bearcat scanner memory battery life?

Some scanners use a supercap to retain settings, I know mine did. In my case, (a older Realistic) It would only retain the settings for 3 or 4 days. I opened up the unit and found a .15F cap, and replaced it with a

Never heard of it. I have an 895xlt and it was unplugged for almost a year without any data loss.

I think the memory battery is a CR2032.....should measure 3 volts. Yours is probably shot, as the owner's manual states the battery should retain the memory for 5 years. That may be stretching it some, but it should certainly hold for longer than 2 weeks. That's where I would check.

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Yes, you're correct, it is a shot battery, but a new CR2032 (after a battery holder was installed) only lasts a week or two. Several battery changes and same result. Originially, the battery was a PCB mounted, solder-in type, and for a while, I soldered new batteries in, and then later added the battery holder (socket) to make it easier. If I was only smart enough to write down the stored frequencies before they evaporated again, it wouldn't be so aggrivating..... sob.

Lynn

If a new cell lasts only a couple weeks, then you have other problems. A high leakage path from the cell is likely the cause. You need to measure the current being drawn from the cell when it's connected to the circuit. If the current being drawn from the cell is more than a few microamps, then you need to find out where it's going. Most likely a leaky capacitor, but you should really investigate it... otherwise, you'll be buying those little battery cells for a long time. It won't fix itself.

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It could be quite a few things, but I'd take a look at C508, a 33uF tant capacitor (may be leaky). It connects to ground, from the positive side of the back up battery, through a 10K resistor (R509) and D508. C509, a .047 uF cap is in parallel with C508 also.