Author Topic: Kenwood TH-F6 parasitic drain?  (Read 5735 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

GreekMan

  • Prepper
  • Full Member
  • *
  • Posts: 202
  • Karma: 14
  • Gender: Male
    • GreekPreparedness
Kenwood TH-F6 parasitic drain?
« on: March 04, 2015, 02:23:52 AM »
Lately I keep getting a third of a full battery on my TH-F6(7) every time I power it on.
(after say 2-3 months of resting).

I wonder if this is from parasitic drain by the radio, or if my battery has lost so much capacity over the years, that expected self-discharge has become a big portion of it.

Also, I wonder if there are memory chips inside, that require constant power by the battery to hold settigns and programmed frequencies.
Else I will be leaving the battey out.

what is your view?

Tempstar

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 372
  • Karma: 23
  • Gender: Male
  • Extra, VE, SC Agency MARS, AUXCOMM, ARES/RACES
Re: Kenwood TH-F6 parasitic drain?
« Reply #1 on: March 04, 2015, 04:27:51 AM »
Hi Greek! Mine will go down about the same after a few months. I top the two batteries I have every month when the power bill arrives. I think it is the battery chemistry and not the radio. They go down whether on the radio or not. Hope this helps.
"Preparedness is a lot more than just buying stuff"

ghrit

  • Prepper
  • Full Member
  • *
  • Posts: 279
  • Karma: 22
Re: Kenwood TH-F6 parasitic drain?
« Reply #2 on: March 04, 2015, 06:53:03 AM »
Mine also fades with time, sounds pretty normal.  So far as any "battery out" memory goes, it appears to be time for an email to Kenwood.
There are two kinds of ships.  Submarines and targets.
KB3ZMF        FN21dy
Amateur Extra Class,  VE
www.survivalmonkey.com

GreekMan

  • Prepper
  • Full Member
  • *
  • Posts: 202
  • Karma: 14
  • Gender: Male
    • GreekPreparedness
Re: Kenwood TH-F6 parasitic drain?
« Reply #3 on: March 04, 2015, 10:07:11 AM »
thanks....should have

Tempstar,
loosing 2/3 of a charge in 2-3 months is not akin to Lithium-Ion batteries. They are expected to loose at most 5% a year!

spacecase0

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 790
  • Karma: 34
    • my spiritual forum
Re: Kenwood TH-F6 parasitic drain?
« Reply #4 on: March 04, 2015, 11:24:16 AM »
can you remove the battery, then power it externally and watch the current draw ?

GreekMan

  • Prepper
  • Full Member
  • *
  • Posts: 202
  • Karma: 14
  • Gender: Male
    • GreekPreparedness
Re: Kenwood TH-F6 parasitic drain?
« Reply #5 on: March 04, 2015, 05:14:14 PM »
good idea!
in various ways!
use the AA battery case, or use the 12V cable (has special jack)

GreekMan

  • Prepper
  • Full Member
  • *
  • Posts: 202
  • Karma: 14
  • Gender: Male
    • GreekPreparedness
Re: Kenwood TH-F6 parasitic drain?
« Reply #6 on: April 16, 2015, 01:53:57 AM »
I finally had a talk with a maintenance guy...
he told me that it is to be expected of a battery that old, especilly since the radio draws only microamps when off...

Since I ahve a AA battery adpater i will store the radio with this and watch the monitor the battery off the radio weekly.

AD

  • Administrator
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 1991
  • Karma: 223
  • Gender: Male
  • Extra Class Ham Radio Op / VE, CERT
Re: Kenwood TH-F6 parasitic drain?
« Reply #7 on: April 16, 2015, 09:29:24 AM »
Keep us informed.
The only dumb question is the one that did not get asked!!

GreekMan

  • Prepper
  • Full Member
  • *
  • Posts: 202
  • Karma: 14
  • Gender: Male
    • GreekPreparedness
Re: Kenwood TH-F6 parasitic drain?
« Reply #8 on: May 21, 2015, 03:46:16 AM »
I am ending this test cos there is no pint in going further

here are the volatge measurements by date

4/17 - 8.35 (single cell equivalent 4.17)
4/25 - 8.31 (4.155)
5/02 - 8.3 (4.15)
small usage, final voltage 8.27
5/11 - 8.26
5/20 - 8.26 (4.13)

At 4.13 a li-ion battery is more than 90% full
So it is not the battery;s fault of not holding charger, it is the radios increased rain.

BTW, the 2000mAh AAs in the batery carrier (used in place of lithum battery to maintain settigns) were depleted withing 3 weeks

ghrit

  • Prepper
  • Full Member
  • *
  • Posts: 279
  • Karma: 22
Re: Kenwood TH-F6 parasitic drain?
« Reply #9 on: May 21, 2015, 07:22:28 AM »
Good test and eval, thanx. 

The O&M says to store with the battery out.  Now, I haven't the least idea how they do it (capacitor, maybe) but it holds settings long enough to change batteries if you have a spare and run down during extended use. 

"The book" doesn't address it, but I imagine that if stored long enough, it will lose settings memory.  In an emergency, one might need to reprogram.  Here's where something like the RTSystems or Kenwood programming software (on your charged up laptop) would come in handy.
There are two kinds of ships.  Submarines and targets.
KB3ZMF        FN21dy
Amateur Extra Class,  VE
www.survivalmonkey.com