Baofeng Radio: 12V DC Charging Mod
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- Опубликовано: 19 ноя 2024
- Baofeng UV5R on Amazon: amzn.to/3BeeBhg. In this video I explore different ways to charge Baofeng Radios using a DC power sources. Check my channel to find more videos about solving the DC charger issue.
Amazon link for the extended life battery: amzn.to/3mCxtT1
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I use a 12v to 120v inverter to a 3 way multi plug to 2 chargers. I've even thrown a 3 way 12v multi plug in the mix so I can use 1 radio while charging 2 batteries. It's a bit Clark Griswoldy but works.
Nice!
To answer a few questions:
-A Flashing Red LED on the cradle means that there is something wrong with the battery and it will not charge. Any attempts to charge ends when the LED starts to flash.
- The cradles can only take 5 to 10 volts. Anything more than 10volts will damage the charging circuit. Some have tried with 12V from their car and got it to charge but I will say from that the amperage must be very low so it is possible to charge at 12volts with a low amperage.
- Owning several types of Baofengs, all my chargers exhibit the same behavior: Red means charging, Green means Charged, and Flashing Red means Battery Failure.
-The extended pack does have its own charging jack but it is for a USB Adaptor, which is 5V. Anything more than 6V going through it will damage the charging circuit. USB electronics can easily be damaged by over-voltage.
- As far as the UV-5RA, that radio I do not own. But I seen youtube vidoes making a modification to the extended battery pack to make it fir the UV-5RA. It mean cutting a couple plastic tabs on the extended battery case to make it fit. Search and find these vidoes to see how it is done.
Thanks for the feedback.
I know a lot of hams that use the cigarette lighter plugin directly to the Baofeng extended life battery and I always warn them that the voltage is not correct to charge the battery and they are risking damaging the batteries, but they never listen. Maybe one day they will learn the hard way, hopefully not in an SHTF situation though.
@WH6FQE: Hi Robert. You are so correct in your comment regarding hams charging the extended battery direct from the car cigarette lighter. Most (probably all) of course deliver 12v which is 2v too much, both for the battery AND the charge cradle. Additionally, as regards the battery, the charge is not controlled which will affect the battery’s life expectancy and even damage it.
I’m afraid that hams can be taken to water, but they can’t be made to drink! There is so much wrong information in this video that I’m afraid I don’t have the time to comment on all the mistakes. I am not a troll, so guys, my advice is to do more in-depth research yourself AND STAY AWAY FROM IDIOT TUBE VIDEOS!
A good place to start is a website like batteryuniversity.com
direct into baofeng battery you want it to be about 7.5 t0 8.5 volts under load (whihc is going to be 9 or ten volts before loading). BUT if you are using the normal charging base to charge you are fine up to 14 volts. the stock wall wart is 10.5, but you can actually put up to 15 in it and it will show 8 under load at the terminals, as base has circuitry inside of the charging base.
So hams are right in just getting the barrel size and polarity right and all else passthrough -- if in a car also using the oem charging base. And you are right that 14 is too much to put direct into the battery though the barrel port in the battery
Tons of options on amazon. Just search baofeng USB charger. There's USB cords that step up to 10v that plug into your cradle or cradles with USB built in. They also have plenty of cigarette lighter style.
At the time I made this video I couldn't find a suitable option. Thanks to viewer like you I have been made aware of several viable options now being sold. Thanks for you feedback.
Bow fang sells a cord that’s made to plug into the battery it has a USB end on it so you plug a USB connector into your cigarette lighter and you’re good to go it has a red light on it it turns green when the batteries charged it’s made by. Bow fang
My charger said 12v 1A. I use 2 HT radios and have mounted the chargers in my car and wired them straight to a switch. That way I can chose if they charge while the key is off or not.
You can also cover up 1\2 the goal zero panales .. That also works
I put a 10 volt voltage regulator in the base of mine it works quite well
+Mark Lemen I am going have to give that a try, thanks for watching.
I came to comments to suggest exactly that, can use a buck boost regulatory and then it will except a really wide voltage range. 👍
If you choose to charge DIRECTLY from the SIDE plug, wich is the volts (8,4v ?) and mAh that are need for?
Any answers? Im looking to build a mobile top up system for it and I'm having troubles finding exact specs about that Port
Is it possible to use the radio while charging? Is there any problem doing this?
Do not transmit while charging on the supplied charger. It has a chip which gets hot and can burn out. Best to have the radio off when charging to minimize current draw. 👍
Just string 8 AA together in series and attach it to the drop in charge unit
Greetings everyone,
I am interested in the battery pack with charger rather then the cradle charger.
