# Vexilar won't hold charge



## Milbo (Jan 5, 2011)

My Fish Scout Camera is just about 2 years old. Could the battery be shot already? It will only work when plugged in and the charge meter says 100 % and shows a discharge arrow.


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## Shooters Son (Sep 23, 2006)

I would say it needs a new battery.

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## sfw1960 (Apr 7, 2002)

You can try to put a 5-10 amp charger on it for _*just a few seconds*_ & give it a "shock treatment" then see if it will take a charge.
You can get a bettery off eBay for about $20-25 though.

G'Luck....


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## fishingfred22250 (Feb 21, 2012)

Sounds crazy, but put the battery in the freezer for 6-8 hours. You can sometimes shock it this way too. Probably a temporary fix but worth a shot.


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## MOTOMAN91 (Oct 26, 2010)

fishingfred22250 said:


> Sounds crazy, but put the battery in the freezer for 6-8 hours. You can sometimes shock it this way too. Probably a temporary fix but worth a shot.


Freezing a battery is not going to "shock" the battery, it's going to make it worse, and is quite dangerous. They can explode, plus you risk the chance of the battery freezing and breaking, leaking battery acid all over your freezer, ruining the freezer, and whatever food you have in it. Bad, Bad advice.


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## fishingfred22250 (Feb 21, 2012)

I guess you better not take any vexilars or cameras out ice fishing any more!! Sounds like it's a bad idea. Wonder why the engineers didn't think of that. And prolly better not leave your vehicles parked outside any more either. \£*}£|.{*|$/:;@&/!!!!!!


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## OldBuck (Jan 10, 2011)

fishingfred22250 said:


> I guess you better not take any vexilars or cameras out ice fishing any more!! Sounds like it's a bad idea. Wonder why the engineers didn't think of that. And prolly better not leave your vehicles parked outside any more either. \£*}£|.{*|$/:;@&/!!!!!!



Sorry, but intentionally freezing a _*fully discharged*_ battery is downright foolish. It's simply not worth the risk in an attempt to delay the purchase of a battery that needs replacing anyway.


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## twowack (Dec 21, 2010)

Battery is done,theres nothing you can do to that battery except replace it and now is the time to do that.Ice is coming.My ice bone is quivering,dont delay just get the battery,I always have two on hand in case one tries to be mean at me, dont delay just get that new battery,hurry Its coming,the ice is coming.:yikes::lol: ,Hey are you markin anything!


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## Milbo (Jan 5, 2011)

I determined that too, went down to the local sporting goods store and picked up a Vexilar battery for $30. I sent a message to Vexilar and they said to try charging for 48 hours to see if it will come back. They said to keep it charged year round so it does not fully discharge. Lesson learned. The unit had a Zeus battery? Surprised it wasn't a Vex.


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## twowack (Dec 21, 2010)

I have my original battery that I leave on the digital charger from vex all year long and Its been good to me for 10 years and I cant believe it, and I also use a cabelas for non winter fishing thats been just as good. Vexliar has a very good tech service the techs will actually talk to you.Very friendly and informative.have a great season.


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## woodie slayer (Feb 25, 2006)

wife and i both have FL-18's.5 years old and no battery problems. i do put them on the charger everynite after using them. during the summer i usually charge them a couple times..do u guys that leave them on year round use the charger that come with the unit or buy a different charger system.(digital charger what is that?)


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## twowack (Dec 21, 2010)

woodie slayer said:


> wife and i both have FL-18's.5 years old and no battery problems. i do put them on the charger everynite after using them. during the summer i usually charge them a couple times..do u guys that leave them on year round use the charger that come with the unit or buy a different charger system.(digital charger what is that?)


The digital charger that you can get from vexliar, it is their newer charger that allows you to leave it on all year.It monitors the battery for you,it wasn't available when I purchased my vex,it came out two years after.
Jump on there web site and have a look it makes more sense to have it to me. It comes with plug in jacks as well so you don't have to use the gator clips if you prefer not too.I also use a power conditioner to keep a constant 110 volts and to protect from spikes or power surges just like you would for a computer. and of course a surge protector this might sound over kill but dealing with electronics most of my life I very aware what takes place with current and electronic components.Im convinced that the power conditioner is the biggest reason its lasted this long.
I hope Im not hi jacking this post with my answer If so I apologize.


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## sfw1960 (Apr 7, 2002)

The "shock treatment" I speak of, usually blows enough sulfites off the plates the charger can get voltage to the lead plates within, those automatic/maintainers keep the plates from getting the sulfites built up to begin with.
Don't know what the "freezer trick" could do.......


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## TK81 (Mar 28, 2009)

Bought my fl-18 the 1st or 2nd year it came out...maybe 8-10 years ago. Still on original battery and working fine, knock on wood. Only charge after use, and always let it warm up before charging. Never charged over the summer, but put it away with a full charge.

That said, I'd get a new battery. I'm probably about due as well.


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## fisherjam (Oct 8, 2009)

I got a marcum a year and a half ago. The stock battery made it through one winter but wouldn't hold a charge the next winter. I charged it a few times in the summer too. Kinda sad you and I had to buy a new one already. Hope it doesn't happen again for me this winter.


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## fishingfred22250 (Feb 21, 2012)

I'm not sure what the freezing does either. I had a maintainence guy show me on my dewalt drill battery. Worked like a champ but not a permanent fix. Just thought I'd share some of that "BAD ADVICE!!!". Sorry about that.


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## ih772 (Jan 28, 2003)

You guys are comparing a liquid acid electrolyte found in car batteries to a gelled acid electrolyte found in small deep cycle batteries.


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## Anita Dwink (Apr 14, 2004)

This has probably been beaten to death already but what the heck , still room in the pool. I represent a company that makes Sealed Lead Acid Batteries . My vex uses a 12v 7.2Ah with terminal leads. PM me and I will tell you where you can get the battery from without buying from someone who buys from someone who buys from the manufacturer. I change mine out after 3 years which is when it won't run my vex for at least 12 hours.


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## JJ Mac (Dec 29, 2003)

I'm not sure about your scout camera, but my older aqua vu could drain a battery in about 4 hours or less. I'd have to bring a spare to get through the whole day. It definately shortened the life of the battery as compared to my vex and lowrance units. Also, the on/off button was easily depressed even with the cover on when not in use. Several times I'd get out on the ice and get set up only to find the battery was totally drained and the button was depressed. I got into the habit of always pulling the leads from the battery terminals when not in use.

If I ever go back to using a camera again much, I'll probably look for a larger 12v battery or bring a second one along and wire it up in parallel to extend the life of the battery/ies both on fishing day and over time. 

Taking a small battery out in cold temps, draining it each time almost completely with a camera, and then not maintaining over the summer, yeah that's pretty good torture and not all that unexpected if you fished a lot. Been there, done it...

As far as shocking batteries, I had a friend who reported great success with a product like this: http://www.batteryweb.com/battery-minder.cfm. He said his battery read "bad" when he took it into Carquest, and ran a battery minder and it came back to life and then registered "good." But this is for car and marine deep cycle type batteries, like ih772 mentioned. I don't think there is much you can do to shock a rechargeable sealed lead acid battery back to life.

Good luck with the new battery!

A little tip from your Uncle JJ: make friends with a biomed guy, they sometimes have one or two year old batteries laying around awaiting disposal.


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## Milbo (Jan 5, 2011)

I actually had some success following Vexilar's tip by charging for 48 hours on the drained battery. So now I have a spare. No telling until the ice comes on how it will react to recharging and battery life. The over night charge did nothing but two days seemed to do the trick.


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