Ctx 3030 battery and charger questions...

low tide

Elite Member

Joined

Dec 26, 2015

Messages

909

• Jul 30, 2020

• #1

Rechargable factory battery finally gave the ghost. Did the diy route w/soldering new batteries . For whatever reason it won't charge but maybe 20%. The bc 10 shows blinking green upper(meaning charging) & the lower is solid green meaning healthy connection. I believe I did everything correct. Guess not. Maybe the charger???
With that said I figure I'll pony up for a new battery. I went to a reputable site & almost purchased it but read the disclaimer first... It says the new battery won't work with the bc 10 charger unless its a rev. 4 charger. Mines a rev. 3 currently.. What gives? So to get a newer lithium ion battery ill now have to buy an even costlier charger? What's the difference between the rev 3 & rev 4 chargers???

 

Last edited: Jul 31, 2020

low tide

Elite Member

Joined

Dec 26, 2015

Messages

909

• Jul 30, 2020

• #2

Another question: why is a single Minelab 3030 Li-ion battery 160.00 but you can also get a Minelab 3030 Li-ion battery WITH Alkaline battery pack AND 3 seals for 125 from the major dealers? Is the more expensive single batt. pack a different quality?

 

Last edited: Jul 31, 2020

Ra1der5

Athletic Supporter

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Jul 20, 2011

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3,418

• Jul 31, 2020

• #3

Saw your post from a couple weeks ago. Sorry to hear it. I was hoping it would work out for you.

Keep your eye on eBay. That seller I mentioned (previous post) sometimes sells refurbished CTX batteries. They wanted $79 OBO. I offered $40 and they took it.

R5

 

DaviDs

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Jan 3, 2011

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4,807

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East Coast, FL

• Jul 31, 2020

• #4

low tide said:

Another question: ...?

Click to expand...

I found some great rechargeable cells from a RC Car Hobby store and used those in the alkaline holder. Don't recall the maH on each, but it gave 2-3x longer life than the ML battery pack. Just my $0.02

 

B

Bklein

Senior Member

Joined

Dec 8, 2013

Messages

434

• Jul 31, 2020

• #5

I rebuilt my original battery and it works with my original charger. Both batteries charged very fast on the charger even though the newer one is 50% higher capacity. I just got a second CTX needing a battery so I bid on one on eBay but also posted want ads on forums and got a used bad one to rebuild same time my bid won. That battery is newer- looks new. Has newer gasket design. Discharged when I got it today, charging now. I hope I don’t need a newer charger...

 

B

Bklein

Senior Member

Joined

Dec 8, 2013

Messages

434

• Aug 3, 2020

• #6

bummer

The used bad battery has good battery cells that charged up ok, but the protection circuit is faulty and doesn't drive the outputs to the detector with full voltage. The CTX gets a low battery fault. Looking at the board, the fets seem good. There is a small SOT-23 transistor that reads funny on my tester, marked with a "EU". Not sure but that's the only thing that seems questionable on the board unless the controller IC is partially faulty.

 

low tide

Elite Member

Joined

Dec 26, 2015

Messages

909

• Aug 3, 2020

• #7

Problem i was originally having was after a charge it would show a full charge. After about 20 minutes of use I would get a low battery warning on the CTX but the battery symbol still showed full. . With the DIY new batteries in, it now showed the last bar/in red and would say low battery after about 10 seconds. The battery never fully charged on the pack. I ordered a new battery and waiting on it's arrival. By next week I'll know if it was a bad battery, a bad charger, or a bad ctx ( )