The jumper is on in the unit and all the batteries are in there correct
position. The link for the MFJ-259Z on the W&S site is
http://www.wsplc.com/cgi-bin/ss00000...=14&ACTION.y=3

They won't even charge in my Smart charger. They just shut down the charging
as if there no good, but they are supposed to be brand new. Just borrowed
some 1800mA and these are charging fine in the MFJ-259, so it looks like the
problem is with the batteries. I have never experienced this with these type
of batteries before only NiCad's.



"Barrett" wrote in message
...
The 2600 NiMH rechargeable batteries that came with MFJ-259Z are all
reading 0 Volts and will not charge in the MFJ-259Z or in my smart
charger. I thought that these types of batteries are not effected by
discharge memory and yet these seem to be effected by it.

Is there anything I can do to get them working again?

The unit only arrived yesterday from W&S. Its taken long enough for it to
arrive with out having to send it back and wait for a replacement from
them. It also showed a nice silver shinny coupling antenna attachment in
the picture and it came with what looks like an old bent piece of
enamelled copper wire bent into a loop that is soldered to a PL259. A bit
disappointing really for the money.

"Barrett" wrote in message
...
I don't think that my MFJ-259Z is charging properly. Its new and it has
been
on charge for over 6 hours and all the batteries are still reading 0
Volts.
I'm using the PSU that came with it. It works fine from the PSU but
doesn't
seem to be charging. The switch inside for charging is turned on.. Can
some
one please advise me how to check it?

Thanks

Barrett wrote:
The jumper is on in the unit and all the batteries are in there correct
position. The link for the MFJ-259Z on the W&S site is
http://www.wsplc.com/cgi-bin/ss00000...=14&ACTION.y=3

Is this an MFJ product?
--
73, Cecil http://www.w5dxp.com

Yes it is. Just looked at the box and it says MFJ-259Z but the front of
meter says MFJ-259B. I don't understand this at all.

"Cecil Moore" wrote in message
...
Barrett wrote:
The jumper is on in the unit and all the batteries are in there correct
position. The link for the MFJ-259Z on the W&S site is
http://www.wsplc.com/cgi-bin/ss00000...=14&ACTION.y=3

Is this an MFJ product?
--
73, Cecil http://www.w5dxp.com

"Barrett" wrote in message
...
Yes it is. Just looked at the box and it says MFJ-259Z but the front of
meter says MFJ-259B. I don't understand this at all.

"Cecil Moore" wrote in message
...
Barrett wrote:
The jumper is on in the unit and all the batteries are in there correct
position. The link for the MFJ-259Z on the W&S site is
http://www.wsplc.com/cgi-bin/ss00000...=14&ACTION.y=3

Is this an MFJ product?
--
73, Cecil http://www.w5dxp.com

A quick Google search shows a few sales outlets, but the MFJ company didn't
show up when searching MFJ-259Z.
I suspect an after market modification by someone.
This site has a letter from someone else having a charging problem with the
MFL-259Z. See the second letter.
http://www.eham.net/reviews/detail/13
Mike

I borrowed some 1800mA and these are charging fine in the MFJ-259, so it
looks like the
problem is with the batteries. I have never experienced this with these type
of batteries before only NiCad's.

"amdx" wrote in message
...

"Barrett" wrote in message
...
Yes it is. Just looked at the box and it says MFJ-259Z but the front of
meter says MFJ-259B. I don't understand this at all.

"Cecil Moore" wrote in message
...
Barrett wrote:
The jumper is on in the unit and all the batteries are in there
correct position. The link for the MFJ-259Z on the W&S site is
http://www.wsplc.com/cgi-bin/ss00000...=14&ACTION.y=3

Is this an MFJ product?
--
73, Cecil http://www.w5dxp.com

A quick Google search shows a few sales outlets, but the MFJ company
didn't show up when searching MFJ-259Z.
I suspect an after market modification by someone.
This site has a letter from someone else having a charging problem with
the MFL-259Z. See the second letter.
http://www.eham.net/reviews/detail/13
Mike

I borrowed some 1800mA and these are charging fine in the MFJ-259, so it
looks like the
problem is with the batteries. I have never experienced this with these type
of batteries before only NiCad's.

What brand and type are the batteries that don't work?

It's possible that you simply received a bunch of batteries that are
completely defective (open) or are counterfeit dummies. Seems a bit
implausible.

Another possibilty is that the 2600 mAh cells are actually OK, but
were delivered to you in a completely-run-down state. That seems
plausible... the manufacturer may not have precharged them, or they
may have self-discharged in storage after manufacture. The older type
of NiMH cells do have a relatively high self-discharge rate, and can
go flat after as little as three or four months of storage.

If the batteries read 0 volts, then it's possible that a smart-charger
might fail to detect their presence and start charging... I believe
that some of the newer NiMH-aware charge-control ICs depend on the
detection of _some_ voltage from the cell to detect the cell and start
the charge.

Try sticking a few of the cells into an old-style "dumb and slow" NiCd
battery charger for a few hours. These are usually fixed-current
chargers (100 mA or so) with no battery-detect or charge-cutoff
circuits, so they're not a good choice for general use with NiMH
cells. They _will_ feed some charge into the cells if the cells
aren't entirely open, and should bring the cells up to 1.0 volts or
better fairly quickly. After 2-3 hours, take the cells out of the
dumb charger, check the open-circuit voltage, and put them in your
smart-charger, and see if they are accepted and begin charging. If
so, they may be OK. If not, they're probably defective or bogus and
you may want to return them to the seller for a refund.

