Battery Life; Charge Level Of Batteries - Fluke Datapaq TP3 User Manual

Battery Life

For a given battery type, battery life is affected by the following factors.
• Operating Temperature – Essentially, the higher the ambient
temperature the battery operates in, the shorter will be the life. Batteries
that operate for a large part of the process cycle at relatively low
temperatures will have a longer life than those that operate for the majority
of the process cycle at the maximum operating temperature.
• Sample Interval – The shorter the sample interval, the shorter will be the
battery life. This is because power is being consumed each time the logger
takes a reading. A short sample interval will achieve the maximum amount of
information, but this must be balanced against the greater battery charge
required.
• Bluetooth – Bluetooth communication causes extra battery drain, and
should be turned off (see p. 31) if not used.
• Operating with Radio Telemetry – Sending data to a receiver outside
the oven, furnace or kiln requires more power than that needed simply to
read and store the data.
Given the factors that can affect the life of a battery it is obviously difficult to
predict accurately. The LEDs on the logger will give the best indication of when
the battery is low. In the user's own conditions, experience will quickly indicate
typical battery life, and a log should be kept for the first few runs, noting sample
interval and whether radio telemetry was used.
See the sections below on specific battery types for guideline battery-life data.
The Logger Reset dialog (p. 42) shows actual battery use: the time since
the battery was last charged or last changed.

Charge Level of Batteries

When the battery's charge drops to 20% of the full level, this will be shown by
the logger LEDs (p. 15).
For NiMH and alkaline batteries only... When connected to the PC, the
Insight software shows the logger's battery-charge level as a percentage of full
charge, as follows:
• In the main Logger Reset dialog (p. 41).
• When using wizards which reset the logger.
• During communications setup (p. 40).
• When using the Real Time Tool dialog during Bluetooth telemetry (p. 32)
or during use of the optional TM21 radio-telemetry system.
DATAPAQ TP3
Specifications and Operation
19