SILVA Star M298 radio batteries

[Appledore]

I have two of these radios, but only one is working. The two battery packs are fine, although one is marked as 8.4 volts and the other 9.6 volts.

They both work fine in the radio, but the 9.6 volt one (which holds a charge of 10 volts when fully charged) causes the radio to emit the 'do..do..' sound, indicating a low-charge battery. The Manual says this should happen when the voltage drops to about 7 volts. The other battery, currently charged at 8.8 volts is fine - so far.

Even when I keep the radio switched on with the 9.6 v battery connected, the 'do.. do.. ' goes on for ages, and I eventually have to turn it off, without very much voltage drop.

I'm just curious as to why the higher charged battery is telling the radio that it is running out of charge when obviously it is not.

Thanks for any comments.

 

[noelex]

I have two of these radios, but only one is working. The two battery packs are fine, although one is marked as 8.4 volts and the other 9.6 volts.

They both work fine in the radio, but the 9.6 volt one (which holds a charge of 10 volts when fully charged) causes the radio to emit the 'do..do..' sound, indicating a low-charge battery. The Manual says this should happen when the voltage drops to about 7 volts. The other battery, currently charged at 8.8 volts is fine - so far.

Even when I keep the radio switched on with the 9.6 v battery connected, the 'do.. do.. ' goes on for ages, and I eventually have to turn it off, without very much voltage drop.

I'm just curious as to why the higher charged battery is telling the radio that it is running out of charge when obviously it is not.

Thanks for any comments.

The defective battery pack will have a couple of bad cells in it. These can measure and deliver 1.2V, but at soon as there is any load the voltage drops out.
If you measure the voltage with the radio on it will be low.
The only solution is to replace the whole battery pack, or open it up and replace the cells yourself. There are companies that will rebuild the battery packs, but I doubt it's economic for this radio.
An alternative to throwing it away is to wire it up directly to 12v. Radios like this usually tolerate the higher voltage OK. I use one like tis attached to anchor winch controls to occasionally communicate from the bow to the helm.