Maby someone can help me out with this question, I’ve written to Dogtra but have not gotten a response.

When we leave for work, I put the 1100NC unit on my dog and turn on the collar. He will wear the collar and have it active for about 9 hours. When we return home I will usually place it back on the charger.

In the average week I will only have to “stim” him two or three times. I primarily only use the collar for off lead work in the field.

The question: How long can the 1100NC unit stay on “stand-by” without a re-charge and still be capable of delivering a decent number of stims if needed? If it makes a difference, stims never go past 18 on the rheostat.

I'm not sure on the differences between the 1100 and 1200 but they seem similar in size. I have a 1200NCP, and it takes a week to konk out if left on 24 hrs a day. But it never fails to run out when I need it, so I turn it off every night and lasts 3-4 weeks with minimal usage. I also invested in a dummy collar from Ed to swap the times that it needs charging. Before buying a e-collar I was doing some research and called Dogtra to get some specific questions answered. I asked if the collar can be activated via remote, and was told yes. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif" alt="" /> Also asked about the total life of the battery and was not given a specific time frame in which the battery needs to be replaced. I have given up asking them questions, and i'm kinda worried about what to do when the battery does need replacing. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif" alt="" />

My Dogtra 2000NCP has reached the point where the receiver battery is not holding a charge. I opened the case, the battery is held in place with hot glue (it appears) with a plug in connector. I have ordered a new battery from Dogtra, I think it was $17 or $18 and am waiting for it to arrive. I dont anticipate much problem swapping them over.

Dennis

I am having a similar problem with the same model 2000NCP

Here's the scoop on charging Dogtra Ecollars. They all have NiMH batteries (Nickel Metal Hydride) so they don't need to be run all the way down before charging them as was the case with early NiCad's (Nickel Cadmium) batteries.

A full charge for all the collars takes 14 hours. The collar half of the system (RX) is using battery power anytime that it's on. Think of it as a radio that's on standby, waiting for a signal. The transmitter (TX) is only using battery when you press the button to give a stim. Think of a "transmit only" radio.

The larger units such as the 1100, 1200, 2000, and 1800 have larger batteries that hold a charge longer than the smaller units, the 175 and the 200. With the larger units I go three days (from a full charge) of using them. That means that they're turned on for about 12 hours a day. Then I recharge the RX overnight. Every second or third time I charge the RX I charge the TX. With the smaller units I charge the RX every two days and the TX every 2nd or 3rd time I charge the RX's.

When the batteries are nearly run down they go from a regular flashing red light to a double beat, sometimes called 'heart beat" flash. When that happens the larger units have about 3-4 hours left and the smaller ones have about 1-2 hours left. But that's useful only if you catch it as soon as it starts.

On changing batteries: it's pretty easy mechanically BUT the hard part is with the waterproof TX units, the 1200, 2000 and the 1800. You need to get the seals back in place perfectly. If you have experience in dealing with O rings as used underwater cameras you can probably handle it fairly easily. If not, I'd let the factory do it. They'll fry if water gets inside. Working with O rings for waterproof seals is VERY tricky. They have to be lubed "just right." Not enough lube and they won't seal properly. If they're overlubed they'll also leak. There can't be a single speck of dust or hair on the seal, the channel it lays in, or the mating sealing surface. This isn't a factor with the 175 or 200 because they're only water-resistant. If you have the factory do the battery replacement they'll do a full bench test on it and replace any components that aren't up to spec.

One warning. DO NOT place the units on the charger all the time. You won't break anything but you'll greatly shorten the battery life. Charged properly they'll last 2-4 years. If you leave them on the charger all the time, you'll only get about one year out of them.

Thanks Lou!!

You have a good system, Matthew. If you keep to that practice, your collar will serve you well for years (as Lou stated). If you start trying to see how long you can go without recharging, it WILL fail when you need it most (don't ask me how I know this). <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

I've been using the same 1100 for over 3 years now, and it has only failed once, when I got stupid (see above)!

Thanks Lou that answered a bunch of my questions!

For what its worth

The new battery arrived, Swapped them over. The velcro holding the original in place adhered to the new battery fine. There are 2 wires leading to a small transformer that are not insulated and were touching, careful alignment, and even more carefull reassembly and everything worked. On retrospect the touching wires were probably the cause of the problem from the beginning, I considered un soldering one of them and sleeving it with heat shrink tubing, but decided to quit while I was ahead.

Disclaimer: Electronics hobbiest during university life, and racing pit crew on Powerboats, jetskis, go-karts, motorcycles, so this type of tinkering scares me less than others. Also the cost and time to return the collar to a distributer from Bermuda was not worth it to me personally.