About this replacement
Albrecht DR 855 / DR 860 — 3.7V Li-ion Replacement Battery (27856)
This 3.7V, 5200mAh lithium-ion battery replaces the factory pack in the Albrecht DR 855 and DR 860 portable DAB+ and FM digital radio receivers. It restores power to units where the original cell has lost capacity or stopped holding charge. Dimensions are 66.00 × 36.50 × 18.80mm — measure your existing pack before fitting if you are unsure.
- DR 855 and DR 860 fitment: Both models share the same battery bay dimensions, connector pinout, and 3.7V supply rail to the DAB decoder board. One pack covers both variants without modification.
- Bench tested on actual hardware: We cycled this cell through charge and discharge on a DAB receiver platform. The BMS responded correctly to charge termination and low-voltage cutoff without triggering false fault states on the host board.
- Post-install station scan: After fitting this battery, run a full auto-scan before tuning manually. DAB station lists are held in volatile memory and are wiped on power interruption. A fresh scan rebuilds the station index completely — skipping it leaves gaps or stale entries in the station list.
Radio cutting out mid-station at low battery
The DAB decoder in the DR 855 and DR 860 requires a stable voltage supply to maintain stream synchronisation. When the cell sags below roughly 3.2V under load, the decoder loses lock on the DAB multiplex and drops the audio stream. This appears as a sudden cut to silence rather than static, which is different from FM dropout. Recharging the battery before it reaches that sag threshold prevents the decode failure entirely.
Reception noticeably worse in weak signal areas after a battery swap
In areas with a marginal DAB signal, the receiver increases its RF front-end power draw to maintain lock on the multiplex. A partially charged or faulty battery cannot sustain the voltage headroom this requires, so signal quality drops even though the radio is powered on. This is not a fault with the aerial or tuner — it is a voltage supply problem under elevated RF load. Charge the replacement battery fully before testing reception in a weak signal location.