Batteries, charger for Yaesu handheld - NiCad or NiMH?

Who knows about batteries here?

I have a Yaesu (now Vertex Standard) Aviator Pro II VX-120 handheld radio.
It's a good, basic unit that has worked flawlessly, it'ss relatively cheap
and is all the technology I need for this. My question is about batteries
and chargers for it.

When I bought the unit, it came with a rechargeable Nicad battery pack, and
a desktop charger for same. After several years of faithful service, the
battery pack no longer holds much of a charge, so it's time to replace the
battery pack. NiMH seems to be a better technology for stuff like this
(greater capacity, fewer issues with battery "memory", etc.), so my first
inclination would be to buy a NiMH battery pack to replace the old Nicad.

The manufacturer does not sell a NiMH battery pack (this is a relatively
"old" unit - all of about 3 years old - so they don't provide much in the
way of support for it). Chief Aircraft has an item in their catalog
alledging to be a NiMH battery pack for this model (the bottom of page 4, if
you want to follow along at home). Encouraged, I called Chief today to ask
about this NiMH battery pack, wanting to double-check that it would indeed
work with my radio and charger. The lady I spoke with at Chief didn't know
anything about this battery pack, and she suggested I call Yaesu, since she
said it was from them, and she would make no promises about the battery pack
working or not damaging anything. So I called Yaesu "Tech Support" and the
guy I spoke with (not in India, to my surprise) didn't know anything about
any NiMH bateries for that model, and said they never manufactured any such
thing. He said it was probably some third-party battery pack.

So I googled "Yaesu Aviator Pro II VX-120 NiMH battery" and found a place on
the web selling a battery pack for this model radio
(http://www.batteriesamerica.com/newpage71.htm). They claim it's a NiMH
battery that should work in an NC-76B charger, which is the original Yaesu
charger I've been using with my Nicad battery pack.

My concerns are mostly about the charger (I assume the radio doesn't care
what kind of batteries I feed it). I have a few battery chargers laying
around my house (for AA and AAA batteries), and while some of them say they
can be used with either Nicad or NiMH, they all have some sort of switch
that they warn you must be properly set to the battery type - there are dire
warnings about attempting to charge NiMH batteries with the switch in the
Nicad position (and vice versa).

The original Yaesu charger was designed for Nicads. I wouldn't expect that
it would work correctly for NiMH batteries, but the online battery vendor
says it will. Are they telling the truth, or will it fry things? Am I
being overly concerned?

Thanks for any battery/charger expertise you can share on this.


--
David Herman
N6170T 1965 Cessna 150E
Boeing Field (BFI), Seattle, WA
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Visit the Pacific Northwest Flying Forum:
http://www.pacificnorthwestflying.com/

"David Herman" wrote in message
news:1099632107.731145@yasure...

So I googled "Yaesu Aviator Pro II VX-120 NiMH battery" and found a place on
the web selling a battery pack for this model radio
(http://www.batteriesamerica.com/newpage71.htm). They claim it's a NiMH
battery that should work in an NC-76B charger, which is the original Yaesu
charger I've been using with my Nicad battery pack.

You have found (IMO) the best source for handheld batteries. I have found
in the past that NIMH batteries work just fine with Yaesu chargers. I happened
to be on their site yesterday and they also sell "inserts" that can be installed
in the old battery packs to save a few bucks. For my old Yaesu, they had both
the NICAD insert and NIMH inserts. I bought the NIMH.

Vaughn

David: Although the manufacturer "doesn't support" the battery pack, it can
possibly be fixed.

If you open it up, you may find several smaller rechargeable cells which
CAN be replaced, if one is handy with a soldering iron. These rechargeable
cells are very similar to the batteries found in electric shavers. Radio
Shack (and other) electronics distributors usually sell these. I recently
replaced mine in an older Ten Tec TT-920 hand-held that I use. HTH
"David Herman" wrote in message
news:1099632107.731145@yasure...
Who knows about batteries here?

