K2 - Internal battery life?

[Rick Wheeler]

My K2 No. 2005 (I think I built it late 2000 or so) is probably 6 or 7
years old. I have it set up with the remote 100 watt amp/tuner and the
K2 itself with the low power tuner and internal battery option.

My question is how long can I expect this battery to last? My greatest
fear is someday opening up the K2 only to discover acid leaking out
from the battery onto the main PCB. Has there ever been an instance of
the internal battery leaking?

Rick
K4LX
No. 2005
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[Dave, G4AON]

Rick

In common with other lead-acid batteries, the battery used in the K2
suffers when
discharged to any extent. Unfortunately, the only method of using a
lead-acid battery
that will keep it near top condition is to only lightly discharge it
then re-charge it
immediately. You will often see ex UPS batteries for sale on eBay that
are 18 to 24
months old, they are usually replaced because even using high
specification batteries
and careful charging, they have a very limited life.

I've tested a few lead acid batteries, both of the gel cell and "wet"
types, they all
lost capacity when discharged to 11.5 Volts, recharged and tested a
second time!

Car batteries "last" for 5 or 6 years mostly because they receive very
little discharge.

I've come across a lot of radio and similar equipment that uses sealed
lead-acid batteries,
but only where they have been abused by constant overcharging have I
seen cells damaged -
even then it didn't rupture the case.

I've changed my K2's internal battery once, it's a 1999 vintage K2. I'm
not sure what the
present capacity is... As the batteries aren't very expensive, it's
probably worth changing
them every couple of years or so. If you really want to test capacity,
the West Mountain
computer battery analyser is a pretty useful item:

http://www.westmountainradio.com/CBA.htm

73 Dave, G4AON K2 #1892

Rick wrote:

My K2 No. 2005 (I think I built it late 2000 or so) is probably 6 or 7

years old. I have it set up with the remote 100 watt amp/tuner and the
K2 itself with the low power tuner and internal battery option.

My question is how long can I expect this battery to last? My greatest
fear is someday opening up the K2 only to discover acid leaking out
from the battery onto the main PCB. Has there ever been an instance of
the internal battery leaking?

Rick
K4LX
No. 2005


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[Stuart Rohre]

While I have not heard of any K2 gel cells leaking, it is known and I have
seen Gel Cells similar in type and size, crack and leak in UPS systems.
Especially if you have a 7 year old battery, I think I would pull it out,
even if good, and get a fresh one in there to be safe.  You can always use
the extra for a back up or for other radios externally.  Most users of UPS
equipment replace batteries every 3 years, same for security hardware, (fire
alarms, etc.) around the lab here at the univ.

Stuart
K5KVH


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