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Laser Rangefinder Battery Story


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I was on the course today and on the back 9 my Bushnell V4 went completely dead. One fairway reading it worked fine, the next hole nothing. I went home and put my meter on it (CR-2 battery) and it read 3.58 volts for a 3 volt battery. I went to the store and purchased a new CR2, put it in and everything works fine now. So possibly lithium batteries can still hold acceptable voltage but loose their ability to provide current to the device. Electrical pros feel free to chime in. So even if you think your laser died try changing out the battery first.

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I have an older ni-cad battery and newer lithium battery for my cordless toolkit. The ni-cad battery progressively runs the tool slower and with less power when it’s almost dead. The lithium battery gives no warning and the tool just stops dead when the battery is drained. The older technology is nice because it gives a “warning” when your running low.

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I can 2nd the stop dead you experienced. Works on hole 3, dead on hole 4. I end up keeping a spare battery in the bag just in case.

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I had a Bushnell Tour V2 (or was it V3?) and when the battery was about to die it would give a few flaky readings the last dozen or so times I fired it. Or maybe just not read at all. Then it would go dead. The older Medalist I had years ago was the same.

 

But the Nikon I have now just worked perfectly on one shot, then the next time it's like I'm not even pushing the button. Just like your V4. Something about the way they are designed nowadays seems to kill it off instantly.

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I third the instant dead for Nikon

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Same and from what I understand, which is very little, is that these batteries have a longer more constant output that regular AA's. In that they provide the same energy over its life without a drop in voltage. So it makes sense that it just stops working without the old tell tale signs...

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So I'll go off topic, but last weekend on the range I had my older Swingbyte swing speed reader (which uses a 9 volt battery) as I'm working on getting my swing speed back up after a long layoff. Most (driver) swings were in the 88-94 mph range, max out at 98, but then one was 66 mph. I thought what the heck? The next swing registered at 146 mph (I should have taken a picture). Hopefully the next time with a new battery it will work properly.

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> @cfmgolf said:

> I can 2nd the stop dead you experienced. Works on hole 3, dead on hole 4. I end up keeping a spare battery in the bag just in case.

 

I agree. I bought a two-pack and now keep the second battery in my bag. The V4 has a battery gauge in the display and all I ever remember is it reading full. Makes sense as I got a good voltage reading but in reality the battery was dead.

 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

What counts is what the voltage is when there's a *load* on the battery. Putting a volt meter on a batter imparts very little load, especially digital multi-meters.

 

I don't understand why bushnell cannot make a reliable battery life indicator. Everyone I know who has the bushnell experienced the "works one second, doesn't work the next". All it has to do measure voltage under load (just like a *battery* tester, not a multi-meter) and display it.

 

By the way, do yourself a favor and get a 10 pack of CR2 on amazon. Fraction of the cost of the single $10 battery from a drug store. (I usually can find them for $2.50 per battery)

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> @I_HATE_SNOW said:

> I think it is the nature of lithium batteries, they suffer very sudden deaths. I also order them from Amazon, pack of 6 is less than one at the local Walgreens.

 

Nikon rangefinders are the same. And I've heard people talk about a similar thing on Leupold. I agree that it's just a lithium battery thing.

 

And totally agree with shopping for a 6-pack or 10-pack on Amazon (or eBay). I try to buy the ones that feature the actual expiry date in the ad listing. If it's 2024, that's probably about 10 battery changes from now for me. I think I payed $20-something for my last 10-pack off eBay and still have most of them.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I went to use my Leupold GX-4i2 my last round only to get the dead battery issue (was working fine previous round, but can't remember what the battery indicator said). So I bought replacement batteries on Amazon a few days ago. When I went to pull my rangefinder out to put the new battery in, I decided to try it first. Full battery! Not sure why it gave me the dead battery signal.

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> @cristphoto said:

> I was on the course today and on the back 9 my Bushnell V4 went completely dead. One fairway reading it worked fine, the next hole nothing. I went home and put my meter on it (CR-2 battery) and it read 3.58 volts for a 3 volt battery. I went to the store and purchased a new CR2, put it in and everything works fine now. So possibly lithium batteries can still hold acceptable voltage but loose their ability to provide current to the device. Electrical pros feel free to chime in. So even if you think your laser died try changing out the battery first.

 

FWIW even a "dead" battery will often times show full voltage if a meter is put across it. It just can't sustain a load any longer.

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Battery Saving Tips:

 

For a Nickel-based battery: Let your battery get drained completely before you put your rangefinder on charge again.

(Nickel batteries have a “memory effect” and have to be completely discharged from 100% to 0% to keep their capacity.)

 

For a Lithium Ion battery: Perform shallow discharges — discharge the battery to something like 40-70% before recharging it, for example. Try to never let your battery go below 20%, except in rare circumstances. (Lithium Ion batteries work differently and have no memory effect.)

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> @jacobtanaka said:

> Battery Saving Tips:

>

> For a Nickel-based battery: Let your battery get drained completely before you put your rangefinder on charge again.

> (Nickel batteries have a “memory effect” and have to be completely discharged from 100% to 0% to keep their capacity.)

>

> For a Lithium Ion battery: Perform shallow discharges — discharge the battery to something like 40-70% before recharging it, for example. Try to never let your battery go below 20%, except in rare circumstances. (Lithium Ion batteries work differently and have no memory effect.)

 

I'm confused. Are there any laser rangefinders that you recharge instead of replacing the battery? Or are you talking about GPS rather than laser?

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