AA Battery size and avalanche rescue beacons

[Hacksaw]

Please take a minute and check this posting about AA batteries and Ortovox M2 transceiver (beacons) shutdown. Turns out AA can be quite different in size and how they fit in your transceiver.

http://www.telemarktalk.com/phpBB/viewforum.php?t=3658

Halsted Morris
CAIC

[Foggy_Goggles]

Very interesting. I have quite a few friends that had this problem. The shop I used to work at ending up dropping Ortovox for this reason when the company couldn't explain what was going on.

[cmsummit]

Damn, better make sure you use the Duracell copper top.

[cj001f]

Please take a minute and check this posting about AA batteries and Ortovox M2 transceiver (beacons) shutdown. Turns out AA can be quite different in size and how they fit in your transceiver.

The NZ DOC issued a warning about this exact issue, with many brands, several years ago. They had an entire pamphlet devoted to it.

[Altaholic]

I have not had a problem with my orthovex X1

[snowfire]

hey, when I click on the link it says "The forum you selected does not exist." problems with the website or am I an idiot? This is the beacon I have... I"d definitely like to read it.

[Foggy_Goggles]

This came from US Forest Service National Avalanche Center this morning via the Mount Washington Avalanche Center. And I thought the TT.COM readers would be interested.

"You guys might find this interesting and alarming. Excuse this memo if this is already common knowledge, but I have not heard anything about this Ortovox M2 problem. Please pass this along through your networks so we can get the word (out) about this concern.

I caught wind that a couple of our local guides were having problems with their M2 shutting off when the unit took anything more then a moderate knock, such as stricking it in your palm. Initially we thought it was the same problem the M1's had with to much slop in the battery compartment which Ortovox fixed with the M2. They dealt with the issue by increasing the size of the battery pressure tabs on the inside of the compartment door. 3 of us use M2's so we tried to duplicate the problem. We could get the battries to shift, but no where near enough to shut off the unit. I was able to get hold of one of the guides M2's and sure enough we got the to shut off. After some trouble shooting it came down to the specific size of the batteries. After getting 6 or 7 different manufactactured AA batteries side by side they were all a bit different in size. The largest and smallest was actually quite substantial. The other issue was the height of the + (positive) nub on the top of the battery as well as the - (negaative) co9ntact at the bottom (of the batterie). The best battery for the M2, of the one's we looked at, was the Duracell Coppertop due to it's larger diameter and longer length. The negative terminal also protrudes from the bottom while many are either flush of indented. The M2 compartment tolerances are so tight that battries 1mm shorter or thinner at times was enough to make a difference to shut off the unit. I was able to shut the M2 down with no trouble with more than one manufactured battery. The original problem battery was an Energizer alkaline and one of the smallest batteries was the GSA contracted Kodak alkaline AA that many goverment employees might be using.

I never gave much thought to the size changing from battery to battery, but in this application the consequence could be substantial..... The short of it is use the most robust AA you can find that is wide, long and has large terminal ends.
Christopher P. Joosen
Director - Mount Washington Avalanche Center"

My thoughts..... Next time you change your transceiver batteries take some extra time to check the contacts Vs. battery size, on all transceivers.

Halsted Morris
CAIC

here ya go fire.