good luck.

BT

"Martin Gregorie" > wrote in message
...
>I have a hand held ICOM IC-A3E with a throughly dead battery pack.
>
> In the past I've revived similar packs (e.g. on an HP-25 calculator) by
> cracking into the plastic shell of the pack and replacing the cells, which
> are usually AA size NiCds. Doing this is normally vastly less expensive
> than buying a new pack.
>
> So, before I dig out the heavy duty modeling knife and screwdrivers and
> start levering at it, do any of you know how to get into these ICOM
> battery packs without damaging them? I can't see any obvious clips,
> catches or screws on the pack.
>
>
> --
> martin@ | Martin Gregorie
> gregorie. | Essex, UK
> org |

[309]

I've purchased a number of different battery packs from
www.batteriesamerica.com (formerly EH Yost, or Mr. Nicad).

I've purchased both replacement cells and full packs for my ICOM IC-
A24s. I've been quite happy with both.

I see they have a pack for the IC-A3:

"CM-166 12v 1200mAh Nickel Metal Hydride battery for ICOM IC-A22 &
IC-A3
Same size as original stock battery, with twice the operating time !
Hi-Watt power! ICOM-compatible.
Web special sale price $59.95 each !!"

This pack has more juice than the packs that I got with my ICOM's; I
believe they had 650 mAh packs. I have this for my IC-A24, and it
works great.

They also make/sell a really neat quick charger for the ICOM's, and
that's made my life considerably easier!

Their prices are tough to beat, and they pretty much do BATTERIES, and
not much else. I've also purchased cell phone packs, NP-7A (12 v
SLA's for my glider) and a larger battery from them to provide enough
juice to keep the 'trons flowing on wave flights.

I don't know if they'll ship across the pond, or cost effectively.

Overall, I'm thoroughly happy with their product and service.

Best wishes,

-Pete
#309

Martin Gregorie wrote:
> martin@ | Martin Gregorie
> gregorie. | Essex, UK
> org |

[Martin Gregorie]

Thanks to all who helped on this query.

Following Tim's advice I cracked into the battery pack and found 10
2/3AF, 600 mAh NiCd cells and a small charging circuit. Now I had
something to work from.

Various helpful people quoted costs ($US 60, GBP 40) for 1200 mAh NiMH
replacement packs. Using this as a guide I had a further look around.
First off, these are very reasonable prices: my Internet search
typically found catalog prices that were a lot higher ($80+, GBP 69+).

As this hand-held will be only a backup radio, I wanted to spend as
little as possible on it and looked further.

Next stop: DIY. I checked Maplins prices for replacement cells, and
found that a set of 10 2/3AF tagged NiCd cells would cost GBP 23.90.
Thats better, but the wiring in the pack isn't straight forward and the
extra capacity would be nice, so I made one last check.

Last stop: eBay. I found a US vendor selling 1000 mAh NiMH packs for GBP
16.90 including postage. Bargain - its turned up today in good shape and
is on my radio and on charge.

I admit I'm not altogether happy with NiMH - the self-discharge rate is
much higher than for NiCd which makes occasional use problematic - and
in this case I think one or two soaring days a week (we should be so
lucky!) counts as problematic without a continuous trickle charge
system. However, my junk box contains enough bits to make up a 10 ma
trickle charger for almost nothing. I can charge the pack when needed on
the ICOM charger (10% rate) and maintain it on a lash-up trickle charger.

QUESTION: I normally use a 1% rate trickle in NiCds: you can charge them
24/7 at that rate without problems. Is that also a good rate for NiMH
or should the continuous rate be higher than 1%?


--
martin@ | Martin Gregorie
gregorie. | Essex, UK
org |