check your damn batteries

[ak_telemike]

recently had a problem with my BCA Tracker. Transceiver was not functioning due to the top battery getting knocked loose and not sitting in the battery contacts.

Contacted BCA - they are replacing my unit sight unseen. Apparently they have seen or heard of 3 or 4 out of about 30,000 Trackers that have had this problem. I'm very happy with their customer service!

This problem was also identified earlier this season with Ortovox M2 transceivers.

It seems that battery sizes are not consistent - some are bigger than others in the same size. With the M2's, the govt issued Kodak batteries from GSA seemed to be some of the worst.

Check your transceiver often - maybe not just once at the trailhead. I'm not sure how long I skied around with a dead transceiver after having checked mine in the morning. I checked it, skied all day, then the next time I went to use it it was dead.

more
http://www.telemarktalk.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=3658
http://www.telemarktalk.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=6265

[Below Zero]

What year tracker has this problem?

[AltaPowderDaze]

What year tracker has this problem?

i think he's talking about the grey one from this year.

[ak_telemike]

yep - the newest version

I bought mine in Jan 05

not sure if this is really a "problem" or an anomaly

[divegirl]

Yikes. That's not good. But 3/4 out of 30,000 - that's pretty good odds, right?? Thanks for the heads up.

[Z]

somewhat unrelated but, in an avy course i took a couple months ago one of my instructers had said that you should not let a tracker's batteries go below 80%, as it may not recieve as well....anyone else hear the same??

[AltaPowderDaze]

somewhat unrelated but, in an avy course i took a couple months ago one of my instructers had said that you should not let a tracker's batteries go below 80%, as it may not recieve as well....anyone else hear the same??

don't know about trackers but as a duracell stock holder, i change mine about every 100 hours transmit + 30min receive. i have an ortovox m2 though.

[Flake]

I steal batteries from work. Oopps I mean we have access to free batteries at work so I change mine all the time. I hate low batteries in my mp3 player and the thought of weak batteries in safety gear is unthinkable. Fresh ones for the important stuff.

[Z]

funny, just as a post that thread, i check my beacon and its been transmitting for atleast 2 days....33%, just changed em...

[Foggy_Goggles]

somewhat unrelated but, in an avy course i took a couple months ago one of my instructers had said that you should not let a tracker's batteries go below 80%, as it may not recieve as well....anyone else hear the same??

Agreed. I (we) change at 85%. I did a test and fresh batteries added about 5meters range compared to 75%.

[Lurch]

With about every transceiver on the market having battery problems due to variation in the size from the "standard" why have they not moved to "watch" batteries yet? I would rather shell out the extra dough for those expensive disk shaped batteries then worry about my batteries coming loose. It's not like they are hard to find either walk into any Wal-Mart, target, radio shack, etc. and they have about every shape/size that is made.

[Mountain Junkie]

During a pre-trip safey talk this weekend, our guide said that he replaces his batteries in his Tracker when they get down to around 30%. The real kicker-he also carries spare batteries in his coat pocket just in case the batteries DO run out. If you're changing your fucking batteries during an avalanche beacon search because you let your batteries run down then you deserve to get your ass kicked. I was not too stoked to hear that from our guide.

Carrying spare batteries is fine-using it to justify running your batteries to the ground-

[Mountain Junkie]

With about every transceiver on the market having battery problems due to variation in the size from the "standard" why have they not moved to "watch" batteries yet? I would rather shell out the extra dough for those expensive disk shaped batteries then worry about my batteries coming loose. It's not like they are hard to find either walk into any Wal-Mart, target, radio shack, etc. and they have about every shape/size that is made.

Watch batteries don't provide enough power for a beacon.

[Lurch]

Watch batteries don't provide enough power for a beacon.

even when stacked? Watch batteries come in 1.5 Volts the same as AAA.

[Mountain Junkie]

even when stacked? Watch batteries come in 1.5 Volts the same as AAA.

I'm guessing that it's the current. Either they don't provide enough current or current capacity (mAh).

[TomK]

The Junkie & Lurch have it. The voltage comes from the chemical mix, the maximum current (amps) comes from how fast the chemical reaction takes place, & total Amp Hours is related to the volume of chemicals available. The amount of work you can get done is watts (Volts times Amps).
Not enough Watts in watch cells to run the electronics for a transmitter and/or reciever for very long. They also have very small mAh rates and high cost compared to the ubiquitous AA and AAA cells.

The biggest issue isn't the equipment manufacturers, it's the low-cost battery manufacturers who are skimping on materials to make out-of-spec "AAA" cells and yet getting away with calling them "AAA"s instead of "Almost-AAA". You'd see the same dimension issues with watch cells bought at the dollar store. - Buy cheap, get cheap.

[Lurch]

The Junkie & Lurch have it. The voltage comes from the chemical mix, the maximum current (amps) comes from how fast the chemical reaction takes place, & total Amp Hours is related to the volume of chemicals available. The amount of work you can get done is watts (Volts times Amps).
Not enough Watts in watch cells to run the electronics for a transmitter and/or reciever for very long. They also have very small mAh rates and high cost compared to the ubiquitous AA and AAA cells.

The biggest issue isn't the equipment manufacturers, it's the low-cost battery manufacturers who are skimping on materials to make out-of-spec "AAA" cells and yet getting away with calling them "AAA"s instead of "Almost-AAA". You'd see the same dimension issues with watch cells bought at the dollar store. - Buy cheap, get cheap.

On that note I've done some more digging and AA AAA etc. was first a standard size and electrochecmical content now it's out of date and no longer a valid standard just a marketing name for a given size.