Radio on while in charger

[dean83]

Hello,

I currently have a few radios I rent out to a local ski hill. I know that these radios should NOT be left on while in the charger. However due to convienence there is one radio that will be left in the charger all the time. I have thought of a few possible solutions to this and need your opinions on which is the best way to go.

Supply that radio with a standard rate charger
Supply that radio with an inteligent charger

and

Use a old battery I don't care about.

I could also purchase some kind of battery eliminator for AC operations. I have only found DC battery eliminators, unless I get a 12v cig plug adapter to 110V.
Could this cause any harm to the radio itself? If so should I place a radio at this location that is old and due for replacement soon?

Thanks for the thoughts.

[tvsjr]

If you have the ability to install a power supply, etc... why not just use a mobile radio, which would seem to be designed for your task?

[RKG]

The main problem with leaving a radio on while in the charger is that the radio drain will lower battery terminal voltage, which in turn will fool the charger into thinking that the battery is less charged than it is, which in turn will result in a consistently over-charged (and ultimately cooked) battery. This is primarily a problem with "fast" or "smart" chargers.

If you insist on doing this, I would use a C10 (fixed rate) ("slow") charger and accept that eventually you'll cook the battery. I do not believe you will affect the portable itself.

[nmfire10]

If they aren't going to be walking around with it and it never leaves the desk, a battery eliminator and a little plug-in 12v converter would probably be the best solution. If they are going to want to pick it up once in a while, this is great way to put old batteries to use.