Could someone tell me parts numbers and compatibility the Bf-f8
i have the dreaded mis match battery's.
possible to discharge the pack. then charge it up. will this balance the two batteries?
i do not want to tear it apart if possible.
also are there replacement loose batteries on the market?
aka the cells. not a whole pack.
if so what is the numbers used?
and who stocks them?
i know a new pack is cheap. but this way i know the two batteries match each other. .
B-Tech make new battery the have USB-C port for easy charging. Plus B-Tech has a return policy and they are located in the US.
Great video. Just need some more information. Can the UV-5R be placed in the cradle that is plugged into house power (120v) and left turned on indefinitely? I ask because I would like to use two in my attic (#1 as RX and #2 as TX using an audio cable), hooked up to an external antenna on the chimney as a repeater, so I can roam around my property with a stubby antenna on my third UV-5R.
I personally haven't tried leaving plugged into wall power but I don't think it would be problem. I seen other guys use the UV-5Rs in probably repeater set-ups. Thanks for watching.
you will age the battery fast doing that. I would just hook up 7.5 volts through an eliminator. It will cost you less than destroying a battery that you can use for other baofengs
thanks for the vid. could you answer this question for me? Is it ok or preferable to leave these baufeng radios in their cradles constantly charging (eg plugged into AC outlet at home? or does this damage / overcharge the battery?
It is my understanding that with lithium ion batteries, this should not be a issue. However, I charge mine and then remove them for them cradle, just personal preference.
It's also advised to ALWAYS remove lithium-ion batteries from the charger after charging and if storing then place them in a suitable non-conductive protective container. Chargers and cells do fail.
If you're going to store them for a month or more, then don't store them fully charged. It stresses the lithium-ion cell. Research care of lithium-ion "batteries"...lots of info available on the internet at places like batteryuniversity.com and similar.
For car/truck just spend $13 on a small 12V to 110 converter at wallyworld or northern tool.
Best go is a solar charger usb
I have a Baofeng UV-16 and it has a USB-C charger built in, so I can use any USB-A to USB-C cable and a 12V car charger to charge the radio. The question is: Can I use the radio while charging? The radio works while charging, but the question is, does it harm the batteries?
It shouldn't harm it. They step up transformer to 12volt.
Well my charger was flashing green and red which is what its suppose to
Then it flashes green by itself
Then I put the battery on the charger and the light goes out!!
I wanted a portable solution, so here it is
1M USB DC 5V To DC 9V supplied by lanmu on Amazon,
I connect the lead into a 5v power bank, it does take a while to charge but at least I can top up the battery while out and about.
I also bought 1M USB DC 5V To DC 12V and I'm able to charge my Kenwood the f7 & my Kenwood d72.
hope someone finds this helpful, I'm also in the process of making a extended power option for baofeng. will post my results
I have a 5v USB step up converter that outputs 10 V.
PS the rectifier will fit in the end of the cheep 12v plug .. I have 11 of these radios. Yes I do have better ones. But these are so cheep and the the battery last at lest a year. I have them in my car my truck my girlfriends car home and at work. And a back up hear and there with the ability to charge them
+Superdan187211 Good to know, thanks for your insight. I found a step down power supply on EBAY. Was I order on I do a follow-up video on how it works.
I had to wire in a 12v rectifier .. It worked even though the volts where a little to much
+Superdan187211 and they are super cheep
??? the charger flash red when I put the unit in the charge what is the problem is it supposed to do that?
Lawrence Muhammad bad connection mine did same thing yesterday
1.7mm inside
4.0 outside diameter connector
Your answer lies with in. After some damage. I skinned out the battery holder. then made a regulator. I took a 7805, and added 4 1 amp diodes pointing to ground. Off pin#2. Them put one ten UF cap at pin#1. The + at pin #1. Then put a 10 uf cap. On #3 pin. the (+) to pin#3, and ground to ground rail. Then to take noise out. I put at #3 pin, a 0.1 uf ceramic cap. One end to positive other to the negative. Simple system and can be shoe horned in the original box. Then I took a cooking timer . To announce at 0 to 3 hours of operation. Battery and charger doing fine (as l was too lazy to add Charge indicator.) Works well. Even added a strip of aluminum as a sink to cool the 7805 .( We be cool) . Ps the radio has a volt meter built in one bar to 3 in short time. . Bread board it first to check results as I use solar for my power.
