Cobra Hand Held VHF Problem

[Lawsy]

I use a Cobra hand held VHF radio. It comes with 6 AA size rechargable batteries. The problem is that when I put the radio in the charger & plug in no 'charging' light comes on. However, if I then switch the radio on whilst sat in the charging holder I'm told that I have a full battery charge & the 'charging' light comes on. Take the radio out of the holder & try & switch on - it's dead. (I hope that this is making sense so far). I then tried putting Duracel non-rechargables into the radio & lo & behold it works!! A couple of questions now:-
1) Has anybody had similar problems with the rechargable batteries supplied with a Cobra.
2) Am I safe to use Duracells & if so, how long can I expect them to work for assuming normal, but minimal use i.e. contacting the marina outbound & inbound; maybe one call to the coastguard; & radio on channel 16 for the remainder of a trip.
Thanks for any guidance.

 

[Haven't-a-Clue]

Well, I've got a Standard Horizon h/h and when I forgot to put on charge, I substituted the AA battery pack (as supplied with the handset) and got 10 hours standby on multi-channel scan mode, so I'm guessing you'll be OK. Maplins can probably supply you with suitable replacement rechargables, as far as I know, they are usually all about the same voltage and capacity. Hope this helps.

 

[fireball]

There are huge variances in AA recharge capacities - from 1300mAh to 3000 .... rather obviously the greater the capacity the longer the radio is going to last and the more expensive the cells are ...
Something along the lines of a 2500mAh set should do ...

 

[Lawsy]

Looking at the batteries that came with the radio, they are 1500mAh. Are you saying that they probably aren't powerful enough & that I should get some along the lines described?

 

[cheeny]

Id amost definately say your batteries are gubbed, when you swith on in the crabdle your using mains power so it lights up but its not charging your batteries. probably because they wont let themselves be charged. thay can only be charged so many times and most of them must be drained before charging. Charger lights up-so thats working (simple item),VHF working (with other batts) so must be old ones. If it has been left for a few weeks half charged this is bad. Buy new ones as above said 2500mah at least (expect to pay £10-£20 for 4). Your old ones are ok power wise but double your time for a few quid and get a good make (not panasonic or kodak they make cameras) hope this helps. Expect maybe 2 years from them of regular use

 

[aquaman64]

You don't say how old the original batteries are but it sounds like they are u/s (If they're new send the set back to the manufacturer/supplier under warranty!)
Otherwise, get some replacement batteries of the same specification/capacity (1500mAh) and it should work/charge as per original specifications.
Widely available either online or at a local supplier at a reasonable price these days due to their "green" (?) credentials. i.e rechargeable deemed green - cadmium/nickel NOT good ?
If they are NiCad (Nickel Cadmium) replace with NiCad, if they are NiMH (Nickel-Metal Hydride) replace with NiMH, they have different charging requirements.
Any battery powered VHF will operate for a long time in "receive only" mode. It's transmission that uses up the juice !
Make sure you "exercise" NiCad batteries correctly or they'll pick up a "memory" i.e. full discharge and recharge.
Hope this helps ?