Long story short, I have a robotic total station. They have a timed alarm that is programmed to come up after so many years warning to have the machine sent in for service to replace the PCB mounted battery, which maintains apparently ALL the software and settings. It is a VERY expensive deal to send one in. Probably not a big deal on a newer one where you are making money with it, but I just use this older one for basic things.
The alarm has activated and I have opened the machine to take a peek at the battery. There is a duplex of stacked boards in there. I pulled the first one back and kept all ribbon cables attached. I knew the battery was on the back board and on the back side of it. It will be rather tricky to pull the second board but I can do it, and when it is 'really" time for battery, I was going to jumper in a new battery before cutting the old one so I don't lose anything. The process has risk so I don't want to do it until it is really time.
i found the location of the battery from the front side of the second board and tested only at the solder joints. I found 8V exactly. The problem is because I have not pulled the second board, I simply cannot know what the configuration of the battery is so I can know its condition! What I am thinking is this may be a series pack or 3.6*2 nominal or full charge of maybe 4.2*2. If I am right that would be a nominal of 7.2V and a full charge of 8.4V, meaning I have YEARS left before dealing with that battery issue.
Bottom line is the batteries in these are a big financial burden for everyone that owns them, and the mfg has leveraged this to ensure a recurring income from this basic repair, instead of simply making the thing DIY serviceable. I don't like being strong armed and the cost to replace the battery is higher than the machine value so I intend to do anything I need to, to maintain memory. I am wondering if I can make some assumptions based on the current voltage or if I will just have to get the back board out and look at the battery to know what we have?
The alarm has activated and I have opened the machine to take a peek at the battery. There is a duplex of stacked boards in there. I pulled the first one back and kept all ribbon cables attached. I knew the battery was on the back board and on the back side of it. It will be rather tricky to pull the second board but I can do it, and when it is 'really" time for battery, I was going to jumper in a new battery before cutting the old one so I don't lose anything. The process has risk so I don't want to do it until it is really time.
i found the location of the battery from the front side of the second board and tested only at the solder joints. I found 8V exactly. The problem is because I have not pulled the second board, I simply cannot know what the configuration of the battery is so I can know its condition! What I am thinking is this may be a series pack or 3.6*2 nominal or full charge of maybe 4.2*2. If I am right that would be a nominal of 7.2V and a full charge of 8.4V, meaning I have YEARS left before dealing with that battery issue.
Bottom line is the batteries in these are a big financial burden for everyone that owns them, and the mfg has leveraged this to ensure a recurring income from this basic repair, instead of simply making the thing DIY serviceable. I don't like being strong armed and the cost to replace the battery is higher than the machine value so I intend to do anything I need to, to maintain memory. I am wondering if I can make some assumptions based on the current voltage or if I will just have to get the back board out and look at the battery to know what we have?