I recently acquired a pair of Cobra walkie talkies model GA-CC. Only one of them works. When I place them on the charging base two red lights light up but the side I put the one on that doesn’t work the red light is dimmer. I can switch them back and forth and this happens, Also I swapped batteries between the two several times so I now both sets of batteries should be good. And here’s a big clue I’m sure for those of you knowledgeable, the one that won’t turn on will turn on and work if its sitting on the charger base? So I know the radio works and I know the batteries are charged, so PLEASE help me diagnose the problem and tell me there’s a simple fix. Thanks in advance to anyone who can help,
If you are certain the batteries are OK, then sadly, you’ll need to open it and find the real fault. They’re not the easiest to repair, apart from very simple stuff. OK to repair if you have the electronics skills and tools, but impractical to pay for - the cost to fix one unit could be more than a pair originally cost.
I doubt this is just a simple two minute fix. Dead would be more hopeful, but if it’s something like the radio drawing more power than it should and the batteries unable to cope, then it’s more tricky.
One thing - have you tried non-rechargeable batteries? The batteries you have could just be knackered - and a tad too much demand drops below the cutoff voltage?
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You said that you swapped the batteries between them and determined the batteries are good. For clarification, are you saying that both batteries will work fine in the radio that does turn on but neither will work in the radio that doesn’t?
I’m not familiar with the GA-CC in particular, however most of the Cobra MicroTalk bubble pack radios of that era could take either AA / AAA rechargeables or alkalines. If you swap the rechargeable batteries with alkalines in the non-working radio as Paulears suggested and it doesn’t work, and the red light on the charger is just a little dimmer with the radio inserted in the pocket but the radio will turn on, you very likely have a voltage problem with the radio itself.
If that is the case, the radio is likely defective and would need to be replaced. These consumer “bubble pack” radios are not user serviceable and would not be worth the time and expense to repair if they were. It’s probably best to just replace the radio.
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