User Manual

SECTION 10 BATTERY MANAGEMENT PAGE 170
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Battery Capacity
A battery’s capacity is it’s ability to hold the maximum charge that it was designed to carry. This
capacity gradually decreases over time due to chemical aging, temperature extremes and
usage. Once a battery’s capacity drops below 80% of its designed rating, it is considered at the
end of it’s life and would normally be replaced. However, some batteries may still be usable.
CAUTION!
Permanent ba
ttery capacity loss is greatest at elevated
temperatures with the battery fully charged. Do not leave batteries
installed in your X7 with external power connected in high
temperature surroundings for days or weeks at a time.
Discharge/Recharge Cycles
Lithium ion batteries do not need to be deeply discharged periodically to maintain capacity like
other NiCad or other rechargeable batteries. In fact, deep discharges have a negative effect on
the battery’s capacity and operating life.
Each time a lithium ion battery is deeply discharged (< 30%) and then recharged (either during
normal operation or conditioning), the system records the event as a “cycle.” Each of these
deep discharge/recharge cycles has a small cumulative effect on the overall capacity and life of
the battery and, on average, after approximately 300-400 cycles at nominal room temperature,
the battery is a candidate for replacement (sooner if used primarily in high temperatures).
The accumulated cycles are recorded in the Charge Cycles Count field of each Battery
Information window in ARMORutils (see Figure 51).
Battery Conditioning
Battery conditioning is only recommended if you suspect that ARMORutils or the battery fuel
gauge is not reporting the battery charge correctly, as conditioning adds to the charge cycle
count.
Battery conditioning is a 3-step process consisting of an initial full charge, followed by a full
discharge and finally followed by a full recharge. Each step is displayed in the Conditioning
Status panel of the ARMORutils Battery Conditioning window (see Figure 89).
Follow the procedure in Table 34 to condition a battery.
NOTE
You must have external power connected to condition a battery.