Having short Litium Ion battery life on your Sat Phone??

[Rex in OTZ]

Have some Motorola IRIDIUM Sat phones at work, after powering up the Litium Ion batteries last about 8-10 minuets in the field then die, they last a little longer in the summer months.
When traveling by snomachine we carry the batteries in a inner parka pocket for warmth, one guy carries his in a modified crown royal wiskey bottle bag round his neck and slip's it under his shirt.
We recharge following the operators pamphlet instructions, even have bought extra batteries but after 2-3 uses they are just as bad as the old ones.
My guess its operator ignorance buy just what are we doing wrong??

[Siskiyou]

My only experience with a SAT phone as been one designed and hard wired into a 12v system.    As an emergency responder I have not had a lot of satisfaction with some brands of rechargeable batteries.  

You might look outside the BOX on this one.  Knowing nothing anything about your phone will it accept one of these fast chargers?

http://www.energizer.com/products/energi-to-go/Pages/cell-phone-charger.aspx

Or build on the concept.

Are you supplementing your battery with an accessory power cord powered off your snowmobile?

You might contact these folks and see if there COM people have any suggestions. They have people working in your environment.  During the winter lay off the smokejumpers become trappers and find other employment.

Check the Alaska Fire Service for a phone number
 

Post the Model # and the battery you are using.  I will play a long shot and contact a friend that spends a lot of time out in the cold and snow and see what he knows.  He is also a radio bug.


After reading some of your post rather suspect you are ahead of the curve, and stuck with a system that does not work in extreme cold.  

I was reading that the user should not fully discharge the battery before recharging.  Is this a factor in the short battery life.

[Rex in OTZ]

Motorola IRIDIUM 9500 series phone (NOT a 9501)
Battery pack's are Motorola brand 1200mAh 3.6v (SNN5324B)
I called the customer support line, seems the company is so big I never really spoke to a real tech just a button pusher, they eventually started transfering my call to other tech's which turned into a nifty cycle round and round till the call was dropped.
Im now leary of phone techs, I want a real life "Been there Dealt with it" kind of tech.

[Siskiyou]

I am sorry to report that I could not find an answer for this one.