This week’s Two-Way Radio Tip will explain how a simple battery maintenance program can be set up for your two-way radio system to extend the battery life and improve the overall reliability of your system.

For more than 22 years, Discount Two-Way Radio has been as a leading provider of professional grade two-way radio equipment, including genuine RCA two-way radio batteries. Our expert account executives and technicians have coached more than 60,000 clients on how to best care for their communications equipment, including maximizing the lifespan of their two-way radio batteries.

One of the best ways to get the most mileage out of your batteries is to create a simple, on-going battery maintenance program. The underlying game plan for this program is to create a system that carefully tracks the age of your batteries while also providing an accurate road map for knowing exactly when to rotate your fleet of batteries. By investing just a little bit of time, your fleet of batteries will be organized and always charged at maximum capacity. This simple and effective battery maintenance protocol can be accomplished by following the following steps:

Step One:

The first step to creating a reliable battery maintenance program is to start with a new supply of batteries for every two-way radio your company has. Having a fresh supply of batteries is never a bad idea, because they will help protect you, your co-workers, and your company in the event of a natural disaster or power outage. But even more relevant a battery maintenance program, they will establish an exact starting point for your on-going battery maintenance program. Experts advise that it always a good idea to have at least two batteries for every two-way radio operating in your company.

Step Two:

When your new batteries arrive, you will have to “initialize” them. The reason for this is because when your new batteries arrive, they will only contain 50 percent of their charging capacity. As a result, you will need to charge your batteries overnight (at least 14 – 16 hours) to allow them to achieve full capacity. You can use either a single rapid charger or multi-unit charging system when initializing your two-way radio batteries.

Step Three:

The third step is to create and place stick-on labels on each battery, writing when the battery was purchased and the anticipated date when charging to capacity begins becomes more difficult and takes longer than 24 hours. Professional two-way radio batteries should last between 12 – 18 months, however after six months you will start to notice shorter battery cycle. So, your time span of your labels should run every six months (i.e. July 8, 2019 – December 8, 2019). Remember, rechargeable batteries don’t suddenly die; they gradually get weaker over time. Another good idea is to designate a specific person to monitor and notate the lifespan of the batteries over time. It doesn’t take much time but having a single point-person will ensure the consistency and accuracy of your battery maintenance program.

Step Four:

Once the batteries have reached this six-month point, they will begin to become gradually weaker and require more charging time. These batteries should be stored in a separate box or other container and marked with a new sticker that now has a new six-month time period (i.e. December 8, 2019 – May 8, 2019) and clearly identified as “limited capacity” batteries. This will clearly identify that these batteries are weaker and will take more time to reach a full charge. It is at this point that you will start to intersperse your brand-new batteries with the limited capacity ones every other day until the older batteries are unable to hold a charge for an entire shift. Now it is time to recycle them and order a new supply, and start the process all over again.

A properly run battery maintenance program will pay for itself in less than one year by prolonging your fleet’s battery life and improving your two-way communications system reliability.

For more information on how to get the most out of your two-way batteries, call Discount Two-Way Radio today and speak to one of our world class account representatives at 800-895-5122.