Thanks, I am going to give that a try on one of my chargers.
Hi I wondered if you could help. I have a boafeng uv b5 but the charger isn't working. DDo you know of any alterntaives chargers that will work. I have looked on the internet but chargers specifically for this model are quite pricey. Any aletrnative to get running again, would be appreciated. Cheers
I have never owned a UV B5 and it appears that chargers are hard to come by. I did a few searches and couldn't find any aftermarket options. Maybe someone else could point you in the right direction.
Many thanks for getting back to me. Can you recommend something similar or better. I only have my foundation licence. Thanks again
You could use a 10VDC voltage regulator. They sell them at electronics shops. You can have a female DC jack on one side and a male DC jack on the other. The female would receive the power from the car adapter, and the male would feed the charger. Job done. Some soldering would be needed of course. Something like this:
www.amazon.com/Electronics-Salon-Positive-Voltage-Regulator-Module/dp/B00LM2ISOU
Absolutely, thanks for the insight.
Another thing I’d like to know you may know the answer, if I keep the battery plugged into the USB and then plug it into my car can I use the radio while it’s charging or will that hurt the battery
Good question, I have no proof that keeping them plugged in will degrade the battery, Yet, I have heard it will, on the other hand replacement batteries are affordable. Sorry I don't have a better answer may be I should try it out and see what happens.
Do any charging experiments only while its under observation and only in location where if it fails catastrophically (fire/explosion) it is less likely to start a fire. (e.g. charge on wide concrete area, in a fire-pit, etc.
My understanding is the BaoFeng charging base/stand will misinterpret the battery pack's voltage when the radio is turned-on while charging, which could cause it to overcharge the battery pack with all the bad results that could entail.
At least some of the battery packs seem to have protection circuitry, but it's not globally claimed by BaoFeng. Protection circuitry would REDUCE the chance of battery damage; minor or catastrophic.
Im not sure why Baofeng does not add a USB-c charging... seems so simple.
I just got the same setup as you. Last night I plugged my USB charger into my battery (2/3 bars of battery life) and this morning the battery was completely dead (battery symbol flashing). When I have the charger plugged into the battery, the radio works. But when I unplug the charger, the radio dies immediately.
Has this ever happened to anyone?
Interesting, I the Baofeng radio chargers in my experience have always have had issues. I own four radios and the chargers all seem to display different charging levels.
I have tried charging my extende battery with 12v directly and charge.
Yes, and it work for me.
Will the base from the baofeng uv-5r charge the bf-f9 v2+
Sorry I have never tried it myself because I only own UV-5 series radios.
Wait I am so lost.
Does it charge? because it seems it stays RED and also there is no indicator on the radios screen that says it is charging. So how will we know if the radio is even being charged?
It does charge, the Baofeng chargers are a little goofy. Even when I first set a radio on the charger using wall power the light does not indicate the correct charge condition. However, after a minute or so it does, not sure why. Also some of my charger bases react differently. My guess is the low quality standards of this cheap China manufacturers. Thanks for watching.
Nomad-76 said, "I have also that some of my charger bases react differently. "
There are different versions of the charger bases. The latest of which I'm aware is the one using the PCB marked,
NEW - 5W - VER11
2018-12-25
As far as I can tell, it uses a different charging control chip than any of the older charger bases.
However, so far, it has been very consistent in all operations including the "charge-to" voltage and the time required to charge battery packs that were depleted to a known state.
I've tested it using multiples of each BaoFeng new 1800mAh, 2100mAh, 3800mAh battery packs, and a 5000mAh battery pack I made.
The assembly quality that I've seen so far on the newer version chargers is surprisingly good.
It could be your chargers, but there are also problems with counterfeit battery packs being sold. Counterfeit products is a significant problem...even for the major manufacturers who can get counterfeit parts to build their non-counterfeit products.
@@exgenica Thanks for the useful feedback. I have thought about extra charger bases but I am skeptical of most the Amazon and eBay sellers. Heck I am probably better buying a new radio to get the newer charger base.
Amazon link is not working
Thanks for letting me know. amzn.to/3BeeBhg
The Baofeng cradle charger is trash, because the engineers at Baofeng disregarded ALL of the data in the SC6038 charger chip's data sheet. It specifically tells you not to leave chip enable (pin 6) disconnected. Guess what the Baofeng engineers did? 🤣
They also wired the battery sensing backwards to get a slightly lower voltage from the regulator. SMH
Thanks for the feedback!
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