Thought this might be of interest to some. As you know the latest Baofeng rival, it seems, is the TIDRadio H3. This seems to be a really nice performing little radio that is really gaining in popularity.

There seems to be one little problem - several have stopped transmitting, apparently due to blown finals. It seems the real problem is with the battery of all things. The battery is rated at 7.6 V and is charged either by plugging a USB-C cable into the battery directly of placing the radio into a cradle also powered by USB-C. Doesn't matter which, the charge time is the same it seems. Here's what the problem is. Several people have reported that the battery output voltage goes way up after the charge is complete. It, for some, raised to over 15 volts. Well the finals in most radios, portable, mobile, and base models, are not switched. Power is applied to the finals as long as it's connected to a power source. The final transistor in this radio is rated for a maximum of 10 volts. if 15 is applied it goes POP. Well not literaly, but it does burn out.The company has been very good about honoring the waranty but still...

The best protection or plan is to take the battery off the radio to charge it. I can verify that the voltage does indeed rise after charging. I had charged mine a few times but took it off the charger shortly after the full charge indicator came on. I decided to play it safe and take the battery off the radio last time. Glad I did. I plugged it in Tuesday evening and went to bed. It'll be done in the morning. Well I forgot all about it, no big deal there's a charge controller on the battery. Wednesday evening I discovered it was still connected. For grins I measured the battery output. It was at 15.3 volts. That would have no doubt added me to the list of people who had a radio fail. After removing it from the charge cradle I quickly measured the battery output again to see how long the high voltage stayed around. It was at 8.6 volts right away. That's about what I expected voltage wise.

My advice is to always remove the battery to charge it. There is suppoded to be circuitry in there to prevent excess voltage according to some who have disassembled a battery pack. Obviously it doesn't work.

Please pass this to any lists or people you know that has or is going to get one of these radios. My next test is to put it on a spectrum analyzer. It's supposed to be cleaner than many of the other cheap radios. Others have verified it but I'd like to test it myself. We'll see.