Problem with Impres readout on APX 7000

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Tom in D.C.
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Problem with Impres readout on APX 7000

Post by Tom in D.C. »

I have three of the short lithium-ion batteries for my APX 7000.
All of a sudden none of the batteries will give a readout on the
radio for rated capacity or remaining capacity; number of charges
shows as it should. Batteries charge on the Impres charger just
fine and show all required data when in the charger.

Anyone have any idea what's causing this? I've heard that the Impres
charging method/system can present some anomalies at times but
this is the first time I've encountered this problem.
Tom in D.C.
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Tom in D.C.
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Re: Problem with Impres readout on APX 7000

Post by Tom in D.C. »

Bump.

Anybody?
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MSS-Dave
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Re: Problem with Impres readout on APX 7000

Post by MSS-Dave »

I haven't had any problem with my shorty Li-Ions Tom. Still shows all of the info available. Have you updated firmware since the display quit? I have 4 APX in service, highest F/W revision running is 5.00, oldest is the original 2.00 they were shipped with. All 4 batteries are little over 2 years old....

Dave
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Tom in D.C.
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Re: Problem with Impres readout on APX 7000

Post by Tom in D.C. »

Dave,

Host and DSP are 5.01, and judging from the fact that the radio reads out all three
batteries the same way I'm thinking the problem must be in the radio.

Regards,
Tom in D.C.
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escomm
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Re: Problem with Impres readout on APX 7000

Post by escomm »

Hi Tom,

Try forcing a calibration cycle. When the battery is in the charger, take it out and put it back in within 5 seconds. The light should go solid orange. I've seen this happen a couple of times with batteries on an XTS5000 and the calibration made them happy again.
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alex
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Re: Problem with Impres readout on APX 7000

Post by alex »

As a follow up to Jeff's suggestion my understanding is IMPRESS requires a battery to see a charger every 20 days in order to keep the meter happy. If the battery does not touch an IMPRESS charger during that time it will need to be re-calibrated using the process Jeff describes above.

Alex
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Tom in D.C.
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Re: Problem with Impres readout on APX 7000

Post by Tom in D.C. »

Alex, Jeff, Dave:

Alex, your suggestion makes sense. I've not been using my 7K for several weeks so the on-radio
battery and the two spares have just been sitting. I've got one "cooking" in the 4114 charger
(which has an LCD readout attached) all day and it's still on discharge cycle, so I'll just keep an
eye on it. If your suggestion works I'll post it as something to be aware of when using Impres
batteries.

Regards,
Tom in D.C.
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drdog
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Re: Problem with Impres readout on APX 7000

Post by drdog »

I thaught I read somewhere that the older batteries were being destroyed by the "conditioning cycle" on some chargers takeing the voltage too low on the discharge cycle. Make sure your charger has the right firmware version to prevent destroying all your batteries.
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Tom in D.C.
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Re: Problem with Impres readout on APX 7000

Post by Tom in D.C. »

Well, a long, long conditioning charge (all the way down to zero volts) fixed the problem. Now the radio displays everything it's supposed to display.

Thanks to all for your interest and help.

Regards,
Tom in D.C.
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Re: Problem with Impres readout on APX 7000

Post by N4KVE »

alex wrote:As a follow up to Jeff's suggestion my understanding is IMPRESS requires a battery to see a charger every 20 days in order to keep the meter happy. If the battery does not touch an IMPRESS charger during that time it will need to be re-calibrated using the process Jeff describes above.

Alex
This is interesting to know, as on my 5000, the battery meter would not work from time to time. But like Jeff said, if the battery hasn't been in the charger for 3 weeks, then the meter doesn't work. And yes, that was the case. I popped the battery in the charger, & the meter on the radio works again. Thanks Jeff. GARY N4KVE
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