Saber batteries

[N7QQU-Ken]

Hi All-
I have read the archives on Saber batteries. Are folks still prefering the Ni-Cads over any other type? I need to get a few and want to get the ones that will get me the best performance. I have the Alexander Smart charger and the Moto 6 Bank Saber Battery Charger and Conditioner RLN-1001A. I have these to bring Ni-Cads back from the weak and dead with OK sucess. Thanks for the advise.

[Tom in D.C.]

No, most people these days do not prefer nicads. Nicads are the cheapest but are subject to "memory" problems. Nickel Metal Hydride is a better bet, because they don't have memory problems and can be had in rather high capacities, like up to 4 Ampere hours. Either type will charge fine in the chargers you now have. Lithium Ion batteries need their own charger, or one of the newer chargers that Motorola calls a "tri-chem" charger. LiIon batteries have very long life and are usually about half the thickness of an equivalent Nicad or NiMH battery, but they're pricey. Lithium Ion is available for Sabers but you'll have to do some searching. I just bought one from Cut Rate Batteries and it cost about $85 shipped; it's 1900 mAh but only two inches high, and it has the bump on one side so it fits in the charger properly.

[RadioSouth]

On a side note to Ken, the RLN1001 is an excellent unit I still use mine as well. BUT be advised these use the Astec brand power supplies and it seems when these get dated they can fail in a dangerous manner. Mine went up in smoke (a lot) and recently I read here that someone had theirs fail on the regular MUC which use this same PS. So at the minimum don't leave this run unattended or better replace the PS
There's also a lot of very positive F/B here on the Impress battery system, might want to take a look at the archives
Welcome to BatLabs

Jim

[N7QQU-Ken]

Thanks for the advise and help. Are there any brands you prefer for the Ni-Mh ? I have had a bad experiance with W-W and will never buy from them again. Any good experiance from an eBay vendor?

Thanks again. The board is great:)

[RadioSouth]

Most have had mixed results with aftermarkets other than Multiplier. Over the long haul OEM and Multiplier have a consistent track record. (both performance and fit) Of the OEM's I've bought in the last few years most are marked
'Cell Origin China' (I love their food but they have a pretty long track record of crap batteries) so I've made more of a move to Multiplier and noticed self discharge seems a lot less than the China marked batteries from M on my Jedi packs. But I'm gonna give Impress a whirl when I deplete these, very compelling
F/B here on those.

[N7QQU-Ken]

Great.
Thanks for the info. I will go on a hunt and see what the best prices I can get on both makers.
I need about 4 for spares.

Thanks all for the help:)

Ken

[N6LAU]

I've had a lot of luck with the Prostar 2700 Mah NIMH batteries from Ebay vendor pro607 . The cell origin of these is Japan however they are assembled in China. I've been using these on 4 of my Sabers for over a year and they all still work great (typically hold their charge for a few days with frequent RX and TX). They also fit well and the price isn't bad either (about $40 shipped). If I had to make a recommendation for aftermarket batteries for the Saber I'd have to say, based on my experience, go with the Prostar 2700 Mah.