[Elecraft] KX3 LiNiCo 12v 3.6 Ah Battery Pack

[Fred Jensen]

On 5/9/2012 9:26 AM, Michael Babineau wrote:

> I have a couple of these "Blue Li-ion" batteries (a 4300 mAh and the 9800 mAh as listed) and
> they work ok, although it is my gut feeling is that the capacity is somewhat overstated.

I got one of the "9800 mAh batteries on a Buy-It-Now off eBay.  $50 I 
think.  No data, nothing on the battery was readable, even at the local 
Chinese restaurant, their translation lacked a certain amount of 
technical clarity. :-)  I have a MaHa universal charger that displays 
mAh, and estimating the capacity by how much it would cram back into the 
battery after discharge, this battery is nowhere near 9800 mAh.  Half 
that might be more like it.

The discharge curve is almost linear downward which further limits 
usable capacity.  My K2 dies from undervoltage long before the capacity 
I charged the battery to has been used.

A friend who is fairly knowledgeable about battery chemistry and 
characteristics told me they're like that old coffee commercial.  The 
bean buyer is on the dock, he says, "I buy coffee beans for Folgers [or 
somebody].  These beans won't meet our standards.  The importer will 
sell them to someone else."  He said in a manufacturing run of Li-ion 
cells, many will meet specs, some won't.  They get sold to the guy with 
all the blue shrink wrap.

73,

Fred K6DGW
- Northern California Contest Club
- CU in the 2012 Cal QSO Party 6-7 Oct 2012
- www.cqp.org