I have a Yaesu (now Vertex Standard) Aviator Pro II VX-120 handheld radio.
It's a good, basic unit that has worked flawlessly, it'ss relatively cheap
and is all the technology I need for this. My question is about batteries
and chargers for it.

When I bought the unit, it came with a rechargeable Nicad battery pack,
and
a desktop charger for same. After several years of faithful service, the
battery pack no longer holds much of a charge, so it's time to replace the
battery pack. NiMH seems to be a better technology for stuff like this
(greater capacity, fewer issues with battery "memory", etc.), so my first
inclination would be to buy a NiMH battery pack to replace the old Nicad.

The manufacturer does not sell a NiMH battery pack (this is a relatively
"old" unit - all of about 3 years old - so they don't provide much in the
way of support for it). Chief Aircraft has an item in their catalog
alledging to be a NiMH battery pack for this model (the bottom of page 4,
if
you want to follow along at home). Encouraged, I called Chief today to
ask
about this NiMH battery pack, wanting to double-check that it would indeed
work with my radio and charger. The lady I spoke with at Chief didn't
know
anything about this battery pack, and she suggested I call Yaesu, since
she
said it was from them, and she would make no promises about the battery
pack
working or not damaging anything. So I called Yaesu "Tech Support" and
the
guy I spoke with (not in India, to my surprise) didn't know anything about
any NiMH bateries for that model, and said they never manufactured any
such
thing. He said it was probably some third-party battery pack.

So I googled "Yaesu Aviator Pro II VX-120 NiMH battery" and found a place
on
the web selling a battery pack for this model radio
(http://www.batteriesamerica.com/newpage71.htm). They claim it's a NiMH
battery that should work in an NC-76B charger, which is the original Yaesu
charger I've been using with my Nicad battery pack.

My concerns are mostly about the charger (I assume the radio doesn't care
what kind of batteries I feed it). I have a few battery chargers laying
around my house (for AA and AAA batteries), and while some of them say
they
can be used with either Nicad or NiMH, they all have some sort of switch
that they warn you must be properly set to the battery type - there are
dire
warnings about attempting to charge NiMH batteries with the switch in the
Nicad position (and vice versa).

The original Yaesu charger was designed for Nicads. I wouldn't expect
that
it would work correctly for NiMH batteries, but the online battery vendor
says it will. Are they telling the truth, or will it fry things? Am I
being overly concerned?

Thanks for any battery/charger expertise you can share on this.


--
David Herman
N6170T 1965 Cessna 150E
Boeing Field (BFI), Seattle, WA
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Visit the Pacific Northwest Flying Forum:
http://www.pacificnorthwestflying.com/

tom418 wrote:

David: Although the manufacturer "doesn't support" the battery pack, it can
possibly be fixed.

If you open it up, you may find several smaller rechargeable cells which
CAN be replaced, if one is handy with a soldering iron. These rechargeable
cells are very similar to the batteries found in electric shavers. Radio
Shack (and other) electronics distributors usually sell these. I recently
replaced mine in an older Ten Tec TT-920 hand-held that I use. HTH

Do NOT use Radio Shack NiCd batteries unless they are the "Heavy Duty" type. The
"regular" batteries are small capacity.

Also, do not solder to a NiCd battery unless it already has the solder tabs welded on. You'll
ruin the battery.

I highly recommend Batteries America. I've always had good service from them and their
batteries are reliable. They specialize in batteries and have good prices

Don't use the old charger if you go with NiMH batteries. NiMHs are
very sensitive to heat when charging and a slow charge will make them
last much longer. One good source is Quest batteries
http://www.d-store.com/d-store/product/quest.htm

If treated well, the NiMHs will outlast nicads, but avoid the
"quick-charge" scenario.

I've had good luck clearing NiCad batteries that short out internally.
This is mostly caused by age or overcharging among other things.

