XTS Series battery contacts, poor design???

chipjumper · Post by **chipjumper** » Tue Jul 06, 2004 1:44 am

Anyone experiencing problems with the XTS series battery contacts becoming too recessed that they cause the radio to power-cycle when the battery is slightly moved or twisted?

I see that that the XTS's do not use spring contact pins like the Jedi radios did and now rely on putting spring pins in each battery.

A company I know of uses several EF Johnson P25 portables used on the Michigan State Police system. Even though these portables are EF Johnson, they use the same XTS batteries. Almost every other day a battery is found to be "defective" because one, two, or three of the spring contacts on the battery become too recessed. The warranty game is becoming quite excessive.

Anyone know of a solution (besides going back to the Jedi's...)??

yoda · Post by **yoda** » Tue Jul 06, 2004 5:23 am

... and I thought it was just me. I have the same problem when charging the battery while still attached to the radio. If I take the battery off and charge it by itself, I never have any problems. Maybe the weight of the radio pulls it forward just enough to break the contacts. I haven't found a solution other than taking the battery off to charge (but then, I haven't tried too hard to find a solution; it's my 'play' radio so it doesn't bother me that much).

Monty · Post by **Monty** » Tue Jul 06, 2004 10:47 am

HI:

The specialized contact arrangement in the
" Factory " batteries should not give you to
much trouble. I know some " Aftermarket "
batteries are not designed very well and may give
you some trouble since the " Tension " pressure
between many of these batteries may not be the
same.

Especially true of the copycat batteries from China.

A Tech Tip:

The use of Cramlion ( either red or blue ) can many
times condition the " Surface " of the Battery Contact
to prevent intermittent connections, noise, and the
like.

Most High-End Stereo Stores, and Professional Electronic
supply houses have this product. Works Great, and less is
best ! In other words, the less you use, the better it works.

The Motorola Batteries have " Gold Plated " contacts !
and I believe now have a 18 month warrantee. So if
you have a problem, heck, just return the battery if
you have a probllem with the contacts.

So far, I have not had much of a problem, but I will
be honest too, XTS's are not a strong radio support
of out shop since they are newer products.

Monty

chipjumper · Post by **chipjumper** » Tue Jul 06, 2004 1:20 pm

Monty its definately not corrosion in my case. If I hold the battery horizontally I can cleary see the contacts on the battery pushed back a couple millimeters compared to a new battery. But I guess we'll just keep playing the warranty game till EFJ comes up with stiffer contacts...

Its already somewhat affected my safety (by causing the radio to constantly power-cycle when moved the right way). Was on a multi-car MVA on an iced over freeway separated from my rig and tried to report to dispatch (one pedestrian got schmucked by an uncontrolled car) and couldn't contact dispatch cuz of these stupid batteries...

oh well...

fail999 · Post by **fail999** » Tue Jul 06, 2004 2:56 pm

I also have experienced this problem with the XTS. So far it has only occured with /\/\ Li battery.

Had

Radiogeek97 · Post by **Radiogeek97** » Wed Jul 07, 2004 12:11 pm

i have not had a problem with the contacts not letting the radio charge properly, the problem i have is with the contacts being semi-loose and causing noise.

chipjumper · Post by **chipjumper** » Wed Jul 07, 2004 6:32 pm

I forgot to mention this part; at the end of each shift both of the crew's portables are put into a bag and the batteries are removed and put on the chargers. Obviously at the beginning of the shift new ones are put on---why don't we just leave the batteries on and put the whole portable in a designated charger??? (we do have gang chargers for them...)

Regardless, we shouldn't be having this problem in my opinion with a $2000+ radio. Its the freakin' battery! Motorola had it right with the Jedi contact pins!

Don't even get me started with the problems we are having with the MPSCS!!! (Michigan Public Safety Comm. Sys). I love the feature of it that causes the radios on one end to not receive anything and the "duck with laryngitis" voice quality feature...