Since an MFJ analyzer is the sort of device that tends to sit around
unused for weeks at a time, I think that high-capacity high-self-
discharge NiMH cells (e.g. most 2500 or above) are a poor choice.
Unless you recharge for an hour or so once a week, you'll probably find
them weak or dead when you want use the analyzer.

High-capacity NiCd cells are the traditional choice for this sort of
application (and are what I use in my own MFJ). Another possibility
is the newer low-self-discharge NiMH cells, such as the Imedions,
Eneloops, Hybrios, and Hybrids. These are typically 2000-2100 mAh,
and will hold the majority of their charge for a year or more. If
your MFJ has been modified to charge NiMH properly (e.g. with a good
temperature or zero-delta-V cutoff circuit) they might be a good choice.

--
Dave Platt AE6EO
Friends of Jade Warrior home page: http://www.radagast.org/jade-warrior
I do _not_ wish to receive unsolicited commercial email, and I will
boycott any company which has the gall to send me such ads!

Dave Platt wrote:
High-capacity NiCd cells are the traditional choice for this sort of
application

I have been most happy with a small gelcell velcroed
to my MJF-259B.
--
73, Cecil http://www.w5dxp.com

Dave, the batteries are called Supreme Power 2600mA standard charge 14-16 HRS x 260mA, quick charge 4-6 HRS x 550mA. REG USA Made in China.

I am waiting for a friend to bring by his old NiCad charger and I will give it ago. I will let you know how I got on.

For future reference would you have an idea on how long I should charge the batteries for using the MFJ?

I don't know who or how the charger circuit has been modified. I could ask W&S what sort of circuit has been used.



"Dave Platt" wrote in message ...
I borrowed some 1800mA and these are charging fine in the MFJ-259, so it
looks like the
problem is with the batteries. I have never experienced this with these type
of batteries before only NiCad's.

What brand and type are the batteries that don't work?

It's possible that you simply received a bunch of batteries that are
completely defective (open) or are counterfeit dummies. Seems a bit
implausible.

Another possibilty is that the 2600 mAh cells are actually OK, but
were delivered to you in a completely-run-down state. That seems
plausible... the manufacturer may not have precharged them, or they
may have self-discharged in storage after manufacture. The older type
of NiMH cells do have a relatively high self-discharge rate, and can
go flat after as little as three or four months of storage.

If the batteries read 0 volts, then it's possible that a smart-charger
might fail to detect their presence and start charging... I believe
that some of the newer NiMH-aware charge-control ICs depend on the
detection of _some_ voltage from the cell to detect the cell and start
the charge.

Try sticking a few of the cells into an old-style "dumb and slow" NiCd
battery charger for a few hours. These are usually fixed-current
chargers (100 mA or so) with no battery-detect or charge-cutoff
circuits, so they're not a good choice for general use with NiMH
cells. They _will_ feed some charge into the cells if the cells
aren't entirely open, and should bring the cells up to 1.0 volts or
better fairly quickly. After 2-3 hours, take the cells out of the
dumb charger, check the open-circuit voltage, and put them in your
smart-charger, and see if they are accepted and begin charging. If
so, they may be OK. If not, they're probably defective or bogus and
you may want to return them to the seller for a refund.

Since an MFJ analyzer is the sort of device that tends to sit around
unused for weeks at a time, I think that high-capacity high-self-
discharge NiMH cells (e.g. most 2500 or above) are a poor choice.
Unless you recharge for an hour or so once a week, you'll probably find
them weak or dead when you want use the analyzer.

High-capacity NiCd cells are the traditional choice for this sort of
application (and are what I use in my own MFJ). Another possibility
is the newer low-self-discharge NiMH cells, such as the Imedions,
Eneloops, Hybrios, and Hybrids. These are typically 2000-2100 mAh,
and will hold the majority of their charge for a year or more. If
your MFJ has been modified to charge NiMH properly (e.g. with a good
temperature or zero-delta-V cutoff circuit) they might be a good choice.

--
Dave Platt AE6EO
Friends of Jade Warrior home page: http://www.radagast.org/jade-warrior
I do _not_ wish to receive unsolicited commercial email, and I will
boycott any company which has the gall to send me such ads!

On Apr 2, 11:54 am, (Dave Platt) wrote:


Another possibilty is that the 2600 mAh cells are actually OK, but
were delivered to you in a completely-run-down state.

That could well be the case. I just got a new cell phone
that had batteries that had no charge whatsoever.
At first the phone would not recognize them and start
charging. I'd check the voltage and zero.
I tried manually charging a small bit with a couple
of wires from a power source to see if I could kick start
em.
I'm not sure if that did the trick, but the phone finally
noticed the batteries and started charging.
There was nothing wrong with them, as when fully
charged, they last as long or longer than any of
my others.

Barrett wrote:
Yes it is. Just looked at the box and it says MFJ-259Z but the front of
meter says MFJ-259B. I don't understand this at all.
=================
For a number of years I have used my MFJ259B with an external 12V
Sealed Lead Acid (SLA) battery 12V-0.8Ah or larger capacity.
I never used internal batteries.

The analyser is regularly used for training purposes (SWR graphs for the
UK Foundation Licence assessment)

Frank GM0CSZ / KN6WH