[Kenwood] RE: Current pricing for a battery change for the TS-850Sa/t

Thu Aug 30 11:39:46 EDT 2007

Joe,

I'll ante up. I'm including a text-file version of the
item that appears in the Hints and Kinks column of QST
(p 66) for November 2004. (Fred at FAR Circuits made
the PC board after I contacted him. My original mod
was wired on perf board.) 

--------------------Cut Here--------------------------

Kenwood TS-850(S) Battery Replacement
By Paul Pagel, N1FB

After purchasing a used Kenwood TS-850SAT last year
and reading many posts about the rig, I decided to
replace the memory back-up battery in my 14-year-old
TS-850SAT.1 The battery hadn't leaked, but I wasn't
going to wait until something went awry and I wound up
with more than a battery replacement on my hands.  
At first I thought I was lucky: It appeared that the
battery in my TS-850SAT was in a coin-cell holder and
I’d be able to simply slip it out of the holder. To my
dismay, I discovered that the holder was spot-welded
to the battery, so the holder/battery combination had
to be unsoldered from the Digital PC board (X46-3080).
This requires removal of the top and bottom covers,
the front panel and the Digital PC board. 
Although you can purchase direct-replacement batteries
with welded-on holders, when it comes time to replace
the battery again, you have to resort to the procedure
described earlier.2 I considered doing that once in a
lifetime enough for me! I wanted to simply be able to
snap out the old battery and insert a new one without
the unsoldering/soldering hassle. Standard CR-2430
coin cells (without the welded-on tabs) are available
from RadioShack and other distributors including those
in Note 2.3
At http://www.jzap.com/n6tr/850repair.html, I found
some information provided by Bill Smith, KO4NR, on his
approach to the problem: Remove the existing
battery/holder and substitute a separate
battery/holder combination located off the Digital PC
board. Much to my dismay, I discovered that RadioShack
no longer stocks any coin-cell holders and I couldn't
locate them anywhere locally. Although Newark and
Allied Electronics stock CR-2430 holders and
batteries, I didn't want to pay $5 for not meeting the
minimum order requirement ($25). Besides, from what
little I could see from the pictures of the Keystone
holders, I wasn't sure the CR-2430 holder would
exactly match the holes in the Digital PC board. 
A call to Fred Reimers at FAR Circuits resolved the
dilemma nicely.4 Fred offers a small PC board with a
CR-2430 holder and adhesive-backed mounting tape.
After removing the battery/holder from the Digital PC
board, I attached a pair of color-coded wires (cut
from a length of ribbon cable) to the now-empty holes.
I suggest you use color-coded wires to ensure you wind
up with the correct polarity: The battery's negative
pin is at the top and the two positive pins are near
the middle of the board; both positive-pin holes are
connected by a PC-board trace.
I then connected the other ends of the wire to the FAR
Circuits board; again, ensuring proper polarity. Next,
I attached the board to the left-hand face of the left
wall separating the fan/final assembly and RF unit
(X44-3120) using the supplied double-stick tape,
placing the board within the RF-unit compartment. In
this position there's easy access to the
battery-holder clip and it's simple to pop out the old
battery and insert a new one. 
During disassembly of the front panel and digital PC
board, I was able to access the bottom of the board
after removing only three cables: one above the
battery and two near the upper-left of the board. But
after I reattached the board and front panel, some of
the front-panel key functions didn't work. Anxious?
Scared I'd done something wrong? You bet! But I
discovered the problem to be a disconnected cable near
the bottom of the front panel. This short, flat
multiconductor cable interconnects the front panel and
the digital PC board and is located (as viewed from
the top of the transceiver) below and to the left of
the VFO knob. So be careful when moving/positioning
the front panel. Having another inch or two of cable
there would've been nice--as would an easily removable
memory back-up battery.

1 http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/kenwood.
Another good site to search for information on Kenwood
and many other rigs is:
http://www.w9wze.org/ReflectorSearch/SearchReflectorForm.php
2Direct-replacement batteries with welded-on tabs can
be found at Allied Electronics, 7410 Pebble Dr, Fort
Worth, TX 76118, tel 800-433-5700 
http://www.alliedelec.com/, Allied stock number
774-0087, Dantona CR2430-FT1; Pacific Coast Parts
Distributors,
153 E. Compton Blvd, Gardena, CA 90248; tel
310-515-0207, 800-421-5080; fax 800-782-5747;
http://www.pacparts.com/, part number W09-0514-05;
East Coast Transistor, 2 Marlborough Rd, West
Hempstead, NY 11552; tel 800-645-3516;
http://www.kenwoodparts.com/, Sanyo CR2430 FT.
3RadioShack, tel 800-843-7422;
http://www.radioshack.com/.
4FAR Circuits, 18N640 Field Court, Dundee, IL 60118;
847-836-9148 voice/fax; http://www.farcircuits.net/.

---------------------- Cut Here---------------------

73,

Paul / N1FB

k8vf_mark at centurytel.net wrote:
Just a suggestion. I know the rig is an older rig, but
I took out the 
battery in mine and routed two wires to the hatch on
top and installed a 2 
battery holder for either AA or AAA cells.(I forget
which)
Lasts forever and simple to change on your birthday if
you want.

(The rig is already apart anyway)

Costs about 25 cents for the holder.

Yaesu had a similar setup on its FT980 with 4
batteries on the bottom.

