LX-1 Dragsled
July 27, 2004
The LX-1 Dragsled battery manangement explained...
You may have noticed the battery charge indicator in the lower right of the display. This indicates the battery and charging status.
Auto-shutoff
The Dragled will automatically shut off after 15 minutes in he absence of network access or any keypresses. If you wish the unit to stay on to allow network access at a later time, simply plug in the charger.
Technical Note: It is technically possible to keep the unit from automatically shutting down by using a script or program which repeatedly asks for one of the devices "cgi" web pages.
Low Battery Auto-shutoff
The Dragled will automatically shut off once the battery drops below a certain level to prevent complete drainage. In order to start the Dragsled again, you will need to attach the charger and allow it to regain some charge.
Automatic power-on when charging
When the charger is plugged in, the Dragsled begins charging immediately, and will turn itself on if it was previously off. You will not be able to turn off the Dragsled while it charges. This is so that it can manage the charging properly.
Charging indicator
The Dragsled's on-screen display will show a 
icon above the battery reading, indicating that the charger is plugged in.
Failsafe and Top-up.
Once the battery reaches a level that can be considered fully charged, the unit will continue charging for up to one hour, and then stop charging -- this prevents problems relating to over-charging the battery, and ensures it is completely charged. Should the charger operate for 12 consecutive hours without reaching this level, it will also stop charging for the same reason. These mechanisms mean that it is safe to leave the charger plugged in for an extended period of time without causing harm.
Maintenance Mode
Additionally, if the charger stopped itself because the battery became fully charged, it will begin charging again once the battery drains to approximately the 80% level. The above failsafe's still apply - charging will stop once the battery is full again. This is done to maintain the battery charge when the unit is left plugged in for long periods of time.
When to charge?
Anytime! you will get the most use out of the Dragsled if you keep it charged and ready to go. Because the LX-1 uses a rugged battery technology, it is safe to charge the unit at any time, and because of it's programming you can simply leave it plugged in. Hoewever, It is not required that you leave it plugged in, and unecessary if you use the device infrequently.
StorageFor extended periods of storage, to protect the battery chemistry, it is reccommended that the Dragsled be fully charged before putting it away. You may also want to consider recharging once every 6 months.
Note: While switched off, the unit will draw down on the battery to maintain it's real time clock - it is possible for the correct time to be lost if the unit is stored with a low charge for many months.
Posted by mike at July 27, 2004 02:15 PMTrackBack URL for this entry:
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