Upgrading my 4 batteries will cost $500 according to Trimble dealer. I see them on internet for $25 each.
Have any of you had any luck buying them off amazon or ebay new, and if so, where and were you satisifed?
I don't think I can handle buying a battery for $125 if equivalent stuff can be bought reliably for $25.
We bought Empire and Power-mart(?) batteries for our 5800's & R8. While they are good for the first couple of months they certainly do not last. Several of the Empire will no longer hold a charge, after less than 1 year, and the Power-Mart holds no more than a 30% charge. We still have an original 5800 battery from over 5 years ago that holds at least a 70% charge.
I would never purchase a knock off battery again but I work for a municipality so purchasing the trimble batteries is not an expense out of my pocket.
I hope this helps
Brad Luken, LS
((AZ, CA, OR & NV)
Aren't those camcorder batteries?
I bought 8 Rayovac RAYSC068 batteries about 18 months ago - these work just fine and last as long as our originals. be sure to fully charge, then discharge the first 3-4 times; after that, it seems to make no difference if we charge them when only half drained. these batteries have treated us well. shop around.
> Upgrading my 4 batteries will cost $500 according to Trimble dealer. I see them on internet for $25 each.
>
> Have any of you had any luck buying them off amazon or ebay new, and if so, where and were you satisifed?
>
> I don't think I can handle buying a battery for $125 if equivalent stuff can be bought reliably for $25.
Yes, been using the $25 batteries for years.
I have six of them. Numbered and rotate them equally. It's been 3 years and they work great.
Pablo
Reviving an older thread...
The time has come for me to replace my Trimble R8-2 batteries, the same as this thread was about. I am having no luck finding any to buy in the States. They're nowhere to be found on Amazon and Batteries Plus. I can't even find an equivalent. Maybe my Google Fu isn't strong enough. A couple of the ones I've got are over 10 years old!
Any leads or ideas? I'd really appreciate them.
Well, I talked to Batteries Plus folks and they have some in their warehouse for only $109.00 apiece. Good grief. I mean I know I wasn't going to be able to get them for $37.00 like I did 10 years ago, but this markup is ridiculous. Oh well, whaddya gonna do?
A few years ago when I was selling some leftover Trimble products I purchased batteries from Battery Specialists in Kaysville, Utah.?ÿ I was happy with their products and service.
Checking their website today they still list the batteries you need, check out
http://store.batteryspecialists.com/blitrb1.html (2200 mAh)
and
http://store.batteryspecialists.com/blitrb3.html (2600 mAh)
Good luck!
GB
I bought some cheap chinese knockoffs (maybe they are all chinese?) this past year. They appear to be ever so slightly out of tolerance in the positioning of the contacts. Putting them in the R8 sometimes they will make a good connection, sometimes not.?ÿ
I think I paid $25 each for the knockoffs last year. I will gladly go for the $70 set that Glenn reference above just to avoid the aggravation. If you bump them, the receiver will power off. Very aggravating when doing RTK, not so much of a problem in a static survey.?ÿ
I still have some "Trimble" batteries from 2006 that hold a decent charge, they were something like $125.?ÿ We label all of ours with a number and the date purchased, and that way we can see if one is starting to go bad. We also test all of the batteries about once a year or so by fully charging them, and then letting them run in an R8 until dead. download the data file and you can see the start/stop times.?ÿ
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@john-hamilton?ÿ @glenn-borkenhagen?ÿ Thank you for your answers. Much appreciated!
The official Trimble 7.4V batteries are likey made with genuine quality brand name lithium ion 18650 cells (Samsung, Panasonic, Lg or Sony..) and a quality battery management system (BMS) board for the 2 in series (2s) pack. Its a little steep as anyone can buy the individual cells for $4.50 these days from mAh (such as: https://www.mahbattery.com/store/c38/Panasonic.html ).
I have had good luck with the Chinese built 'Cameron Sino' batteries, they even have a higher capacity 3400 mAh version for about $30 now which is much better than the standard 2600 mAh. They use Chinese built Li-ion cells but they are a known brand (BAK). The other off-brand Chinese packs I am less in favor of.?ÿ
If you have fairly new and very expensive gear I would stick with genuine Trimble batteries but I would not trust the ebay ones with the Trimble logo...
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p.s. I DO NOT recommend disassembling the battery pack unless you are knowledgeable on Li-ion cell operation and safety.
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I think I've mentioned before that because of the rather remote location where I work, there just aren't shops around for a lot of things, so that leads to online shopping. I've found over the past 4 years or so that the sellers with the highest integrity are actually from the east (China). I've probably bought 1000 items online and very reluctantly given bad feedback to only say 4 of the sellers, but they have been from England and New Zealand.?ÿ Any issues with items from the east, contact with the seller has had immediate response and invariably a full refund, plus I get to keep the item - these guys are paranoid about negative feedback.?ÿ
The exception to that is batteries. Last year our original 4hr rover batteries were obviously getting tired so I bought two new ones from the agent and two new ones from ebay east for quarter the price - they are identical, but agent's batteries last 6hrs, east last 1 hour. I have other batteries from the east that similarly don't perform, so suggest go with agent or at least renowned local parallel supply.
Check out the Battery Fly website under GPS batteries. We have used them for our R8 batteries for a few years now. Almost as good as the Trimble batteries. We don't use good charging/discharging discipline and they have held up well.
?ÿAfter I posted in this thread I went on Amazon and bought a pair of supposedly Empire batteries from Power-o-Matic. They arrived, and they were the same Cameron Sino batteries that I already have that don't fit well. So I am sending them back. I went to Glenn's link and bought two Empire's (at twice the price).?ÿ
The reality is that it is a false economy to try and save money on batteries.
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