More than just a battery replacement

Learn exactly what is involved in a standard battery replacement service.

We hear from customers all the time that they would simply like to replace the battery in their EPIRB or Personal Locator Beacon (PLB) themselves in order to save a drive to the local battery replacement center, but a lot more goes into a battery replacement then most people know.

EPIRBs and PLBs are designed and manufactured with one main goal: to save your life. If you needed knee surgery, you wouldn't try to do the operation yourself; you would find a qualified doctor to solve the problem successfully. It is the same thing with a life saving product. While it might be an inconvenience to send your beacon out for service, it is a lot safer in the long run in case you ever have to activate your beacon.

First of all, a lot more is involved than just a change out of the batteries. The first step is a thorough visual inspection of the product. Your beacon is checked for any damage that might have occurred to it over the past 5 years. Think of all the times you have accidentally dropped your beacon, all of the ultra violet rains hitting the product day in and day out. We have seen beacons struck by lightning and even had one chomped on by a Kodiak bear like it was a chew toy. A professional visual inspection is critical because you want to make sure your beacon is in tip top shape for the next 5 years of service. If the case has a crack from being dropped or if the antenna is damaged, we'll identify the problems and get them corrected.

The replacement of the battery is the easy part; we simply remove your old battery and replace it with a brand new battery, custom-built at ACR. Next we have to make sure your product is waterproof and buoyant (depending upon the product model). We replace the main gasket and all of the hardware with new screws and o-rings to ensure a waterproof seal. Once we seal the product, up we test the beacon to make sure it is waterproof by performing a pressurized test to ensure no water will penetrate the beacon. Finally we perform a full functional self test to make sure your beacon is working exactly the same as when it left our manufacturing floor the day it was built.

At ACR, we have 196 employees with 1,643 years of experience building ACR products that will save your life. We emphasize this to prove the point that we are emphatic about building the highest quality life saving devices on the market, and this quality policy is not just for the products we manufacture, it also is adhered to for the service we perform on our products.

Here is a list of battery replacement frequently asked questions:

How do I know when the battery is due for replacement?
It depends which unit you have, but there is a battery expiration date label on every PLB or EPIRB. Look for “battery needs to be replaced if used or by date shown” on the body of the unit. Can I buy a battery from you and replace it myself?No. The battery of any EPIRB or PLB needs to be replaced by an ACR Certified Battery Replacement Center (BRC), where trained technicians will perform this service. The battery cannot be purchased by the user. This is a life saving device and you need to have the proper tools, hardware and software to perform a battery replacement. Full functional testing is done on the unit, after the battery is replaced, to make sure that the unit will last another 5 years in the field. Click here for the location of a service center near you: www.acrelectronics.com/brcloc/default.htm

What will happen if I do not replace the battery every five years?
The chances of surviving a life threatening situation is greatly diminished if proper care and maintenance is not given to an EPIRB or PLB.Do I have to replace the battery if the beacon goes off by mistake? Why?Yes, because this is a lifesaving device, it should be diligently maintained to perform as specified. For this unit to transmit for the full 24 or 48 hours, it will need a new battery as any inadvertent activation will deplete the existing battery.

Why must I replace the battery at 5 years when it has an 11-year lifetime?
The battery does not have an eleven year “useful” life; it has an eleven year SHELF life. Once you install a battery in an EPIRB or PLB, current is being drawn when you self test the unit during the first 5 years of battery life. There is also a minute current (in the micro amp range) being drained from the battery, in the “rest state” of an EPIRB or PLB, during the full 5-year period of the battery’s stated life. The battery is guaranteed to last the full, specified period of 24 or 48 hours if activated in an emergency, any time during the 5-year replacement life. When the “replacement due date” is past, the activation period of an EPIRB will start to decline and cannot be guaranteed any longer.

Where do I dispose of an EPIRB battery?
Please contact your local waste management. For information about shipping lithium batteries or products containing lithium batteries, please click here: www.acrelectronics.com/hazmat/default.aspx