Use a large electrolytic capacitor (maybe 5000 microfarad or so) &
after you got the polarities right, dump it into the bad NiCad cell.
Smaller caps need to be charged to a higher voltage, but the concept
is to get a major current surge into the bad cell.

What happens to NiCads as I understand is there forms a metal whisker
between the foils that prevents the charging current from charging
that particular cell. Each cell is 1.2V so you can evealuate a
battery pack by seeing if the output voltage is N*1.2 where N is the
number of cells.

If not, the entire pack can be treated to the "shock" effect although
it will require a higher charge voltage on the electrolytic cap.

What the heck - it junk otherwise isn't it?

I have not had similar luck with lead acids of course, or NiM hydrids
etc however.

I wouldn't casually switch batteries without getting the right charger
unless you know what you are doing.

I've done the same thing with a 12 volt car battery.
"+" to "+" and "-" to "-". make contact very briefly, just enough to
maybe spark.
Brings them back to life for a while.

Dave

wrote:

I've had good luck clearing NiCad batteries that short out internally.
This is mostly caused by age or overcharging among other things.

Use a large electrolytic capacitor (maybe 5000 microfarad or so) &
after you got the polarities right, dump it into the bad NiCad cell.
Smaller caps need to be charged to a higher voltage, but the concept
is to get a major current surge into the bad cell.

What happens to NiCads as I understand is there forms a metal whisker
between the foils that prevents the charging current from charging
that particular cell. Each cell is 1.2V so you can evealuate a
battery pack by seeing if the output voltage is N*1.2 where N is the
number of cells.

If not, the entire pack can be treated to the "shock" effect although
it will require a higher charge voltage on the electrolytic cap.

What the heck - it junk otherwise isn't it?

I have not had similar luck with lead acids of course, or NiM hydrids
etc however.

I wouldn't casually switch batteries without getting the right charger
unless you know what you are doing.

wrote in message news:Hkfjd.55284$HA.35767@attbi_s01...
I've done the same thing with a 12 volt car battery.
"+" to "+" and "-" to "-". make contact very briefly, just enough to
maybe spark.
Brings them back to life for a while.

A very short while.

I run the Commo shop for a medium sized city government, and deal with over
a thousand portable radios. I have tried the above (zapping) trick, as well as
several expensive gadgets that are supposed to resurect tired nicads. After
years of trying, I have come to the conclusion that a bad nicad is just that, a
bad nicad. Throw it away, buy a new one, get on with your life. Anything you
get over 24 months on a nicad is pure gravy.

Vaughn

David.....I have the same model Yaesu radio. I bought the sport model
(which doesn't come with the rechargeable battery, just the holder for 6
AA batteries). You might also think about getting a similar holder in
addition to the rechargeable battery. Then, when you're in the air and
your aircraft radios crap out, you reach for your handheld, and the
rechargeable battery needs recharging, you can slap in the pack with the
AA's. Been there, done that.

Al Gilson
Skyhawk N3082U
Felts Field/Spokane, WA
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Visit the Pacific Northwest Flying Forum:
http://www.pacificnorthwestflying.com/

--
Al Gilson
Spokane, WA USA
1970 VW Convertible
1964 Cessna Skyhawk

"David Herman" wrote in message news:1099632107.731145@yasure...
I have a Yaesu (now Vertex Standard) Aviator Pro II VX-120 handheld radio.
It's a good, basic unit that has worked flawlessly, it'ss relatively cheap
and is all the technology I need for this. My question is about batteries
and chargers for it.


I have that same radio. When I misplaced the NiCd charger, I was able
to buy a back for the radio that holds regular AA batteries. I use
NiMH rechargable batteries in it, with a 1 hour quick charger. Alas,
I also later found the NiCd charger but since the NiMH batteries are
better, I continue to use them. You may be able to find the regular AA
back somewhere. It holds 6 AA's and has a part number of FBA-25, and
also BA0102600 stamped on it.

--Kevin