Questions and Answers
6045 Cochran Rd, Cleveland, OH 44139 USA | Tel 440.248.9300 | Fax 440.349.2307 | Email: sales@flukebiomedical.com | www.flukebiomedical.com
Question: How do I charge the battery?
Answer: Plug the battery charger accessory included with your analyzer into the charger
input on the rear panel and plug the mains cord into the charger unit and into
mains power. The charge-status LED, visible from the rear panel, will glow red to
indicate the battery is charging. The LED will turn green when charging is
complete. A full recharge takes approximately four hours or less.
Question: The charge-status LED on the rear panel does not glow red when I plug in
the charger. What's wrong?
Answer: If the Impulse 6000D/7000DP is turned on, make sure the "Charge Battery" setting
is set to "Yes" on the "Set Up: Battery" screen (refer to the operating manual for
details). If the Impulse 6000D/7000DP unit is turned off, the LED should glow red
when the external charger is connected correctly and mains power is present.
Question: The charge-status LED blinks red continuously. What does this mean?
Answer: A blinking red charge-status LED indicates a pending charge and should normally
last a few seconds before turning solid red. If the blinking continues, the battery-
charging circuit has determined that conditions are not correct to initiate the
battery-charging cycle. The battery will not be charged if the battery temperature is
too cold or too hot. The battery should be charged in an ambient temperature of
10° C to 40° C (50° F to 104° F)
Also, the battery will not be charged if the battery voltage is too low, which can
happen if the Impulse 6000/7000DP has been stored for an extended period of
time with a fully-discharged battery. In the "Charge Pending" mode, the battery-
charging circuit charges the battery at a low rate, which will eventually bring the
battery voltage high enough for the normal charge cycle to begin.
Question: On the "Set Up: Battery" screen, the battery charge level remains at "Power =
50 %" even after charging the battery for a few hours. What's wrong?
Answer: On the Impulse 6000D/7000DP, the internal battery pack contains a gas-gauge IC
that monitors the battery-charge level. This gas-gauge IC reports the charge level
as one of sixteen levels, from 0 % to 100 %. The Impulse 6000D/7000DP reports
the battery-charge level in 5 % steps, from 0 % to 100 %. Therefore, five of the 5 %
steps aren't used (15 %, 35 %, 50 %, 70 %, and 90 %). The "Power = 50%"
message is an indication that the microprocessor was unable to communicate with
the battery pack. If this message persists, the battery pack is probably defective.
Question: After charging my unit completely (until the Charge Status LED turns green),
the battery charge level still indicates less than 100 %. What's wrong? How
do I get the charge level to read 100 %?
Questions and Answers
6045 Cochran Rd, Cleveland, OH 44139 USA | Tel 440.248.9300 | Fax 440.349.2307 | Email: sales@flukebiomedical.com | www.flukebiomedical.com
Answer: The answer to this question is somewhat counterintuitive. Battery pack gas-gauge
ICs, such as the one used in the Impulse 6000D/7000DP, use a complex algorithm
to estimate battery-charge state, taking into account time, temperature, and current
flow. The self-discharge estimation (i.e., how much charge the battery loses over
time during periods of non-use, sometimes called "shelf-life") is particularly
sensitive to battery chemistry, and the shelf-life of today's NiMH cells is
significantly longer than the algorithm built into the gas-gauge ICs can
accommodate.
When an Impulse 6000D/7000DP is left idle for a few weeks and then powered-on,
the battery charge level might be reported as 55 % when the true charge level
might be 80 %. If the battery is then completely charged, which requires a 20 %
increase in battery charge level, the charge level is only reported as 75 % (55 %
plus 20 %).
To correct the reported charge level, use the "Train Battery" feature. To access this
feature, press the [SETUP] key, then the [F1] softkey (labeled "Battery"), then
press the [F3] softkey (labeled "Train Battery"), then follow the instructions
presented on the screen. This procedure can take overnight to complete.
Question: Is it OK to leave my Impulse 6000D/7000DP unit connected to the battery
charger when not in use?
Answer: Yes. Actually, to keep the reported battery charge level as accurate as possible
during extended periods of non-use, it is recommend that the Impulse
6000D/7000DP be left connected to mains power via the battery charger with the
unit powered off, in an ambient temperature of 15° C to 26° C (60° F to 78° F). This
will continuously trickle-charge the battery (the charge-status LED on the rear
panel will be green) to keep both the actual and estimated battery charge level at
100 %.
