Maintenance; Charging The Battery; Battery Maintenance; Storage Characteristics - Invacare Robin Manuel De Maintenance

Invacare® Robin®

4 Maintenance

4.1 Charging the Battery

If the charge status becomes low, an audible indicator
sounds and the indicator lamp on the bottom of the ceiling
hoist flashes (see also 7.2 Indicator light and audio signal,
page 20). When this happens, there is usually sufficient
power to lower the patient.
It is not possible to use the hoist while the battery
is charging.
1. Finish the current lift in progress
If the current lift in process discharges the battery
completely, an external backup battery may be used
to temporarily power the lift. See Using the external
back-up battery.
2. Move the ceiling hoist to the charging station.
3. Assure that the hand control and charging station are
clean and dry before charging
4. Place the hand control into the charging station.
A yellow indicator lamp on the charger indicates
the hand control is connected. The indicator lamp
illuminates red while charging.
5. When fully charged, the indicator lamp on the charger
turns green.
As long as the ceiling hoist is not in use, leave the
hand control in the charging station.
6. To use the ceiling hoist, remove the hand control from
the charger.
Keeping the batteries charged guarantees hoist
functionality and maintains the battery to ensure
a long lifetime.
If the audible indicator beeps and the blue
indicator on the hoist flashes after the hoist has
been fully charged and only been in use for a short
period of time, the battery may need exercise or
replacement. See 4.2 Battery Maintenance, page
8 .
If the ceiling hoist will not be used for more than
4 weeks, Invacare recommends disconnecting the
charger and pulling the emergency stop.
The charger is connected to the mains with a mains
plug. Make sure that the mains plug is accessible
and can be unplugged if required.

4.2 Battery Maintenance

If the audible indicator beeps and the blue indicator on
the hoist flashes after the hoist has been fully charged and
only been in use for a short period of time, the battery
may need to be exercised.
To enable the battery to charge fully, the battery should
be exercised from time to time.
Following a long period of storage, it could also be
necessary to exercise the battery.
It is also suggested that the battery is exercised in
situations where the hoist is used infrequently, and/or
where the hand control is placed in the charger for long
periods of time. In this situation, there will always be
8
capacity enough for a few lifts, but we recommend to
exercise the battery as soon as possible afterwards.
Exercise of the battery can be done by charging and
discharging the hoist completely several times.
1. Charge the battery until the LED turns green.
2. Remove the hand control from the charger.
3. Raise and lower the straps with a load for one minute.
4. Wait ten minutes.
5. Repeat Steps 3–4 until the battery is completely
discharged.
Continue this process after the audible alert
sounds and the blue light flashes, indicating
the battery is low.
6. Repeat Steps 1–5 two to three times.

4.2.1 Storage Characteristics

Essentially all rechargeable battery cells gradually discharge
over time whether they are used or not. This capacity
loss is typically due to slow parasitic reactions occurring
within the cell. As such, the loss rate (self- discharge rate)
is a function of the cell chemistry and the temperature
environment experienced by the cell. Due to the
temperature sensitivity of the self-discharge reaction,
relatively small differences in storage temperature may
result in large discharges which are difficult o r impossible
to reverse. Cell and battery storage issues of concern to
most application designers relate either to the speed with
which the cells lose their capacity after being charged or
the ability of the cells to charge and discharge "normally"
after storage for some period of time. In both situations,
general guidelines developed for nickel-cadmium cells work
acceptably for nickel-metal hydride cells.

4.2.2 Storage Temperature

As already mentioned, the self-discharge reaction rate
increases with higher temperatures. Prolonged storage of
the battery material deteriorating faster; leakage
performance will also deteriorate, resulting in a reduced
battery lifetime. It is recommended that, for long storage,
batteries should be kept at room temperature or below
(0-30°C or 32–86°F).

4.2.3 Storage Time

As the battery loses energy during storage, the voltage
also drops. In general, the battery capacity loss due
to self-discharge during storage can be recovered by
recharging. If the battery is stored for over six months, it
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