PLB battery replacement
Original post
Does anyone have any recent experience with getting a PLB battery replaced, or investigating it? Where did you go and was it worth it?
A few years back I recall not seeing it available anywhere outside Auckland, and so expensive that it wasn't financially with it compared with buying a new PLB, which seems sad because I hate wasting otherwise perfectly good stuff. This thread from 2016 seems to agree about the non cost effectiveness, but maybe something's changed? https://tramper.nz/forums/thread/9261
Specifically it's an ACR Resqlink+. The original only had a seven year expiry so if a replacement is the same then it also mightn't be as cost effective as buying a new one with a 10+ year life.
39 comments
To confirm, I've heard back from Wilco Marine Services which claims to be the only place in NZ doing PLB servicing and battery replacement.
Current costs (at least for my ACR ResQLink+) are:
PLB-375 battery $150.00 + GST
Servicing $65.00 + GST
Servicing is a required part of battery replacement, so full cost is $215 + GST = $247.25, then plus whatever costs are involved for getting it to and from them in Auckland.
In addition, in my case at least it's only a 5 year battery or almost $50/year, so that's even worse and nowhere near as cost-effective for $350 for a new device with a 10 year battery. It seems like such a waste.
1
when they started that service beacons were a lot more expensive... $6-700 so it was worthwhile.... but the service price isnt dropping accordingly, given theres a certain amount of labour involved its hard to drop the price, but sounds like the batteries arent getting cheaper.
> but sounds like the batteries aren't getting cheaper.
This is an old tactic to encourage you to buy a new model.
In this case you can't replace it yourself/get a 3rd party battery due to "strict rules" and proprietary method to firmware register a battery replacement. So the price is inflated high enough to make you look at a new model.
The battery will be high quality, but will come from someone like Panasonic Sanyo and not cost much more than any other equivalent model.
yeah. at work , if we want to replace a motherboard or screen on a laptop thats out of warranty, HP charge a massive amount of money, apply a discount and the total cost still comes to the same price as a replacement laptop...
sends a clear message. we will do the work if you really want us to, but we don't really want to be doing this as part of our normal business, so you're going to pay through the nose to get the parts replaced
Is that the case with all brands, then, or is it only ACR that's supposedly artificially driving up battery prices to push people into buying a new model?
It's not as if there's a lack of choice between brands out there, even if they're very hard to compare on some of the most important metrics.
Has anyone ever had to replace a KTI battery, out of interest? Maybe none have expired but surely a few have been activated and run down.
I don't know what the batteries are but the devices are manufactured in Melbourne (I think) and it seems unlikely that battery prices would be artificially inflated for separate sale, unless everyone's playing the same game.
I have a KTi from back to 2000. It was the same when it expired. Better value buying a new unit. I'm on my third beacon now. It's an ACR.
I don't know what to do with the growing collection.
I'd imagine the service agents will dispose of the beacons, they normally remove the battery in any old unit to stop false alarms, plus they will make sure the battery is disposed of properly.
haha I've literally just gone through all this this past week.
Old beacon has expired (ACR). Heard alot about those KTI beacons which are like $150-ish cheaper so decided to buy one. Turned up fine.
Registered it with the beacons.org.nz site and got the old one de-registered. Asked them what do I do with the old one as the only places that dismantle them that are listed on their web page are up in the north island.
Apparently you can post your old beacon to the Rescue Coordination Centre for dismantling. Maybe they replace the batteries themselves and on-sell them, who knows.
Their postal address if you are interested:
RCCNZ
Level 1 – Avalon Studios
41 Percy Cameron Street
Lower Hutt 5010
Now I am not recommending anyone do this but here is you $150 ACR battery..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rOyM7eCK8TY
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| Forum | Gear talk |
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| Started by | izogi |
| On | 20 July 2020 |
| Replies | 38 |
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