Charging HC2 battery question

[zr1rob]

My battery gauge (upper right corner) is only solid white right after I run the charging cycle, but goes to almost empty within minutes. Is this a symptom of a failing battery or else?

How I charge:
1. Turn it off
2. Plug in the USB cable that comes with the controller from Ring
3. The screen says "Charging"
4. ~10s later, screen says "Done"

Are the above procedures correct?

[William Brillinger]

Your battery is probably good for 5 to 10 hours even though it say's it's low right away.
The battery indicator is basically fiction on the HC.

Sounds like you need many need to re-calibrate the indicator.

Battery Indicator Calibration: https://rpug.pdc.ca/index.php/topic,582.msg5204.html#msg5204

Let is discharge completely by turning off the "auto screen off" setting on the HC.  Leave it on until it is completely dead.  Then plug it in and let it recharge to full.  This procedure will reset the battery level indicator and give you a much more accurate charge state.

More info: https://rpug.pdc.ca/index.php/topic,25

[zr1rob]

the red battery indicator flashed Red/White for a couple of minutes then the unit turned off like you said. Plugged the charging cable in and let it run. 5 hours later, I turned it on, and it said "Done" with the full battery indicated, unplugged it. Powered it up, only have 1/4 battery. Waited a couple of minutes for the software to poll the battery and update the display, still 1/4. Did I miss something?

[William Brillinger]

how old is the HC?

[zr1rob]

i bought it back in early 2020. It's an HC2b.
BTW: the indicator just went to RED about a half hour after the charging cycle said "Done"
Just now happened

[William Brillinger]

It sounds like you may need new batteries. Based on the age, I would think they should be fine though.
I'd give Ring a call and see what they say. Hopefully they will take care of it for you.

Cheers!

[zr1rob]

so I took out the batteries and they all came out to be between 1.4-1.45 V. These are 1.2V batteries. The LCD battery gauge shows full. I wonder if there's an upper limit that triggers the software to show a 1/4 level, because the voltage is about 125%of normal so the gauge wraps around? Just wondering, it's all good now. It took several charging cycles to get it back to full because even though the Charging screen said: Done, after a couple of minutes, the battery gauge would shrink from full to less than half. So it would be charged again so it's now back to normal. Thanks for the heads up.

[trainman605]

I just tried to charge my HC-2 after letting it set for some 9 months, it will say Done and the battery indicator will be White for a short time and then start flashing Red. After a short time the screen will turn off, I can unplug and plug in the charger again and the screen will do the same thing again. Note here I can not turn the HC-2 on with the button, but it has come on at times for a short time, one to two seconds at best and then shuts off. I feel my batteries are dead and will not take a charge, I had it plugged in overnight with no results. Should I replace the batteries, or just send it into Ring and have them do it, plus they can also checkout the HC-2 for it operation. Are these batteries a plug in type, or do they have to be soldered in, what are the voltages and does this battery have a model number. I can probably do the replacement, but if sending it to Ring is better I would rather do it that way. Thanks for any info you can give me. trainman

[William Brillinger]

Here is a thread showing how to replace the batteries: https://rpug.pdc.ca/index.php/topic,1445.msg10570.html

They plug in, no soldering required.

[trainman605]

After not using my HC-2 for 10-12 months I found my unit would not charge. I tried all the ways that Rail Pro said to do it, but no luck. Ater talking to Rail Pro I just mailed it to them for a battery replacement and checkout the unit, it just made sense and the cost is not that much for them to do the work. Thanks Rail Pro.

[snowdog]

After not using my HC-2 for 10-12 months I found my unit would not charge. I tried all the ways that Rail Pro said to do it, but no luck. Ater talking to Rail Pro I just mailed it to them for a battery replacement and checkout the unit, it just made sense and the cost is not that much for them to do the work. Thanks Rail Pro.

How much $$ did they quote for the service?

[trainman605]

I talked with Ring and they sent me a return number, I sent the unit to them and they replaced the batteries. The charge was less than $50, $15 dollars of it was for postage. They also checked my HC-2 for any updates that were needed, got it back and all works as it should, thanks Ring for you fast service.

[Coupe633]

I just purchased a new RPK-1 Starter Kit (my second one now), and I cannot get the HC-2b to power up or charge. I have perused through here and thought that this might be the appropriate thread to post this. I have tried plugging the PA-3 into the outlet then the cable into the PA-3 then the other end of the cable to the HC-2b. I tried pushing the black power button and I get nothing. I assumed first that the batteries might need charged but can't even get that to happen much less get it to power up. Unless anyone has another suggestion I may have to send it to Ring. It's brand new! I know that the PA-3 works fine as I have been charging my other HC-2b with it and it works just fine. Appreciate any help.

[William Brillinger]

Leave it on the charger for 24 to 48 hours and see if it wakes up. If it doesn't wake up, the batteries may need to be replaced, or it may have other issues. I'd check with ring after trying a long charge.

[gregeusa]

On the  test for a good battery:

The voltage of the battery open circuit (no load) is very little information about the health of the battery.

If you use rechargeables a lot, getting a charger that can actually test the CAPACITY of the battery (how many milliamp-hours it can produce) will quickly tell you the situation.

A worn battery can still achieve the proper terminal voltage (about 1.41 to 1.44 volts) but only last a short while under load.

Might be worth the investment, many chargers do both AAA an AA batteries.

Greg