Rich Posted November 8, 2013 Report Share Posted November 8, 2013 Good morning. My battery packs in my E-PERB are due. Here's the situation: Unit sent out to the nearest service center, battery replacement---------$300. Purchase of a brand new out of the box unit----$295 Does anyone know where I can purchase the battery packs? The unit takes two packs of four batteries each. I've searched the internet to no avail. The batteries can be bought separately, they're just CR123A's, I havn't taken the batteries out of the packs as yet to see how they're connected. That will be the next step, unless someone knows where these can be purchased for a reasonable cost. Here's a pix of the battery packs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CT4ME Posted November 8, 2013 Report Share Posted November 8, 2013 'one of my arguments against those things... especially the older ones. A couple of years ago I tried to find battery packs - couldn't. I think the new ones are smaller and have a battery test feature, so a re-purchase probably the way to go. tim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Posted November 8, 2013 Author Report Share Posted November 8, 2013 CT4ME, I have the battery test button. It shows "OK." It also says the battery packs have a 11 year shelf life or a 5 year replacement. I'm not sure I understand that. If the unit is off and not monitoring or on a shelf, what's the difference? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlyingMonkey Posted November 8, 2013 Report Share Posted November 8, 2013 If they are 123A batteries, can you cut open the plastic on one of the packs and see what's inside? It might be as simple as getting some new CR123A batteries, making sure the wires match up, and shrink-wrapping them in for waterproofing. Just a thought. No way would I pay $300 for eight CR123As... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chanik Posted November 8, 2013 Report Share Posted November 8, 2013 Just get them with solder tabs. do not solder directly to battery contacts. Solder will take but will destroy the battery http://www.batterystore.com/Sanyo/CR123A-T.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Runtoeat Posted November 8, 2013 Report Share Posted November 8, 2013 Rich, I know which way I'd go. 10 batteries on Kurt's website for 1/10th the cost of 8 from the shop? Easy decision here. BTW, what is an E-PERB? Maybe a type of PLB (personal locating beacon)? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Posted November 8, 2013 Author Report Share Posted November 8, 2013 Thanks for all the input, it's very much appreciated. Andy, I took apart the shrink wrap and the unit is put together using solder tabs like kurt had mentioned. It even looks like there's a capacitor built into the wiring. The tabs are soldered to the battery contacts, so, I don't know how I can avoid the soldering and possibly ruining the battery. Kurt, I called the folks from the website you listed. They don't get involved with lithium battery packs. Even the 4 cell packs don't have the configuration I need. Dick, I gave the wrong abbriviation. It should have been EPIRB (Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon). There are different types. Some broadcast Lat/Lon and some do not. The unit I have does. Does anyone know why a battery pack with a shelf life of 11 years will only have an installed life of 5 years? The battery packs are not supplying power to a monitoring circuit. They remain out of the loop until the unit is turned on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chanik Posted November 8, 2013 Report Share Posted November 8, 2013 Thanks for all the input, it's very much appreciated. Andy, I took apart the shrink wrap and the unit is put together using solder tabs like kurt had mentioned. It even looks like there's a capacitor built into the wiring. The tabs are soldered to the battery contacts, so, I don't know how I can avoid the soldering and possibly ruining the battery. >>> You can solder to the ends of the tabs, just not to the metal that makes up the battery itself Kurt, I called the folks from the website you listed. They don't get involved with lithium battery packs. Even the 4 cell packs don't have the configuration I need. >>> I'm sure they won't make it for you. You need to solder the batteries in on your own Dick, I gave the wrong abbriviation. It should have been EPIRB (Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon). There are different types. Some broadcast Lat/Lon and some do not. The unit I have does. Does anyone know why a battery pack with a shelf life of 11 years will only have an installed life of 5 years? The battery packs are not supplying power to a monitoring circuit. They remain out of the loop until the unit is turned on. Because there is some small current draw by the circuit even when the unit is off. It is called sleep current. There is no hardware switch so for 5 years, the circuit is still powered up and drawing a few microamps all the time Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Posted November 8, 2013 Author Report Share Posted November 8, 2013 Thanks Kurt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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