A while back I posted a message stating that the HX460S will drain an external 7.2 volt NiMH pack before drawing on its internal Li-Ion battery. This desirable result was based on info from Standard that over 6 volts at the power jack will run the radio but under 9 will not trickle charge the Li-Ion battery. Well, it turns out to be a little more complicated than that. In my test, the radio scanned and did RX for 48 hours before dieing. From time to time, I opened the external supply circuit and observed that the radio immediately died -- suggesting that the Li-Ion battery would not come on line when the voltage dropped at the external jack. However, at the end of the test, both batteries were flat. It appears that an external pack that runs low (as opposed to open circuit) *will* cause the internal Li-Ion to power the radio (or try to charge the external pack). At what point and why the internal battery kicks in as a 7.2 volt external pack runs down is not yet known. Standard is looking into it. I am trying the same experiment right now with an external 10-AA NiMH pack (12V). After 24 hours, it is evident from the LED that the external pack is powering the radio and trickle charging the Li-Ion battery -- as would be expected. I am hoping -- but not confident -- that putting a diode on one of the external pack leads will give the desired result: The radio runs off the external pack and dies when the pack runs out, regardless of the state of the Li-Ion battery. Right now, the only way to assure this result is to remove the Li-Ion battery while the external pack is plugged in. Ken C *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
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