Internal Backup Battery Maintenance

The TDAS PRO Rack, SIM and TOM use NiMH (Nickel Metal Hydride) cell battery packs to provide backup power when primary power is lost.

All TDAS Pro batteries are replaced when returned to DTS for factory calibration. As specified in the SAE J211 standard, DTS recommends calibrating your TDAS PRO equipment once per year.

To maximize the life of the internal batteries:

1. Avoid fully discharging the batteries. Always turn off the rack key switch before disconnecting the main power supply.
2. Do not store the equipment in high temperature environments.
3. NiMH batteries self-discharge over time. After an extended storage (greater than 1 week), plug the rack in to main power with key off for 1 to 2 hours prior to testing. The rack and module batteries will charge with the rack key switch in the on or off position when primary power is connected.
4. Battery life is reduced with extended charging. DTS recommends turning off the racks at the key and then disconnect main power each night. 

Testing the rack and module battery capacity on a monthly basis is recommended to ensure the reserve batteries will function as designed. Implementing the following process as follow:

1. With a loaded rack and proper primary power, perform a typical test sequence and arm the rack. The SIF\Example SIFs\Empty Channel.sif can be used on all SIMs.
2. After arming and while monitoring the software or PWR LED, remove primary power.
3. The system should remain armed for at least 2 minutes. Apply a trigger to collect data and reconnect primary power.
4. Download and store the data. Turn the rack key switch off charge the system overnight. a 10-14 hour duration will ensure the batteries have received a full charge.
5. After the full charge, disconnect primary power and turn the key switch on. The rack and modules should properly boot and indicate green PWR LEDs
6. Any rack or module that does not indicate a full charge should be identified by serial number. The test log file (c:\DTS\logs\control_commlog.dat) will store the voltages of the hardware. This file will enable DTS support to confirm the internal battery pack health.