Scott NxG pak... Battery life problems??

[kramelop]

I wanted to throw this out here. We picked up 16 NxG paks last year as part of the grant. Love the scott paks, but the battery life issue is driving us crazy. Scott claims we should be getting 4-6 months between battery changes with average use. Their literature claimed, I believe, 60 hrs (non- alarm sounding, but still standard wear) on the 3 C-cell stick with the batteries they recommend.

With our small station in central Maine the average pak may see 20-30 (40? maybe) hrs in 6-12 months (weekly checks, monthly trainings, and calls). Yet it seems that we are replacing these batteries about every 3 months on average (sometimes sooner). I believe that the 3 battery stick is way under capacity for the life they are expecting.

I guess I am wondering if this is an issue for any other departments using these paks or if it is limited to the units we were issued? (I'm not looking to turn this into a debate on the benefits of other paks and manufacturers...just looking to see if this is an issue with anyone else.)

thanks, Mark

[jpsmith2]

We don't have NxG2 packs, but I had several folks tell me of similar problems when we were doing our research into what BA to purchase.

I believe they said the problem was resolved with a new circuit board / computer module.

Have you contacted your service department?

[berkut]

We placed 16 Nxg's into service in early March of this year. Our packs see about the same amount of use as what Mark described and we just started getting some low battery alarms on the most active packs in early November. The computers in each pack were re-flashed about a month after we got them (factory update...not because we were having issues) and we've seen no problems out of the electronics. The only issue we've had is a few of the tanks (4500psi) have been leaking down to about 3000psi after about a week or so of sitting idle. Not an extremely urgent issue and once our dealer gets caught up on the hurricane repairs those are supposed to be addressed.

[DeputyChiefGonzo]

Batteries are cheap compared to the cost of a line of duty death.

[captjab]

We bought 73 Scott NXG2's and only have problems with the batteries and in 1 airpack the speakers keep shorting out (bang on it and it works..lol) but these packs are loaners from Scott. We will be pacing these airpacks (73) in service in about a week or so (changing over from the Survivair Panther).


I just wish Scott would go away with the vibrating regulator (Wife like that option : o ) but its hard to understand someone talking on a radio while their reg is vibrating. We purchased voice amp for each mask, so maybe this will help out some.

[Just a new name]

What batteries are you using?

[quint1officer]

Make sure your chips have been reflashed. After ours were done, the batteries are reaching their expected lifespans.

[kramelop]

We have had the board/chip reflashed... scott says the white to green...or white to red for low batt is the latest program for the chip. Currently, We are using the recommended Energizer battery. We were using the recommended duracells, but wanted to try the energizers to compare battery life.

Gonzo... thats why the paks get checked and we are catching the low batts.... this however doesnt change the fact that the battery life doesnt seem to be what scott claims. Mark

[TruckGuy2]

I belong to a Volunteer Fire Dept that got the NxG2 air paks last year and we are experiencing similiar problems. We are checking the paks frequently, using the recommended batteries, had 2 factory upgrades, and still are having problems with batteries draining too fast.

Everyone loves the paks, I just wish we could fix the problem.

[Weruj1]

do a search !!!!!! call Scott....................they have been having trouble with this particular problem.