minitor 5 charger rarely works.

[eng18ine]

hello all, iv been through 4 minitor 5 chargers and they all seem to throw that red light on for a couple of seconds and then go away. and in the end, it never really charges the pager.


just wondering if others have had this same problem and what they did to fix it. (normal charger, not the fancy amplified charger)

 

[paff2]

hello all, iv been through 4 minitor 5 chargers and they all seem to throw that red light on for a couple of seconds and then go away. and in the end, it never really charges the pager.

just wondering if others have had this same problem and what they did to fix it. (normal charger, not the fancy amplified charger)

Did you try taking the battery out and charging it that way? We had some that would work that way and discovered the charging points on the bottom of the pager were messed up.

 

[justavillain]

I had the same problem I had to switch to a new battery.

 

[NPS Ranger]

You're describing normal charger behavior with an end-of-life battery. The charger senses high internal resistance of the battery and thinks that means it's fully charged, so it stops charging. Buy a new battery.

 

[tvsjr]

Or problems with the contacts on the bottom of the pager. This is a common failure. Look at them - are they all gold or are some black? The charger doesn't retain the pager well, causing small arcing... over time, this generates carbon residue and causes a bad connection.


Take the battery off the pager and try charging it directly. If that works, you have a pager problem. If not, it's time for a new battery.

 

[wkr518]

and make sure that your charger contacts on bottom of pager are not gunked up.See this all the time.


1. check for gunk,clean up gunk


2.try new battery in different chargers


3.still not charging,send into factory,rarity but it happens

 

[eng18ine]

I can charge the battery separately and out the pager in the charging spot and it stays on. But it will only charge the battery for a minute at a time and its a brand new battery

 

[TCO]

curious,does your charger have the step down transformer in line with the power cord for the charger or are you using a straight power cord.if you do not have the factory power cord for the charger you are actually frying the batteries and it sounds like what you have going on

 

[eng18ine]

I'm just using what my dept. gave me. I think I'm on my 3rd battery I believe. The cord only has a box at the end that plugs into the wall

 

[amccullers]

Sounds to me like a charger problem, I have had several guys that bring me the pager with the same problem. Does your charger have a big transformer at the end or is it skinny? The skinny ones are the newer ones and they seem to work better.

 

[eng18ine]

Ill try to post a picture tonight after work

 

[eng18ine]

 

[Ocean17]

Motorola came out with a FSB ( Field Service Bulliten ) that talks about fouled, dirty, and corroded pager contacts on the ottom. They have you clean the the little tiny pin hole terminals with special micro sized q-tips and De-ox Gold, I believe it called for. You clean each contact with the cleaner deoxidizer and the micro sized cotton swabs. ( I got mine from MCM electronics )


That helped for us, but it is a real pain to do. Those little chargers are usually very stable, the amplified chargers, now that's a different story.

 

[wkr518]

quite a bit of dust on the charger. I would suggest a good cleaning on all contacts ...also removing Goosetown sticker helps ..hahahahah

 

[minig0d]

Try taking a pencil eraser and cleaning the contacts on the pager and the charger. Rubbing alcohol also works well. Deoxit as the guy above me mentioned is great stuff but for a one time application it is expensive. Radio Shack sells it with their name stamped on it for pretty expensive too. But for your purposes rubbing alcohol and or pencil eraser.


Also look to make sure all the charger contacts are actually touching the pager contacts. The charger part sometimes wears down and loses its "springyness".

 

[shues]

Try taking a pencil eraser and cleaning the contacts on the pager and the charger.

The contacts on a Minitor V are much more recessed than on the earlier models. A common pencil eraser won't come close to getting in there.

 

[minig0d]

The contacts on a Minitor V are much more recessed than on the earlier models. A common pencil eraser won't come close to getting in there.

Oh ok. Well then q tip with some rubbing alcohol

 

[J-fro]

The amplified ones... More hit-or-miss than...well... a Motorola Minitor V amplified charger.


When the red light flashes, it determines that the battery is faulty. Sometimes the red light flashes a few times, then cuts off. Then wakes up and flashes, then cuts off. This is the unit actually shorting out inside. I believe if this condition is left untreated, the shorting will destroy the battery and even the pager. It must either be solid red, or flash consistently. I had a pager that eventually got so sick I had to send him to the pager doctor across the county. My loner/replacement pager is brand new, and I've treated him well so he treats me well.


My routine consists of:


1) Poking the pins inside of the charger base


2) Turning the volume on the charger, down to about 7% or less


3) Grasp the charger base with left hand, in a manner that essentially squeezes the top and bottom halves together, around the pager socket


4) Blow on the holes at the bottom of the pager. The pager seems to enjoy this part.


5) Shove pager into his base, while saying a prayer


6) Charging light flashes, then goes solid red.


7) I win, Motorola.