If the Impulse 6000D/7000DP cannot be kept connected to the battery charger
during periods of non-use, the battery should be charged at least once a month. A
unit with a discharged battery that is stored for an extended period of time will
result in the battery becoming over-discharged, which is likely to result in
permanent damage to the battery.
Question: Should I drain the battery completely before charging my Impulse
6000D/7000DP unit?
Answer: This is not necessary. The battery does not exhibit a "memory effect". After
multiple partial charge-discharge cycles, or if the unit is unused for an extended
period of time without the charger active, the battery level indication may become
Questions and Answers
6045 Cochran Rd, Cleveland, OH 44139 USA | Tel 440.248.9300 | Fax 440.349.2307 | Email: sales@flukebiomedical.com | www.flukebiomedical.com
inaccurate (i.e., out-of-sync with the actual battery charge level). Completely
discharging the unit before charging it will resynchronize the battery charge level
indication.
Question: Can I always count on getting nine hours of continuous battery operation on
a fully-charged battery?
Answer:
• Age of battery pack. The battery pack will lose some charge capacity over time.
• Use of the backlight display function. This option discharges the battery pack
faster.
• Operating the unit at the upper end of the specified operating temperature
range, causing the internal fan to power on more often. This may especially be
observed with multiple, rapid, high-energy defibrillator pulse discharges into the
unit.
Question: Will the battery need to be replaced at some point?
Answer: Yes. The manufacturer of the NiMH battery cells used in the Impulse
6000D/7000DP specifies a typical loss of 10 % of battery charge after 500 charge-
discharge cycles, which is approximately two years of daily use. Battery charge
capacity also degrades with time, so even a seldom-used unit will lose some
battery charge capacity. The Impulse 6000D/7000DP battery power feature was
designed conservatively to maximize the probability of the battery pack performing
satisfactorily well beyond two years.
Question: Can I replace the battery myself?
Answer: No. Replacement of the battery pack in the Impulse 6000D/7000DP requires
disassembly of the unit. Impulse 6000D/7000DP owners who send their units to a
Fluke Biomedical Authorized Service Center for periodic calibration may want to
consider requesting replacement of the battery pack as preventative maintenance,
which can be performed for a nominal charge.
Question: Does the condition of the battery affect the calibration/specifications of the
unit?
Answer: The Impulse 6000D/7000DP was designed and tested to meet all its performance
specifications at any battery-charge level when operating from mains power or
when operating from mains power while charging the battery.
Question: Can I use a different battery charger than the one supplied with the unit?
Answer: No. For safe and reliable operation, the battery charger supplied with the Impulse
6000D/7000DP MUST be used when operating from mains power, or when
operating and charging the battery at the same time.
Questions and Answers
6045 Cochran Rd, Cleveland, OH 44139 USA | Tel 440.248.9300 | Fax 440.349.2307 | Email: sales@flukebiomedical.com | www.flukebiomedical.com
Question: I own another Fluke product that came with a 12 V automotive ("cigarette
lighter") adapter that fits the DC input jack on my Impulse 6000D/7000DP.
Can I use this adapter to operate or charge the Impulse 6000D/7000DP from a
12 V vehicle battery?
Answer: No. For safe and reliable operation, the battery charger MUST have a good earth
ground when connected to the Impulse 6000D/7000DP, and vehicle electrical
systems inherently lack an earth ground. For battery charging only (with the
Impulse 6000D/7000DP turned off, and no other connections to the Impulse
6000D/7000DP unit other than at the charger input jack), attempting to charge from
a 12 V vehicle gives inconsistent results and therefore cannot be recommended.
Question: Can I operate or charge my Impulse 6000D/7000DP from a 12 V vehicle
battery using an AC inverter to power the charger that came with my Impulse
6000D/7000DP unit?
Answer: No. For safe and reliable operation, the battery charger MUST have a good earth
ground when connected to the Impulse 6000D/7000DP, and vehicle electrical
systems inherently lack an earth ground. For battery charging only (with the
Impulse 6000D/7000DP turned off, and no other connections to the Impulse
6000D/7000DP unit other than at the charger input jack), using a DC-to-AC
inverter to power the battery charger may yield consistent battery charging,
depending on the quality of the inverter used. As of this writing, Fluke Biomedical
cannot recommend the use of a DC-to-AC inverter for battery-charging-only use
with the Impulse 6000D/7000DP.
