Battery life

[Truth]

Hey fellas is anybody else had this problem I’ll charge my 800 all night and when I go out in the field 10 minutes later it’s already showing half. Has anybody had that problem?

 

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[MackDog]

no, contact Minelab customer support

 

[Donut]

Make sure the magnets are kept clean or you may not get a good contact at the contact points.
i clean mine with blue painters tape. Mine gets a lot of fine iron that is in the sand on Lk Michigan beaches.
Doug

 

[McKinney_5900]

Hey fellas is anybody else had this problem I’ll charge my 800 all night and when I go out in the field 10 minutes later it’s already showing half. Has anybody had that problem?

What power source and mA rating do you charge from? I strive to never leave mine on charge overnight. I just don't trust the voltage regulators to cutoff the charge cycle. It can easily damage a battery if it is left overnight and the regulator misses cutoff.

I've never been displeased with either of my Equinox machines for battery quality. Is yours showing fully charged and not still charging in the morning, right?

 

[smokeythecat]

If what they said doesn't work, time to call Minelab.

 

[cudamark]

My 2 1/2 year old battery will still last longer than I can hunt in one day. No issues at all.

 

[Dirt Duke]

Yes, as stated above, use a good charger rated at no less than 1.5 amps, preferably at 2 amps, and clean your contacts on the Nox and the charging cable.

 

[Donut]

Yes, as stated above, use a good charger rated at no less than 1.5 amps, preferably at 2 amps, and clean your contacts on the Nox and the charging cable.

No less than 2A. Way too many are and have complained that 1A and 1.5A take forever to charged.
I actually threw out all my 1A chargers because they just took to long.
Doug

 

[Terry Soloman]

It is also good to let the battery bleed out completely at least once a month. Prolongs the life of the battery.

 

[vferrari]

It is also good to let the battery bleed out completely at least once a month. Prolongs the life of the battery.

Probably not an issue with the built in protective circuitry of the Equinox but it is actually harmful to Lithium Ion battery capacity if you discharge it to the limit (unlike NiCADs and NiMh batteries).

From Battery University https://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/how_to_prolong_lithium_based_batteries:

The largest capacity loss occurs when discharging a fully charged Li-ion to 25 percent SoC (black); the loss would be higher if fully discharged. Cycling between 85 and 25 percent (green) provides a longer service life than charging to 100 percent and discharging to 50 percent (dark blue). The smallest capacity loss is attained by charging Li-ion to 75 percent and discharging to 65 percent. This, however, does not fully utilize the battery. High voltages and exposure to elevated temperature is said to degrade the battery quicker than cycling under normal condition.

 

[smokeythecat]

So Truth, what happened?

 

[RustyGold]

My 2 1/2 year old battery will still last longer than I can hunt in one day. No issues at all.

Same here.

 

[Truth]

What power source and mA rating do you charge from? I strive to never leave mine on charge overnight. I just don't trust the voltage regulators to cutoff the charge cycle. It can easily damage a battery if it is left overnight and the regulator misses cutoff.

I've never been displeased with either of my Equinox machines for battery quality. Is yours showing fully charged and not still charging in the morning, right?

It happened to me again I drove a mile away and before I knew it I was on two bars two hours later I was on one bar. I’ll charge it in my truck overnight it blinks and then it stays at a solid green. It really pissed me off today

 

[Truth]

So Truth, what happened?

Smoky I’ll charge it in my truck I’ll make sure it’s in there solid it’s blinking green wake up 12 hours later turn it on all three bars driver our metal detect half an hour and a moly on two bars another half hour I was down to one

 

[Donut]

It is very rare for a battery to go bad and in two years on three Builtin chat Boards I have not heard of one.
Every one that has had charging issues was caused by poor contact at the magnet connection. Mostly debris on the magnet.
i would be surprised if it’s your battery.
let us know how you come out.
only use 2A or better charging block.
Doug

 

[vferrari]

I have heard of a couple of premature Equinox battery failures, it happens. But like Doug says, ensure those magnetic contacts are totally free of debris (they will attract any magnetic particle) and use a quality two-amp or greater capacity USB charger (don't worry, the built in charge current regulator will limit current to the maximum safe current regardless of the charger rating, if rated higher than 2A) and let it go until solid green (shouldn't take more than 4 hours if charging at greater than 1.7A) and then turn it on and let it discharge while connected to wireless phones (to maximize battery drain) and sensing whatever metal is in your floor and if you see a rapid decrease in capacity again, then call ML. Don't let it drain to shutoff unnecessarily, just enough to see if you get a reasonable drain (i.e., loss of one bar after 2.5 or 3 hours or greater). You'll want to do this at home when you are not under the pressure of needing it for an actual hunt.

If you are not frequently using the detector, storing it with 60 to 80% charged battery capacity, maximizes battery life.

 

[yatahaze323]

I had this exact same battery issue, along with the infinity restart problem every so often. I only had my equinox since Dec 2019. I cleaned the charger and contacts but I still had battery dropping to two bars after less then an hour hunt.

I contacted minelab and sent it to them to be fixed. In the notes they sent back it said the battery charging light was dim and they tried to replace the battery however the issue was still there so they sent me a new equinox pod.