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Where is the best place to get one? Can they be had locally or do you have to go mail order?
Thanks,
GraemeA quick Froogle search led me here: http://froogle.hrpworld.com/index.cfm?form_prod_id=4454&action=product
240 Bucks new. I saw a couple on Ebay for 200. The 60 dollar ones on Ebay are for R/C cars.
I bougt two of them about 5 or 6 years ago. They are still on the orginal batteries. Then have been dropped, scrapped across the pavement till the case is half worn through and they still work great. Most places charge big bucks to rent them for the weekend. We have been spoiled here in Colorado with cheap or free transponders.
Why do you have to replace them? Will there be used transponders for sale that are still functional?
Graeme
Stacey,
As before, why do they need to be replaced?
If you are selling them, how much will they go for and can they be reconditioned?
$240 is not cheap for a transponder but I’d like to know if a used one will be useable or not.
The problem is not with the radio channel, but the batteries. After time, they wont hold a charge for longer than a few hours. You can’t pull them apart ( I know, I tried) and put in a new rechargable battery.
AMB has a trade in for about $65-95.00 each.
So,
what to do?
The hard part is spending the $240? on a new one. It took me 3 years to buy one, however, now that I have it, I use it all the time.
Thanks,
JimJim,
Are you sure about the AMB trade-in program? I heard that it used to be a good deal, but that now they charge nearly as much as a new one. Apparently to push the new transponder model….
(As I understand it, the new model and the old are equally effective, but the new one has a more secure mounting method).
@Kirk_Deason wrote:
A quick Froogle search led me here: http://froogle.hrpworld.com/index.cfm?form_prod_id=4454&action=product
240 Bucks new. I saw a couple on Ebay for 200. The 60 dollar ones on Ebay are for R/C cars.
Interesting that absolutely everyone is selling them for exactly the same price…
Time to find the place that charges the least for shipping…
Thanks for all the responses.
GraemeIf you can find used transponders you can purchase them cheap and then send them to AMB and they will return you a rebuilt one for not much money. That is what Seth and I did when we lost ours at Grand Junction Motor Speedway. Call AMB and see if they still have that deal going on and you can save quite a bit of money.
Tim
S.A.C. Motorsports, LLCAs someone wtih LOTS of experience on care and feeding of NiCad, NiMH and LiPo batteries (lots of R/C car and electric R/C airplane experience) I can provide a few tips.
If these are NiCads then they may be salvageable but are probably toast. NiCads should NOT be left for periods of time with a near full charge. NiCads get “memory” and start losing capacity. They need to be carefully discharged for storage and then peaked prior to use. Some times you can use special pulse charges that fix the degradation to some degree, but it sounds like these may be beyond revival. If a track is ordering a whole bunch for replacement I suggest they work out a trade-in deal with AMB as the electronics are probably 100% re-useable.
Hopefully the new units use Nickle Metal Hydride cells which don’t develop memory and have a higher capacity per weight.
Anyone around here selling used for $100 or less?
If so I might be willing to risk cutting it apart with a dremel and replacing the batteries. For more than that it probably isn’t worth risking it.
I have been experimenting today with adding a battery to the outside and it looks like it is going to work. I tried machining the old batteries out but it takes alot of time and you still have to buy 3 batteries to replace what they have in there, 3-1.5 volt nicads wired in series. I am going try to using a 9volt rechargable.
@blink wrote:
I have been experimenting today with adding a battery to the outside and it looks like it is going to work. I tried machining the old batteries out but it takes alot of time and you still have to buy 3 batteries to replace what they have in there, 3-1.5 volt nicads wired in series. I am going try to using a 9volt rechargable.
3-1.5v batteries is 4.5v. Depending on the level and quality of the voltage regulation used, 9v might fry the electronics.
I just bought 12 AA NiCads for $16 (including shipping). Pretty cheap.
Graeme
The battery chargers for the transponders are all 12v, there is a 5v regulator in each transponder. You need at least 7 volts to make the transponders work if you connect the 9v battery to the charging poles on the case. I can buy a 9v 500mah Nimh battery for about $5 which can be charged in 2 hours 1000 times.
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