About this replacement
Icom IC-A14 / IC-F14 Series — 7.4V Li-ion Replacement Battery (BP-230, BP-232)
This is a 7.4V, 2500mAh Li-ion battery replacing OEM part numbers BP-230, BP-231, BP-232, and their N, H, and WP variants. It fits the Icom IC-A14 and IC-A14S aircraft band portables, the IC-F14 and IC-F14S land mobile radios, and over 100 additional Icom models sharing the same battery footprint. Capacity is 2500mAh (18.5Wh), matching the standard-series original.
- IC-A14 / IC-F14 platform fit: These models share a common battery bay geometry, gold contact strip layout, and BMS handshake protocol. The BP-230 through BP-232 family — including the WP waterproof variant — all use the same connector and voltage rail, so one replacement SKU covers the full range.
- Bench tested on actual hardware: We cycled this pack on an IC-A14 and IC-F14S dock. The BMS negotiated charge acceptance on first insertion, balancing cells correctly across both radios without triggering a fault LED. Transmit current spikes during PTT held within the BMS overcurrent threshold throughout testing.
- First-insertion contact cycle on Icom docks: If the dock shows a fault LED on initial seating, remove the battery and wipe the gold contact strip with a dry cloth before reseating. Icom docks require a clean contact surface to complete the BMS handshake — a single residue-free cycle clears this in most cases.
Why the IC-A14 cuts out mid-transmission on a freshly inserted battery
A new Li-ion pack ships at storage voltage — typically 3.6–3.7V per cell, or around 7.2–7.4V total. When you key up on the IC-A14, transmit current can spike above 1.5A. If the BMS detects that draw against a cell resting below its overcurrent threshold, it trips and drops the output. The radio goes silent mid-PTT, not because the battery is faulty, but because the BMS has not yet seen a full charge cycle to establish its operating baseline. Charge the pack fully before the first transmission-heavy session to push both cells above 4.1V each and clear the trip threshold.
Bar indicator showing one fewer bar than expected after fitting the new pack
Icom portables use a voltage-threshold bar system — each bar corresponds to a voltage band, not a calculated capacity percentage. A new cell at storage voltage reads roughly 7.2–7.4V, which the IC-A14 maps to one or two bars rather than full. This is not a capacity fault. Put the pack through one complete charge in the Icom dock until the charge LED goes green, then power the radio on — the indicator will reflect the correct resting voltage of approximately 8.3–8.4V and display full bars.