Vernier Tech Info Library TIL #2075

Question

How to calibrate a LabQuest battery indicator

Answer

In some cases, the LabQuest battery will appear to discharge or drain very quickly after being fully charged. In other cases, even though it has been connected to AC power for a long time, it still hasn't charged fully.

Doing a discharge test will help you to check the life of your battery, resolve problems, and provide the LabQuest with an accurate calibration of the battery:

LabQuest Battery Calibration:
1. Disconnect all sensors.
2. Connect LabQuest to AC power and let it charge overnight (at least 8 hours).
3. Choose Sensor Setup from the Sensors menu.
4. Check Internal Temperature to turn on the internal temperature sensor and tap OK.
5. On the Meter screen, tap Length.
6. Set data-collection Length to 10 hours and Sampling Rate to 600 samples/hour. Tap OK.
7. Disconnect LabQuest from AC power.
8. Tap Start and let data collection run overnight. Note: In LabQuest 1.3 and newer, the screen will dim after 2 minutes and turn off after 5 minutes. This is a normal power saving measure.
9. In the morning the LabQuest battery should be completely discharged. Connect the LabQuest to AC power and press the power button. Tap Open when you see a message telling you that "An auto-recovery or remote data collection file has been detected".
10. Tap the Graph tab and then tap the last data point. Take note of how many hours data collection lasted. Tip: If you are testing multiple LabQuests, a sticky note on each unit to show how long it lasted can help tell them apart.
11. If data collection lasted for more than 6 hours, the test has resolved your issue. If data collection lasted less than 6 hours, continue to the next step.
12. Repeat this process by again charging the battery overnight and repeating data collection to see how long the battery lasts during a second data-collection run.
13. If the battery lasted less than 6 hours during the second data-collection run, it is depleted and may need to be replaced.
-If your battery is less than a year old, contact Vernier technical support to arrange for a replacement battery.
-If your battery is more than a year old, a replacement battery is available: LabQuest Replacement Battery, order code LQ-BAT, $19.00.

Created by: aplank on October 08 2009
Last updated by: jhopkins on October 20 2009