Hey Manufacturers, please consider the consumer on
this one?
Totally ridiculous to disassemble a rig to install a
cheap battery in a 
difficult place.

My 2 cents.

Mark
K8VF
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Hsu, Aaron (NBC Universal)" 
To: "I>Kenwood Reflector" 
Sent: Wednesday, August 29, 2007 1:13 PM
Subject: [Kenwood] RE: Current pricing for a battery
change for the 
TS-850Sa/t

> Joe,
>
> It's a relatively simple proceedure if you want to
to it yourself. Takes 
> about 1 hour if you've never done it before (or two
if you're really 
> cautious) - most of the time is spent removing (and
re-installing) screws.
>
> The "official" replacement battery is still
available from PacParts for 
> $9.71 plus shipping. It's basically a CR2450 lithium
coin with mounting 
> tabs tack welded to it.
>
> http://www.pacparts.com
>
> Search by "model number", bypass the login screen,
select "kenwood" as the 
> manufacturer, and enter "ts850" as the model number.
The battery is one 
> of the few parts still available.
>
> And, if you want to send it out, I second the motion
for Cliff @ Avvid. I 
> think most of us are glad he's out of retirement!
>
> http://www.avvid.com
>
>
> 73,
>
> - Aaron, NN6O
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> Sent: Tuesday, August 28, 2007 9:56 PM
> Subject: [Kenwood] Current pricing for a battery
change for the TS-850S 
> a/t
>
> Can anyone tell me what is the current price of
taking
> a Kenwood TS-850S a/t to the Technician and having
him
> changeout the Battery in the Kenwood TS-850S a/t.
>
> Mine is 13 years old..
>
> I hope that this is NOT a question that is not
supposed
> to be on the Reflector.
>
> I live 75 miles north of Dallas, TX
>
> 73 Joe wa6axe
>
>
______________________________________________________________
> Kenwood mailing list
> Home:
http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/kenwood
> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.html
> Post: mailto:Kenwood at mailman.qth.net
>
______________________________________________________________
> Kenwood mailing list
> Home:
http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/kenwood
> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.html
> Post: mailto:Kenwood at mailman.qth.net
>
> 

______________________________________________________________
Kenwood mailing list
Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/kenwood
Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.html
Post: mailto:Kenwood at mailman.qth.net

--- k8vf_mark at centurytel.net wrote:

> Just a suggestion. I know the rig is an older rig,
> but I took out the 
> battery in mine and routed two wires to the hatch on
> top and installed a 2 
> battery holder for either AA or AAA cells.(I forget
> which)
> Lasts forever and simple to change on your birthday
> if you want.
> 
> (The rig is already apart anyway)
> 
> Costs about 25 cents for the holder.
> 
> Yaesu had a similar setup on its FT980 with 4
> batteries on the bottom.
> 
> Hey Manufacturers, please consider the consumer on
> this one?
> Totally ridiculous to disassemble a rig to install a
> cheap battery in a 
> difficult place.
> 
> My 2 cents.
> 
> Mark
> K8VF
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Hsu, Aaron (NBC Universal)"
> <aaron.hsu at nbcuni.com>
> To: "I>Kenwood Reflector" <kenwood at mailman.qth.net>
> Sent: Wednesday, August 29, 2007 1:13 PM
> Subject: [Kenwood] RE: Current pricing for a battery
> change for the 
> TS-850Sa/t
> 
> 
> > Joe,
> >
> > It's a relatively simple proceedure if you want to
> to it yourself.  Takes 
> > about 1 hour if you've never done it before (or
> two if you're really 
> > cautious) - most of the time is spent removing
> (and re-installing) screws.
> >
> > The "official" replacement battery is still
> available from PacParts for 
> > $9.71 plus shipping.  It's basically a CR2450
> lithium coin with mounting 
> > tabs tack welded to it.
> >
> >  http://www.pacparts.com
> >
> > Search by "model number", bypass the login screen,
> select "kenwood" as the 
> > manufacturer, and enter "ts850" as the model
> number.  The battery is one 
> > of the few parts still available.
> >
> > And, if you want to send it out, I second the
> motion for Cliff @ Avvid.  I 
> > think most of us are glad he's out of retirement!
> >
> >  http://www.avvid.com
> >
> >
> > 73,
> >
> >  - Aaron, NN6O
> >
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > Sent: Tuesday, August 28, 2007 9:56 PM
> > Subject: [Kenwood] Current pricing for a battery
> change for the TS-850S 
> > a/t
> >
> > Can anyone tell me what is the current price of
> taking
> > a Kenwood TS-850S a/t to the Technician and having
> him
> > changeout the Battery in the Kenwood TS-850S a/t.
> >
> > Mine is 13 years old..
> >
> > I hope that this is NOT a question that is not
> supposed
> > to be on the Reflector.
> >
> > I live 75 miles north of Dallas, TX
> >
> > 73 Joe wa6axe
> >
> >
>
______________________________________________________________
> > Kenwood mailing list
> > Home:
> http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/kenwood
> > Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.html
> > Post: mailto:Kenwood at mailman.qth.net
> >
>
______________________________________________________________
> > Kenwood mailing list
> > Home:
> http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/kenwood
> > Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.html
> > Post: mailto:Kenwood at mailman.qth.net
> >
> > 
> 
>
______________________________________________________________
> Kenwood mailing list
> Home:
> http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/kenwood
> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.html
> Post: mailto:Kenwood at mailman.qth.net
> 