lower LCD goes blank. Reconnect the battery. Plug
instrument into AC. A refresh cycle will be initiated.
Repeat this procedure at 24 hour intervals, 2 or 3
times to increase capacity or use a battery
conditioner.
CAUTION: Dispose of or recycle battery following
hospital protocol. Refer to your institution’s operating
procedures, your state’s EPA guidelines for disposal of
battery or contact Rechargeable Battery Recycling
Corporation (RBRC) at 1-800-822-8837.
1.4 Nicd Battery Capacity Information
All batteries have specific conditions under which
they are guaranteed to meet their published
specifications. Deviations from these conditions
typically result in a reduction of available capacity.
Manufacturers of nicd batteries rate capacities,
usually expressed in Ah (Ampere-Hours), based on a
specified “ideal“charge and discharge condition as
well as the use of a “new”battery. Battery
Manufacturer’s date codes start on 9/1 of the
upcoming year (e.g. date code 9611 = first week of
November 1995).
An ideal charge cycle starts with a fully discharged
battery charged at C/10 (C is the rated capacity in
Ah) constant current for 15 hours while at room
temperature. For instance, a 1.8Ah battery would be
charged for 15 hours at 180mA constant current
with a room temperature of 23°C.
The ideal discharge starts with a fully charged battery
under a C/5 constant current load at room
temperature discharging to a cell voltage of 0.9V.
The rated capacity is then calculated as the time to
discharge divided by 5. Again, a 1.8Ah cell would be
discharged at 360mA constant current and not reach
0.9V for at least 5 hours. Note that a given battery
type has different capacities based on the load. For
instance, a battery rated at 1.8Ah at a 360mA load
may have only 1.6Ah at a 1600mA load.
As can be seen from the preceding ideal conditions,
there are many conditions which can affect the
battery capacity. The following conditions have the
most practical impact on battery capacity delivered in
this instrument.
a. TEMPERATURE DURING CHARGE - As the effective
ambient temperature of the battery increases, the
amount of charge that the battery will accept is
decreased. At an ambient temperature of 35°C,
an enclosed battery will temporarily accept only
about 90% of the charge it would otherwise
accept at 23°C. Since the batteries are internal to
the instrument case, they will be exposed to
temperatures above room temperature since the
instrument itself generates heat. Some of the
ways the instrument limits the temperatures that
the battery sees include forcing air across it (an
internal fan) and turning off the charger when the
battery temperature gets too high.
b. CYCLE LIFE AND AGING - As batteries get older
and go through many charge/discharge cycles,
batteries “wear out”in that the chemicals and
materials used to construct the cell break down.
The way the instrument deals with this is to
assume that a battery will continually reduce
capacity at a rate equivalent to 30% over 4 years
and continually reduce capacity at a rate
equivalent to 30% per 200 full discharge/charge
cycles. These calculated values are used to reduce
the runtime displayed on the battery gauge.
c. PARTIAL DISCHARGE/RECHARGE - When a battery
is partially discharged, then charged for less than
the full time, differences between individual cell
capacities result in cells completing charge at
different times. If the full charge sequence is not
then completed, the cell “mismatch“becomes
progressively greater. This is viewed by the user as
low apparent runtimes and premature low battery
warning and alarms. The problem is cumulative in
that the mismatch increases for every partial cycle.
The lowered capacity is not permanent, but may
require 2-3 full discharge/charge cycles to recover.
The way the instrument deals with this is to
reduce the runtime displayed based on a limited
history of partial cycles.