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Portable 12 volt multi unit impres modification

Posted: Sun Aug 19, 2012 6:41 am
by greyhat
I had someone ask me if it was possible to basically take an impres charger and use it at a remote site with no mains power, just 12 volts from vehicles or portable solar charger and 12 volt deep cycle battery.

an example the 4121br for xts5000's, one could stick an inverter between the supply of 12 volts and the charger, but is it possible to take the chargers power supply offline and supply 12 volts direct to the charger?

I thought i would ask here if anyone else has pulled one apart and seen how they work before i get the screwdrivers out and possibly break something

Has anyone ever done this modification?

Re: Portable 12 volt multi unit impres modification

Posted: Sun Aug 19, 2012 9:57 am
by escomm
Not very easily, the boards in the MUC are the same boards in the SUC, which have a 90-220VAC power supply built into the circuit. I'd expect an inverter would be the easiest means of accomplishing the task at hand

Re: Portable 12 volt multi unit impres modification

Posted: Sun Aug 19, 2012 11:18 am
by tvsjr
I haven't pulled mine apart in a while, but I seem to recall the MUC boards are missing the power supply components, in preference of a single power supply for the whole unit. If I remember wrong, you could always bypass the supply and provide it DC directly. You'd need to confirm the input voltage... I doubt it's 12VDC.

Re: Portable 12 volt multi unit impres modification

Posted: Mon Aug 20, 2012 7:54 am
by RFguy
We have run MOTOTRBO SUC's off 12 VDC with good sucess. I tested them down to 11 volts. Still performs a full recondition cycle.

Re: Portable 12 volt multi unit impres modification

Posted: Mon Aug 20, 2012 8:32 am
by escomm
RFguy wrote:We have run MOTOTRBO SUC's off 12 VDC with good sucess. I tested them down to 11 volts. Still performs a full recondition cycle.
That's because the TRBO SUC's don't have the power supply integrated into the shoe. OP is talking about high tier radios, where the power supply is part of the PCB. Folks have been running shoe chargers off 12VDC for a long time.

Re: Portable 12 volt multi unit impres modification

Posted: Tue Aug 21, 2012 5:58 am
by RFguy
escomm wrote: OP is talking about high tier radios, where the power supply is part of the PCB.
Sorry about that. Somehow I had MOTOTRBO on the mind when I saw the posting.