Tri-Chem Rapid Charger for Jedi....please help!

[kd6rfs]

Hi,
I bought a NTN7209A Rapid Charger, you know, the one with the built in power supply, and it holds the radio in the front at an angle, and its long and black...anyway, I have (2) brand new motorola NTN7143 batteries for my JT1000, and so far, they work properly with my reg. drop-in rapid charger....but, with this new charger, the red triangle light comes on when I insert a dead battery, and in 4 minutes flat, the light turns green! it does it with both new batteries, but when I put them in my old drop in style charger (rapid rate) the red light stays on for at least an hour or more, then turns green.....also, I tried the batteries in my vehicular rapid charger, and they work fine there also...anyone know what is going on? is the charger bad? The guy I purchased it from, said he checks them all out before they ship? but he's investigating this also right now....maybe this new rapid charger is so smart, it senses something in the two new batteries and turns the light green in 4 minutes, even though they are almost dead, I thought if the battery was bad, it was supposed too flash the red light!!, but I never heard of red to green on a NTN7209A rapid charger in 4 mins, with a good new battery...any help would be appreciated, thanks, David KD6RFS

P.s. maybe theres something in the owners manual about this??

[jmr061]

That charger is for NI-CAD batteries only if I remember right. What kinda battery are you trying to charge with it.

Jason

[kd6rfs]

they are all ni-cad 1200mah batteries...

[escomm]

Is it a new charging unit?

[kd6rfs]

it is used, but tested, according to the seller, he says he tests them before they ship....he is looking into it as well right now....but it looks like its in mint condition on the outside.....there is NO reason why my two new NTN7143 1200mah NiCad batteries will charge on red for a solid hour before turning green on my old style drop-in rapid rate charger, and in my vehicular rapid charger (its the one thats all steel, and is hard wired in) and on this NTN7209A charger it only stays red for 4minutes (I timed it and its always 4minutes) and then turns green on a completely drained battery? this NTN7209A charger, I'm not sure what is so diffrent about it either? I get some people who say its a tri-chem charger, some says its a conditioning charger, and others say its a intelli-charger, whatever that means? I tried looking up the part# NTN7209A in my Moto Catalog and it just gives a pic of the same charger I have, and doesnt give any other info, except the voltage for the AC....What is this charger anyway?!?!?! I should of just not bought it and kept using my old style drop-in rapid charger that works fine with the same batteries? if anyone knows specifically what is this charger all about? and what is this problem I am having, I would appreciate it....thanks, David KD6RFS

[xmo]

"...I get some people who say its a tri-chem charger, some says its a ..."
____________________________________________________________

Lots of people say different things - but - without supporting documentation from Motorola. Your best bet is to believe that this is a rapid charger for NICKEL CADMIUM batteries only.

On the more recent ones Motorola has even gone so far as to have a big CAUTION label that says exactly that right in the bottom of the battery/radio charging compartment where you can't possibly miss it.

Since you are trying to charge the correct type of batteries - batteries which charge OK in other chargers - the logical conclusion is that your NTN7209A charger is FOOBAR.

[kd6rfs]

the white caution sticker on this charger says "charge only 7.5v NiCad or NiMH Batteries listed in the manual" but all of my batteries are NiCad anyway...and they are 2 months old, and have only been charged and discharged maybe 3-4 times so far....and they work great on my reg. slow charger for 15 hrs, or my same style drop-in rapid rate charger, red for 1 hr average, then green for trickle.....just this style charger which I guess afterall is no diffrent then my drop-in except it looks fancier, costs more, and can do NiMH, has the problem of charging red for 4 minutes, then green on a drained new battery....I dunno, this is really mind boggling, I guess the only option is to have him send another one and see what that does...If another one does the same thing, then what can it be? it makes absolutely no sense, oh, and also, my vehicular charger charges them fine, so its either a bad charger, or its sensing something that the other chargers are not? since its a "smart charger"?? if anyone has a manual on this charger, they are pretty common, can you please check and see if theres anything in there about it turning green right away on a drained "good" battery?? thanks... the charger is NTN7209A and is the long black on, with the power supply built in, and holds the radio in the front at a tilt...for the jedi series.....HT/JT1000, MT/MTS2000, MTX8000/9000...

[kd6rfs]

anyway, the guy I bought it from just called, he checked 3 other chargers and said 2 of them have the same thing I am expierancing! the third he said is charging on red for at least an hour, and looks like its working good, so he will send me the good one, and I will see if this solves the problem....David KD6RFS

[Leadenwah]

I, too, have the NTN7209A charger, but it flashes both Red and Green Simultaneously with good NiMH Motorola NTN8923 batteries regardless of each battery's remaining charge. It will also go from Red to Green in close to 4 minutes. It's my first time with this charger, can't find a manual on line and wonder if this is now a known defect in the charger. Might this be a flaw which develops over time, a degrading element within the charger?

This thread was all that I could find on the topic

[RadioSouth]

Hi guys, have had literally dozens of these over the last 10 years. Here's what I found on these NTN7209 chargers. These are sometimes called World chargers as the switching supplies these utilize can take a wide variation on voltage and frequency (Hz) Motorola supplied them with one of 3 different cordsets to work with US, UK and EU applications. When supplied with the cord the model # changes to NTN1167 NTN1168 or NTN1169 (even though all bases carry the NTN7209 #). They were marketed as Bi Chem (Nicad and NiMh) but early models carried the 'Nicad Only' sticker. Between the Nicad only and Bi-chem
markings there was no change of model or revision #. Don't know if Motorola decided as some time the existing charger was also capable of NiMh after the release or if indeed a change was made but for some reason didn't warrant a revision letter change. On the one's I had seemed like the sensing capabilities were a tad sensitive. On a very low battery these didn't give an adequate charge time before sensing voltage changes, so if that battery was flat you'd always get a premature green. 10 min in a trickle charger to get the voltage up a bit and it would then work fine in the 7209. I also believe Will reported that the 7209 at extended trickle would cook the batteries. Makes a convenient travel charger having the transformer built into the base and if you travel around the world guess the 3 cords would have you working anywhere.

[Leadenwah]

Thanks very much for that reply.

It makes perfect sense to me especially the problem of the 7209 charger sensing the battery's condition or need for charge incorrectly. I can certainly accept Will's opinion on battery cooking in that rapid charger. The prospect of three different cords for worldwide use is in itself a bit daunting.

My preference for the slow or prejudice against rapid chargers in only enhanced by this information. Perhaps the 7209 is just another example of the cost of convenience.

I cannot recall the Motorola model number for a slow charger which allows the radio (XTS3000 - 5000) with battery to be inserted into the charger. Thanks to anyone who cans answer that one as well.

[videonerd]

+1 about the NTN7209A being unreliable. I had one before I got my Impres charger and there a few Jedi batts it would absolutely refuse to charge properly. Other times it would require a "startup" charge from an overnight or rapid shoe charger before it would charge in the NTN7209A properly.