ACR EPIRB Battery Replacement

[@RH-lz3om]

Thanks for that. Very, very helpful. Why would you not have this as a primary device offshore? It is in good condition. You can be confident in the water seals, I think and it tested OK. Just wondering.....

[@jshepard152]

Nice video. One reason I buy ACR equipment is that while they don't recommend you replace your battery yourself, they don't design their equipment to be difficult to work on, should you decide to do that.

[@finnerutavdet]

I just replaced the individual cells on mine. Take note that inside the black isolation tubes there is probably a reverse polarity diode for each cell. And that inside the yellow isolation tubes there possibly is a temperature fuse per cell. I don't know, but there definitely were such components in the battery pack,... not just wires. ..... I assume the function is for safety though, and not strictly necessary. .... I imported my new cells from China, and when I did the test it worked the first time, and then failed when I repeated the test (after 2nd red led). ... I opened it all up again, and one of the cells dropped from 3v to 1.5v during the test. .... Luckily I had ordered some extra, replaced the cell, and did the test again while monitoring the voltage,.... this time the drop was only from aprox 9 to aprox 8.5 and came right up again and I got all the four red blinks and the final green one. ..... Gaskets were just fine, and felt like they had a tiny amount of silicon from the factory. ......... Probably one of the tests is designed to draw a peak current to test if the batteries are still o.k. ..... The original cells that I took out were 20 years old, and still working just fine ! ! ! ...... Probably I could have left them in for 10 years more. ...... But, yes, not if you're gonna cross oceans though, and not if the EPIRB is your only beacon. ..... If the factory had done this, they would also have carried out a vacuum test I think to guarantee it's still waterproof, and I guess they also have a facility to test real transmission and reception inside a cage or something, but that's just guessing. ..... There are sockets/connectors inside the elctronic unit. The one for the battery cable most noticeably, but there were more. ..... If you get humidity / condensation and/or vibration over a prolonged time such contacts could become poor with age. .... And quality of soldering can sometimes cause old electronics to fail with age. ........ As well can some electronic components, but I didn't see any of those in this unit. ...... The unit did look as if it were made from high quality components that would generally last for a long time. .... In order to make your own battery pack you are better of having a spot welder. ...... And by the way, I have electronics and telecom background, though not within this field. ..........

[@scottk27332]

I would add to make sure you update the exterior label with the new replace by dates and also make sure your NOAA registration is still current.

[@jasonscaggs2220]

awesome video and thanks for the battery part number

[@mullzoo16]

Great to see your new videos + hope to see more!

[@svuntitled4573]

Cheers Andrew! Alas no footage in the works right now, but plenty of cruising left for 2020!

[@blacksheep6888]

Excellent video thank you, you could use Vaseline or petroleum gell to lube the o ring gasket, as a diesel fitter that's what we use on said gaskets.

[@rmarsh3309]

In case anyone was wondering, here is the specification for the battery cells: ER34615 Cell, 3.6V, Li-SOCL2 Chemistry, Non-Rechargeable, with Tabs

[@MtnGuyMike]

Nice job! I need to get me one of these bad bois.

[@mchaves7663]

The battery could be used for other electronic projects such as rc toys

[@Hoog.23]

Are these still supported? Found one in my closet from our old boat and was assuming that the industry had moved on.

[@svuntitled4573]

Depends on the model, but these are really still the latest-and-greatest, present-generation safety device. Once it operates on 406mhz, 121.5mhz beacons are being/have been phased out

[@kevinconnell3970]

How do you know the pack you bought is fully charged?

[@ninjo888]

Same question here

[@scottk27332]

The replacement batteries will come with a sticker saying when to replace, and you could test the small connector with a voltmeter. Monthly testing is recommended though.

[@BigRed999]

Back to where you bought the new battery pack

[@scottk27332]

good sellers on eBay, it's where i get mine from.

[@jshepard152]

@@scottk27332 Good seller is the key point. There are lots of very low quality batteries on eBay, so buyer beware.