Review of the RB Innovations AW-2200 LI-ION 12 volt Battery system (New England Detectors)

[Myrddin]

Hey guys, I have been lurking for a while absorbing what I can... However with all the help and info I have gotten from the site I wanted to try to offer some back...

This is part 1 of a review for the AW-2200 LI-ION rechargeable Battery System from RB Innovations... I was able to pick this up from New England Detectors (best online source on the internet).

First off I wanted to say a few things about New England Detectors. I have worked with Dale (Bigboar) on this site with a fantastic deal on a Lesche Digger and a Pro Pointer combo deal... and the customer service was fantastic, shipping was super-fast too. then I was checking out the site ( https://newenglanddetectors.com ) and found out that they have many great products that I was interested in... Once I read about the battery, I thought man, I bet this can save me in the long run for batteries and also how nice would it be to be able to charge in the car and go for those trips when needed... even if its back up or primary... So I decided to give it a try and thought I would report my findings. I talked with Andrew and he was able to get me what I needed... and yet agn the customer service was better than I have seen in any experience... and the shipping was also once agn super-fast.

This will be part one of the review (due to weather) I am only able to do the unboxing part... charge times and activity in the field will come soon, I hope .

I received the package no later than 3 days after my order, the box was packaged well... and its contents secure.




And once out I was able to see the quality of the product:






Side by side comparison:




The chargers are nice quality as well...


Any way this is my unboxing review and my opinion on New England Detectors... This week I will follow up with charge times and will do some field work...

One other note, this unit (AW-2200) is for the Whites VX3... Feel free to contact NED for info ont he other units they can supply for... I am unsure what that looks like. Also I think they do a give away for people why register on the site...

More to follow guys... I hope this is helpful... if not at least I enjoyed showing off my new toy

[StratV3i]

I am dying to hear the second half of your review!

I am very interested in getting this new battery and using it with my V3i, and I am hoping you have had a chance to use it with your detector and have some news for us!

Please post part TWO of your review!!!

HH

Chris

[Dirty Money]

It will be interesting to see how he likes them.

My viewpoint is at:http://metaldetectingforum.com/showt...hlight=aw-2200

HH

[StratV3i]

Thanks Dirty Money!

I had actually read your review too, and I found it to be VERY helpful. I have the V3i and I am thinking that this battery would be just awesome to use. It seems like I have to recharge my NiMH battery (the one with the orange label) after about four hours of metal detecting. I keep spares with me, but I really like the idea of the Lithium Ion battery.

Plus, I think that Lithium Ion is the wave of the future, it seems to be what all the cell phone manufacturers are putting in their products lately.

I also think that a battery like this could be ideal on the beach, where I tend to hunt for hours and hours and hours, without much of a break.

I'm hoping we hear more from Myrddin on this soon!

If any other users on this forum have any experience with the AW-2200 Lithium Ion battery, please share your thoughts with us. I am very close to pulling the trigger on this and buying this battery.

Thanks and happy hunting!

Chris

[StratV3i]

Hello everyone.

Well, several weeks ago I contacted New England Metal Detectors about obtaining the AW-2200 battery. I spoke to a very helpful fellow, who spent some time with me on the phone explaining the battery to me, I think it was Andrew - he was terrific. Anyway, at the time I spoke with him, they were out of stock on the battery, so he referred me directly to R&B Innovations.

I spoke to the folks there at R&B, and ordered the battery. That was on a Friday. On Monday, the battery arrived! Great service!

Here are my notes from using this new lithium ion battery.

Recently I tried a new Lithium Ion battery in my V3i. Here are the results of my use of this new battery.

I kept a log of each time I used my V3i, and noted the battery voltage and time spent in the field detecting. Here are my notes....


4/17/2012 Starting Voltage 12.51
Battery charged in 1.5 hours and came up at 12.51 volts. After a three hour hunt, battery read at 11.72 volts

4/19/2012 Starting Voltage 11.72
One hour hunt. After the hunt the battery read at 11.47 volts.

4/20/2012 Starting Voltage 11.47
One and three quarters hour hunt. Afterward the battery read at 11.10 volts

4/25/2012 Starting Voltage 11.10
Four hour hunt with my friend George. After, the battery read at 10.75 volts

5/10/2012 Starting Voltage 10.75
Two hour hunt. After, the battery read at 10.31 volts

5/11/2012 Starting Voltage 10.23
Voltage started up at 10.23. After one hour of hunting, the battery abruptly died

Total Hours on One Charge 12.75

All in all, I am very satisfied with this battery. The fact that I was able to run with this battery on my V3i for a full 12 plus hours was very impressive to me. This would be ideal for the beach, where you could run the detector for hours and hours without worrying about a recharge. The battery also comes with a very convenient car charger, so if you do run out of juice in the field, you could swap in your spare battery and put the AW-2200 in the charger for 20 or 30 minutes, and then have it sufficiently charged for hours of additional metal detecting.

I am grateful for the wonderful service I received both from New England Metal Detectors and from R&B Innovations.

Happy Hunting!

Chris