Batboard

I recently bought an Impres charger along with a pair of Ni-Cad Impres batteries. For one of the batteries all of the "smart" features work fine but none work for the other one.

A search turned up an SRN posted by wavetar which says to recondition the battery by removing it within two minutes of rapid charging and replacing it within two seconds and that should reset the "fuel guage" and battery info. I have done this three times, each time letting it go through the entire reconditioning and then letting it go to a full charge but there are no changes.

Anyone know what I am missing?

Thanks in advance,

Mike

Here is the post from wavetar with the SRN:

wavetar wrote:

RocketNJ wrote:Also the first time the Impress battery is charged in a non-Impress charger the battery loses it's Impress abilities and will need to go to Rockford for repair.

George

Not quite. That only applies if the Impress battery was INITIALLY charged in a non-Impress charger. Otherwise, you can charge them in regular chargers no problem. Just be aware once you go beyond 7 days, the battery meter & capacity readings disappear & the battery needs to be charged in an Impress charger again before the information will be displayed again. Here's the SRN in it's entirety, check out the bottom paragraph regarding the initial charge of the battery:

SERVICE AND REPAIR NOTES
Bulletin
TECHNICAL INFORMATION /COMMERCIAL, GOVERNMENT & INDUSTRIAL SOLUTIONS SECTOR
If applicable, enter this information or note this bulletin number and subject material in the appropriate equipment instruction manuals and
make necessary schematic diagram changes. Enter this bulletin in the correct MASTER and CLASSIFIED INDICES for future reference.
Labor and/or parts warranty reference is limited to products sold and in use in the United States. For products
sold and in use Internationally, this bulletin is for informational purposes only. Radios that are Agency
Approved must follow designated agency guidelines.
SRN-ISO
SRN - 1393
APC - 721
January 2003
Memo To: SRN Mailing List Informational Only
From: Energy Systems Group / Subscriber Product Group
Subject: XTS 5000 radio using Impress (Smart) Battery - loss of fuel gage display
This bulletin affects the following Radio/Battery/Charger combinations:
1. XTS 5000 Radio with Impres Nickel-Cadmium, Nickel Metal-Hydride or Lithium Ion batteries and Impres Single-Unit and
Multi-Unit Chargers with Charger Firmware versions 1.3 and higher. Firmware versions 1.3 and higher are indicated on
the charger bottom label.
Symptoms:
Impres battery fuel gage display on XTS 5000 disappears after 7 days in radios fitted with Impres (Smart) batteries.
Cause:
XTS 5000 Smart battery fuel gauge display is designed to disappear after 7 days if the battery has not been charged with an
Impres charger. This design is intended to eliminate inaccuracies in the display introduced by the use of non-Smart chargers.
Corrective Action:
Insert the Impres battery into the pocket of an Impres charger. Once the charger has indicated FLASHING GREEN or
STEADY GREEN, the radio will display the fuel gauge.
2. XTS 5000 Radio with Impres Nickel-Cadmium, Nickel Metal-Hydride or Lithium Ion batteries and Impres Single-Unit
and Multi-Unit Chargers with Charger Firmware versions 1.2 or previous. Firmware versions 1.2 and earlier are not
indicated on any of the charger labels.
Symptoms:
Impres battery fuel gage display disappears after 7 days on XTS 5000 radios fitted with Impres batteries. (This condition
could also appear if the radio/battery were left in the charger for more than 7 days.)
Cause:
The XTS 5000 Smart battery fuel gauge display is designed to disappear after 7 days if the battery has not been charged with
an Impres charger during that time. This design is intended to eliminate inaccuracies in the display introduced by the use of
non-Smart chargers. On the older Impres charger firmware versions, the battery needs to be discharged below 70% of full
capacity before re-charging in order to properly re-initialize the battery and allow the fuel gauge to be displayed. If the battery
is removed from the Impres charger before charging is complete, the fuel gauge will not be visible, since an internal timer in
the battery is not updated until the charge cycle ends.
Corrective Action:
Within the first 2 minutes of Rapid Charging (STEADY RED Indication), force the battery to recondition by removing the
battery from the pocket and reinserting it into the pocket within 5 seconds. This will cause the battery to be reconditioned/recalibrated,
thereby resetting the battery timer and allowing the radio to display the fuel gauge. The Amber LED indicator
indicates reconditioning.
Note: The Impres battery needs to be discharged to at least 70% of full capacity before the internal timer will be updated upon
charge, allowing the radio to display the fuel gauge.
3. XTS 5000 Radio with Impres Nickel-Cadmium, Nickel Metal-Hydride or Lithium Ion batteries charged with non-
Impres (conventional) Single-Unit and Multi-Unit Chargers.
Symptoms:
Impres battery fuel gage display disappears after 7 days on XTS 5000 radios fitted with Impres batteries. (This condition
could also occur if the radio/battery were left in the charger for greater than 7 days).
Cause:
XTS 5000 Smart battery fuel gauge display is designed to disappear after 7 days if the battery has not been charged with an
Impres charger. This design is intended to eliminate inaccuracies in the display introduced by the use of non-Smart chargers.
Corrective Action:
In an Impres charger, within the first 2 minutes of Rapid Charging (RED LED Indication), force the battery to recondition by
removing the battery from the pocket and reinserting it into the pocket within 5 seconds. This should cause the battery to be
reconditioned/re-calibrated, thereby allowing the radio to display the fuel gage.
PLEASE NOTE: If new Impres batteries are initially charged in a conventional (non-Impres) charger, the XTS5000 fuel
gauge display will never appear. Impres batteries AND chargers must be used to enable the fuel gauge display.
Informational only. No labor or part warranty implied.

Have a look on the charger and see what firmware version it is running.

Bruce1807 wrote:Have a look on the charger and see what firmware version it is running.

v3.4

Well that's the latest version
The one thing I've found is the fuel guage will sometimes only appear after several transmissions from the radio
Rather strange!

Did you purchase them new? As the SRN says, if the battery was initially charged in a non-impress charger, the smart features won't work. If it's supposedly new, I'd return it for a warranty exchange.

Todd

They are used. The seller, a rather reputable one, stated they were tested in an xts5000 and all features were working before they were sent out.

-Mike

Well that's the latest version
The one thing I've found is the fuel guage will sometimes only appear after several transmissions from the radio
Rather strange!

Bruce1807 wrote:Well that's the latest version
The one thing I've found is the fuel guage will sometimes only appear after several transmissions from the radio
Rather strange!

Just gave that a try... no good.

I'm running into the same issue on IS HNN9032A 7.5v Ni-Cad

I just printed out the srn and gonna give it a try. Will report back if it's successful.

i followed the procedure to "refresh" the battery by draining it, then inserting the batt into the impress charger, and after the red light comes on i removed it and immediately re-inserted it. Waited 12 hours in charger and now the fuel guage is back.

Thanks to all

What is the date code? 2-year warranty on IMPRES batteries.

RFguy wrote:What is the date code? 2-year warranty on IMPRES batteries.

18 months unless its NiCD >.<

ONe question I dont know the answer to... THe packs I am using currently are NiCad, and are 95% at full charge, however I also have a NimH that's neve rbeen initialized and it's about 7 months old right now. Am I better off charging it every so often, or never charging it until I need it's use. (I have 2 other packs so I havent used that one yet)
THanks all.

I'd throw it on the charger every month or two, just to keep the electrolyte "fresh".

Todd

Also keep in mind that NiMH batteries have a bad tendency to self-discharge