Why You Need to Recondition Two-Way Radio Batteries

Reconditioning is a process where a rechargeable battery undergoes several cycles to bring it back to a better capacity and reset its memory effect. Batteries have what’s called a memory effect where it “memorizes” each charge cycle and if the battery is not fully depleted when it’s placed on the charger, it remembers this cycle the next time and doesn’t allow it to fully charge. In turn, you’ll notice a shorter operating time. Reconditioning batteries helps eliminate and fix this memory effect.

It's important to note that even though reconditioning chargers help prolong the life of your battery, it’s not a permanent solution and two-way radio batteries should be replaced every 18 to 24 months.

It’s important to properly care for your two-way radio battery to be sure you get the longest life and best performance.

How Reconditioning a Battery Works

When you first place your radio battery on a reconditioning charger, like the Motorola Impres Reconditioning Charger or Waveband WI-80 Analyzer, it fully depletes your radio battery of any power. It then starts the recondition process where it goes through several charging cycles, each time bringing it to a better capacity than before.

How to Recondition an Impres Battery

Manually Recondition

To manually recondition Impres batteries, within 2 ½ minutes after placing your battery on a reconditioning charger, take the battery off the charger and immediately place it back in. This will start the reconditioning process and your charger should indicate a steady yellow light. After reconditioning, the battery will automattically begin recharging the battery.

The reconditioning process can take up to 12 hours to complete. DO NOT remove the battery from the charger until the steady green light is on. When you take it off the charger your battery will be fully charged and reconditioned.

If your battery has been in storage for a long time, two or three manual recontion cycles may be required to rejuvinate the battery.

Capacity is defined as Mil Amp Hours or Mah for short. The higher the Mah the longer the reconditioning process takes.

Only manually recondition batteries when you feel it’s absolutely necessary, excessive use of the manual recondition process can significantly reduce the cycle life of your battery.

Automatic Reconditioning

When a battery is placed on a reconditioning charger, the charger determines if the battery needs to be reconditioned, and automatically starts the process. This helps eliminate unnecessary reconditioning charges and helps the battery's cycle life.

Features and Benefits of Reconditioning Batteries

• Eliminates memory effect
• Restores it to its full capacity
• Maximize operating times between charges
• Preserves its life cycle
• Will not overheat the battery regardless of the time on the charger

Using reconditioning chargers helps eliminate the need for additional reconditioning equipment and training maintenance on how to properly track and record battery use, conduct manual reconditioning cycles, or remove batteries from a radio.

Reconditioning also saves you money by not having to purchase replacement batteries more frequently. Reconditioning charger analyzers, like the Waveband WI-80, will tell you the true state of your battery so you know exactly when its time to replace.

The reconditioning charger will monitor and track battery usage patterns and store information within your battery and only reconditions it when necessary.

How Often Should You Recondition Batteries

Reconditioning too often can result in wasted battery cycles, while reconditioning not enough, can reduce battery performance and result in a shorter life span. A reconditioning charger will have the ability to determine when is appropriate to recondition batteries.

Before using a new Impres battery and the first time its being charged, it must first be initialized by an Impres charger. This process is automatic and will recondition and recharge the battery. Again, this process can take up to 12 hours to complete. Do not remove the battery from the charger before the green steady light appears.

Fix Battery Guage Not Displaying with Impres Batteries

Motorola Handheld Radios have a display gauge that shows how much battery life is left. Sometimes, this battery gauge disappears after a couple of weeks. Good news, in most cases this does not mean the battery is dead or defective.

Below is an example of a Motorola Radio that is no longer displaying data in the battery menu. This typically happens after the radio has 30 days of data at which point you need to reactivate the battery.

To fix this, the Impres battery will need to be recalibrated or reconditioned. Place the battery in an Impres charger and force calibration. The LED light should indicate yellow meaning recalibration has started. Once a full recondition has happened, 10-12 hours, the display should reappear.

For full instructions on how to recondition a battery, please read the instructions above on How to Recondition an Impres Battery, or consult your Impres charger manual.

It is recommended to recondition an Impres battery every couple of weeks or less (depending on your radio/battery), to keep the display gauge showing.

If the battery is new or in storage for a long time, it is strongly recommended to run it through a full recondition mode first. If the battery display gauge is not displaying, consult with the company you purchased the battery from for troubleshooting.

If the battery is an older battery, reconditioning should be done more often but if you are experiencing a shortened battery life, best practices suggest replacing the battery entirely. Learn more about battery best practices and when to know when to replace.

Next Steps:

Looking to purchase a reconditioning charger for your two-way radio fleet? Waveband Communications offers charger analyzers that recondition batteries and provide you with critical data on the life of your battery. Shop now or contact sales to find the right solutions for your team.