Fix ICOM M31 or get a new one?

[mjkinch1]

This season my ICOM 31 doesnt want to hold a charge for more than an hour or so, so I guess I need a new battery. It looks like the old Ni Cad has been replaced with a new lithium battery and charger, and a kit for this is around £60 ish

(Unless someone can tell me otherwise!)

Given a new ICOM is around £99, and mine is around 4 years old anyway, should I just get a new one rather than muck about.

And then if I get a new one, and have a £100ish to spend, is it still the best model to get? I have an inbuilt VHF, so this is just for emergencies and out in the dinghy.

Thanks in anticipation

MartynK

 

[DAKA]

Prize open battery pack, take out old nicads and replace with battery holders from maplin electronics and a set of rechargeable AA or AAA nicads total cost £6, reseal pack with hot glue gun or just tape.

 

[tcm]

yeah chuckit. There is a new floatable icom m33, 160quid.

 

[PeteCooper]

Icom do a battery tray that takes 'normal' rechargeable 'AA' batteries. That's what I use and it seems fine. I tend to remove the battery tray when I am not on board, and check the charge regularly. Icom don't recommend using this tray and 'AAs' with their charger.

 

[oceanfroggie]

Mine came with an AA battery tray and I use rechareable AA's no problem. At least you could keep it as a backup.

 

[mjkinch1]

I have the AA battery tray - never used it, but good idea, how long do the AA bats last for on standby or occasional use?

Hey Daka - you havent seen my electrical skills, prizing anything open and fixing it is not my strong point

May be as said best idea is AA bats and keep as spare number 2 and get a new ICOM, although I will probably just get the M31 for 99 squid

 

[oceanfroggie]

I keep a set of spare dry alkaline AA cells (ie non chareable) in our grab bag as they don't loose capacity in storage. I also use 1800mh NiMH rechareable AA cells which work better than the battery that came with the unit (eg line the ones that come with Fuji digital cameras)

 

[mjkinch1]

Ta - so how long do the AAs last? Rechargeable or nonrechargeable? What would you expect under light use but on standby?

 

[Nautorius]

Mine lasts about 8 hours with light use and about 20 hours on just standby.

Cheers

Paul /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[tcm]

huh. and in fact Pah! If there's a recession we'll know who the make do and menders were...

 

[duck2water]

Buy new, spend the £99 and get a 3 year ICOM warranty and peace of mind or just over £150 for the M33 bouyant version.