Owner's manual

36 Allegro DOS Owner’s Manual

Using Vehicle Mode is necessary because every time the key is

turned off the Allegro begins a new battery charge cycle. The Allegro

circuitry detects when a battery pack is fully charged, however, it

takes approximately twenty minutes for this to occur. Repeatedly

attempting to charge a fully charged battery pack causes premature

degradation in battery performance. In Vehicle Mode, charging is

inhibited if the gauging circuitry indicates that battery pack is above

90% charged.

To put the Allegro in Vehicle Mode, follow these steps (the default is

for Vehicle Mode to be off):

- Go to the System Setup Program|Power Management screen and

select Yes for the Vehicle Mode option (refer to Chapter 4, MS-DOS,

System Setup Program for details).

Resume Versus Reboot

Each time you replace the batteries, the Allegro resumes to the screen

that was last displayed before the batteries were removed.

Note: Refer to Chapter 4, MS-DOS, System Setup Program section for

information on how to set the On/Off key to resume or reboot.

If the batteries are removed from the Allegro for longer than ﬁ ve

minutes, the Allegro reboots the operating system, but it does not

resume to the screen that was last displayed before the batteries were

removed. The DOS prompt appears.

Battery Gauging

The Allegro’s intelligent battery gauging circuit helps you

efﬁ ciently maintain the batteries for your applications. The

percentage of remaining charge in the batteries is indicated through

the battery status LED indicators. The gauging works for both

NiMH rechargeable batteries and alkaline batteries, although the

mechanism is different, as outlined in this chapter.

❖ Important Note: Battery gauging is provided as a tool to help you

manage your batteries. It does not affect the performance of the Allegro

or the batteries in any way. If the gauging circuitry is not properly

synchronized with a NiMH battery, it may show erroneous readings. Please

read this chapter on battery gauging so you understand the proper setup,

functionality, and limitations of battery gauging.