# Radio needs cranking once a month?



## Lucky Jim (Sep 2, 2012)

Sorry to start a new thread but I need advice because I don't want to accidentally break my radio by doing something wrong.
This is it, I bought it last month, it's solar-powered and has also got a recharging crank-










It works fine but I don't use it because I'm saving it for when there's a power blackout, so it sits happily on a cupboard shelf fully charged til then.
But I noticed this puzzling line in the instructions-
_"In order to prolong the lifespan of the battery you should crank the handle for at least one minute per month"_

Huh? what are they talking about? 
What if it doesn't *need *charging? Won't overcharging damage it?
I don't want to wear and tear the handle and cogs for no reason do I?
What happens if I *don't* crank it once a month?


----------



## budgetprepp-n (Apr 7, 2013)

No you can't overcharge it. But from what I have seen almost anything that has a rechargeable battery in the instructions
it will tell you to charge it once a month, Even the key chains I picked up with the solar cell and rechargeable battery it says to
recharge at least once a month. I don't think the rechargeable batteries do well if you let them go dead and just sit. 

I had a rechargeable flashlight that worked great for years until I forgot and left it on for 2 days it went completely dead
and then it would not charge back up. But I'm a long way from an expert on this

I would think letting it get a little sunshine would do the same thing.

why would you be sorry to start a new thread? And that's a good question too.


----------



## Moonshinedave (Mar 28, 2013)

No expert here either, but if it was me, I would use it and then recharge once in awhile. I'm in the belief that things like that work better being used and recharged than just sitting around.


----------



## jimLE (Feb 8, 2014)

*the part with in the orange area looks like a solar panel..i suggest charging it up untill you know for a fact its fully charged,by using the solar panel and/or hand crank.i have a eton.and it has a solar panel and a hand crank...and had a 2 hour power outage 2-3 months after getting it.i made the mistake of not keeping it charged up.in which the factory battries that came with it.and the store bought battries ran down inside the 2 hours.now i make sure i keep them charged up now.i rarely use the hand crank.by useing the solar panel.or by useing the power cord i now have to go with it..the eton use's 3 AAA battries.and i also have a pocket flashlight,and a headlamp,in which both uses 3AAA battries each as well.i use my eton to recharge them as well.simply by swaping out the battries and pluging the radio into a outlet,or by takeing it outside..*


----------



## Kauboy (May 12, 2014)

The issue here is, depending on the kind of battery, you should never let it reach a fully dead state. This can lead to damage of the charging circuit, and that would mean all future charge attempts could fail.
Does this radio use a Lithium Ion or a Nickel variant?


----------



## StarPD45 (Nov 13, 2012)

It might even use Ni-Cads. I know. That's "old tech", but it should say somewhere in the paperwork.


----------

