PYLE Audio 7505-BTSDCMHC25 user manual Storing Batteries

Chapter 3: Getting To Know Your Ikôn

Storing Batteries

As Lithium Ion batteries age, their capacity decreases gradually, and they are generally con- sidered depleted after approximately 2 years of use (less than 60% of original capacity remaining). Keep in mind however that heavy usage or operating the unit at temperature ex- tremes will shorten the battery life.

Lithium Ion batteries do not require conditioning cycles and the Ikôn battery system (includ- ing chargers) requires no user interaction to maintain peak performance.

To maximize the run time of your batteries, consider the following:

•The display backlight is a large drain on the battery. Try to keep its brightness as low as possible.

•The Ikôn is ‘event’ driven—that is, when the unit is not in use, it reverts to sleep mode (even when it appears to be running), saving battery power. Events include a key press, touchscreen taps and scan triggers. Power consumption is reduced if you avoid unneces- sary events, and allow the unit to sleep as much as possible.

•The battery is a ‘smart battery’ with built-in intelligence.

Tapping on the Power icon in the Control Panel displays a dialog box that provides detailed information about the battery status of the main battery installed in your unit.

•When the Ikôn is switched off, it goes into a low-power, suspend state but continues to draw a small amount of power from the battery. This should not be an issue unless the unit is left in suspend state for more than a week—for long-term storage, the battery should be removed from the unit.

3.5.1Storing Batteries

Long term battery storage is not recommended. If storage is necessary:

•Always try to use a ‘first-in first-out’ approach to minimize storage time.

•Lithium Ion batteries age much faster at elevated temperatures. Store batteries at tem- peratures between 0°C and 20°C (32°F and 68°F).

•Always charge batteries to at least 40 to 60% before storing them. Batteries can be damaged by an over-discharge phenomenon that occurs when an empty battery is stored for a long period of time such that the cell voltage drops below a lower limit.

•To minimize storage degradation, recharge stored batteries to 40 to 60% every 4 or 6 months to prevent over-discharge damage.

•A ‘never used’ Li-Ion battery that has been stored for 3 years may have limited or no useful life remaining once put into service. Think of batteries as perishable goods.

44Ikôn Rugged PDA (Windows CE 5.0) User Manual