Symptom: “Brand X” rechargeable batteries do not charge.

Numerous models of Cobra handheld radios have a special feature which prevents accidentally charging alkaline batteries. If alkaline batteries are charged, they will leak!

To prevent charging alkaline batteries, the radio has a separate charge contact which touches the

side of the battery. Page 2 shows several examples.

The batteries that were originally supplied with the radio look like this:

As you can see, the negative end of the battery is exposed so that it can touch the charge contact. Alkaline batteries have a plastic wrapper all the way down, so they will not touch the charge contact and will therefore not charge.

The issue is that other brands of rechargeable batteries also have a full wrapper, and so they too will not charge. The solution is to peel the wrapper from the negative end of the battery. Use a sharp knife to score all the way around, and then peel off the wrapper so that the battery looks like the picture above.

NOTE: Be sure to insert the battery into the proper position so that it touches the charge contact.

Examples of Charge Contacts