About this replacement
Crestron MT-500C Series — 4.8V Ni-MH Replacement Battery (MT-500C-BTP)
This 4.8V 700mAh Ni-MH battery replaces the MT-500C-BTP pack in the Crestron MT-500C handheld control panel. It also fits the MT-500C-RF and TSU6010 models, which share the same battery compartment and charge circuit. All three devices use this pack to power IR, RF, and touchscreen control of AV and automation systems.
- MT-500C, MT-500C-RF, TSU6010 compatibility: These three handhelds run the same 4.8V charge rail and use an identical battery connector and bay geometry. Swapping between models carries no electrical risk — the charge termination logic treats all three the same way.
- Bench tested on actual hardware: We cycled this pack through the MT-500C charge dock and confirmed the delta-peak cutoff triggered correctly at full charge. Cell balance across all four Ni-MH cells stayed within 20mV at top-of-charge.
- Ni-MH charge cycle tip for the MT-500C dock: The MT-500C dock uses delta-peak detection to end charging. Topping up a partially charged pack repeatedly confuses that detection — the dock may terminate early and leave the pack under-charged. Let the pack run down fully before docking where practical.
Why the MT-500C shows a charging indicator but never reaches full capacity
Ni-MH cells that have been shallow-cycled for months lose their ability to accept a full charge — a condition called voltage depression. The dock sees a small delta-peak early in the charge cycle and cuts off, even though the pack is only partially charged. The result is a remote that dies quickly despite appearing to have charged overnight. Running the pack down fully before each charge cycle gives the delta-peak circuit a clean signal to work with.
MT-500C stops responding mid-session even with a recently charged pack
Ni-MH voltage sags sharply under the current draw of the backlit touchscreen combined with active IR or RF transmission. If the pack is even slightly below full charge, that combined load pulls the cell voltage below the MT-500C's minimum operating threshold. The remote locks up or drops out without warning. A full charge cycle — not a top-up — is the fix. Confirm the pack is sitting at 5.5–5.8V off the dock before use.