[Elecraft] K2 Battery Life?

[Don Wilhelm]

Jeff,

You may have been undercharging your internal battery, or may have subjected
it to several deep cycles - both conditions will shorten the life of an SLA
battery.  My battery is a 'real' PowerSonic and was new when I bought it.
If you bought a 'pull-out' battery, you have likely gotten the expected full
service from it.

My inernal battery has been going strong now for almost 3 years - but it has
never been deep cycled, and it is constantly topped off by my SmartCharger
when it is in the shack.  I use a fused direct connection from the
SmartCharger to the battery - you can look at the SmartCharger on my website
(www.qsl.net/w3fpr) to see how I accomplished the connection.  I used the A
& A SmartCharger and modified it for 250 ma output, but Bob Lewis had a
slightly different charger (specifically for the K2) in a QST article a year
or so ago. As my fuzzy memory reaclls board and perhaps a kit of parts is
available should you chose to use Bob's design.

73,
Don W3FPR

----- Original Message -----

> How may months should the internal battery in a K2 last?
>
> My second battery has gone bad after 18 months in service. I have been
very
> careful to keep it on constant float charge at 13.9 V out of the charger.
I
> have the new low drop diode installed.
>