X-108 Info X108G forgetting its time. (1 Viewer)

[DD5LP]

Has anyone else seen this? I can set the date and time on the rig and all is well until I turn it off and then it forgets the time and date. it sounds like a classic button-cell replacement task I guess.

Another new fault is that after turning on or switching bands via the A/B selection, the audio is muffled. switching through all the modes back to the one it was on, solves the problem but I wonder if this is realted to the problem above?

73 Ed DD5LP.

 

[DD5LP]

Having checked the voltage on the supposedly rechargable button cell Seiko MS920SE FL27E - it's 0.48v - no wonder the rig doesn't remember the time! In circuit or out the voltage is the same.
This appears to be a very rare battery that they have chosen to use. Those companies who list it are either out of stock or wont ship outside of the US, or want large quantities to be ordered.
There are equivalent batteries without the solder tags but these can't be soldered to so I'll see if I can find a holder and then use a more standars button cell of the same voltage (3.1v) and physical size.

Has anyone else seen this problem or am I just the unlucky one again?

 

[CPLSeraphim]

I am having the same problem with mine. It always resets the time when I turn it off. I will check for alternate size batteries that may help your situation.

 

[DD5LP]

Hi CPLSeraphim,,
There are a couple of special attributes wuith the Seiko Instruments MS920SE FL27E button cell;
1. it is physically smaller than many equivalent 3v cells at 9.5mm diameter x 2.1 mm high.
2. it is a rechargable battery (but the X108G doesn't appear to be charging it).
3. it has tabs connected to it so that it is a solder in type, avoiding the need in the board design for a socket to make it easily replaceable.
I do have some equivalent batteries which are meant for use in wartches - 3v 11maH - same size but these are not rechargable and do not have the metal tabs on them.
As these button cells have a lot of metal surface area, soldering wires to them is difficult without damaging the battery (being lithium, heating them up for too long could in principal cause them to explode). The trick is to heat up one part very quickly to get the wire soldered on, on each side and to do this using old fashioned flux can help with this. I have ordered some and am awaiting it's arrival, so we'll see if this solution works, I have a few of the watch battery cells.

As long as the button cell is only supporting the clock display, it's not so important and if I can find out why the charging circuit is not working, I could possibly even replace the cell woth an electrolytic capacitor!

73 Ed.

 

[CPLSeraphim]

Strangely enough, I figured out the issue in itself. As long as it is connected to a power source (I use mine as a portable) it is fine. When I am constantly removing the power source (disconnecting batteries) that is when it loses time. This is also for long periods of time, which I think is when it becomes an issue. Furthermore, until just recently, I would attach it to a battery and use it, then disconnect, not allowing it to charge the little cell. It is working properly now.

 

[DD5LP]

The amount of power needed to keep the clock chip running is very little. The button cell used should be able to do that for up to half a year without it being re-charged. I think rather than charging the battery (at all) the Xiegu circuit is actually discharging the battery while there is no external power.
I won't know if my solution works until at least next week as the flux didn't arrive in the post today - that makes it two days overdue. OK, we had a public holiday this week, but I'll still be raising this with the (Dutch) supplier.

73 Ed.

 

[DD5LP]

Updating my progress - I have been unable to solder wires to an equivalent button cell that I had, so have had to order a replacement of the type in the X108 with the tabs already attached. In fact I had to order ten of them as that was the smallest quantity I could get. It was still cheaper to order 10 out of China than one out of the US (Mouser and Digi-Key refuse to ship to germany in any case for some reason!). Now I just have to wait 24 days for the part to get here.
73 Ed.

 

[DD5LP]

Another update - it appears that the memory that this button cell powers not only stores system time, but also last band & frequency used and last mode used.

73 Ed.

 

[DD5LP]

I am glad to report that replacing the battery has solved the problem (so far) of the X108G forgetting the time and which mode and frequency you were last on when you turn the rig on.

The batteries that I ordered from Hong Kong, after two months haven't arrived so I found some even smaller ones from Austria - they were sold as a package of two, so I have one spare. Despite the fact these are only 5maH rather than 11 - so far all seems fine. They arrived charged to 3v, it'll be interesting to see if the X108G charging circuit actually works or whether this new battery will simply discharge as it appears the one fitted in the factory did.

73 Ed DD5LP.

 

[FrankRSD]

I've had luck with leaving the radio hooked to power, and turned on for at least 24 hours. The cell seemed to charge enough to keep the clock working and hold the last entered frequency.

 

[DD5LP]

The point is you shouldn't need to do that! I wonder how long before your battery will fail again. It sounds however from what you say that the X108G IS charging the battery - albeit slowly - so that's good news. My conclusion is that Xiegu may have received a bad batch of the rechargaable Seiko button cells that after some time no longer hold the charge and hence the solution is to replace the battery with a new one.

In my case, my replacement battery is working well so far. I have had the rig off for two days and when I turn it all all is as it should be. We'll only know for sure if it's fully fixed after a few months.

Ed.

 

[Adam Farber]

Hi, can anyone tell me a part number(s) of a battery or batteries to try?

Thanks
Adam Farber W4AJF

 

[Adam Farber]

I was able to find the battery and ordered one. Adam

 

[DD5LP]

Hi, can anyone tell me a part number(s) of a battery or batteries to try?

Thanks
Adam Farber W4AJF

Hi Adam the battery is the Seiko Instruments MS920SE FL27E button cell. My "lost in the post" from Hong Kong batteries eventually turned up but in the meantime the smaller one I bought from Austria is in the rig and everything is working fine again. The key points are the size, the voltage and that the battery has the solder tags on it.

73 Ed.

 

[Adam Farber]

Hi Ed, yes, as I had already posted that I did find it but thanks for answering. Kind regards, Adam

 

[kg9h1]

Adam, I am close to you in Florida where did you get the replacement battery and what model is it?

 

[DD5LP]

Since my last post, I've replaced the half capacity battery with one of the proper Seiko Instruments MS920SE FL27E button cells that I got out of Homg Kong and it, of course, is working fine. I'm now starting to get the problem that the (unreadable in any level of sunlight) OLED display is now starting to go off with a pink hue - so that will undoubtedly fail at some point. It's a real shame that this otherwise good rig was changed to a worse display than it originally had and that the battery recharging system isn't reliable when a battery starts to age.

73 Ed.

 

[kg9h1]

Digikey has the battery,
‎728-1058-ND‎
‎MS920SE-FL27E‎
BATTERY LITH 3V 11MAH COIN 9.5MM

 

[Tflynn6693]

Just ordered. did anyone put another 3.3 v on the pins to protect memory contents?