[Milsurplus] Re: [armyradios] BB-490's?

[Alan Tasker]

At 12:15 PM 8/6/2003 +0000, you wrote:
>Does anyone here have a source for new lead-acid BB-490's?  I have a
>couple of green radios (PRC-138 and URC-110) which I would love to
>take portable if I could find reliable batts for them!

What you really want is some good BB-590 nicads. Lead acid batteries 
sulphate and go bad if you do not keep them changed. There are claims of 
rejuvenation methods, but I do not know how good they work.

The reason I say "good" BB-590 is that there are some around that will not 
take a charge, or will not hold a charge. My suspicion is that the cells 
are wrapped in plastic (as many are), and that some electrolyte has leaked 
out, thus shorting the cell and draining quickly any charge you put into 
them. A little (??) work opening one up and cleaning it out would do 
wonders. This is speculation on my part, but has worked well on other 
battery types.

Options:

-The BB-5590 Lithium non rechargeable, which you can find from time to time.

-Replacing cells in any of the above mentioned types. Despite that epay's 
reputation for high prices, there are a couple of battery companies 
offering "C" and "D" nicads and other types at very reasonable prices. Try 
to get the solder tab type to make assembly easier.

- I know Brooke Clarke is looking into offering an equivalent. Try him at 
brooke@pacific.net

- There are other battery box types for the URC-1xx type radios that take 
other battery types, like a pair of the BA-5598 PRC-77 batteries. Batteries 
are available cheap (relatively) from Fair Radio Sales. 

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