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Bedrock SM50 operating manual
© Embedded Acoustics BV, 2015
5. Power and charging
Charging instructions
We recommend that you charge your SM50 only with the USB charger and the USB cable
supplied with the instrument. Alternatively, you can charge the device through any external
USB wall charger (“wall wart”) with a charge current of 1500 mA or higher. Some PCs
allow increased charge currents to be drawn from their USB ports (sometimes through
special ports marked “Boost” or “Charge”). These can then also be used to charge the
instrument.
Note: the instrument will NOT charge from a standard USB port on a PC
or Mac. The current supplied through a computer USB port is normally in-
sufficient to charge the device. The fact that the device may be powered from
such a USB port does not necessarily imply that there is sufficient current
left to also charge the battery.
The SM50 has internal charge circuitry that optimizes your charge time while safeguarding
the life span of your battery pack. If you are not using the SM50 for a prolonged period, you
can safely keep the SM50 connected to a charger.
A few charging tips:
•
A LED next to the USB shows the charge status. While blinking (alter-
nating between green and orange), the battery is still charging. The LED
burns constant green as soon as the battery is full.
•
If you find, over time, that the battery capacity is reduced significantly com-
pared to its original capacity, we recommend that you fully discharge the
batteries, and then fully recharge them. If necessary, this procedure may be
repeated a few times.
•
If the battery charge indicator appears to become inaccurate (e.g., the bat-
tery is drained quickly from the point that the indicator still shows 50%
charge), it also helps to completely discharge and recharge the battery.
•
It is normal for the total battery capacity to slowly decrease over time. Af-
ter 500 charge/recharge cycles, the battery capacity is normally at 80% to
90% of its original capacity, depending on the way the device is used and
recharged.
•
If you start using the SM50 after a long period of storage, we recommend
that you first top off the charge before using the instrument. You may also
want to check if the date and time settings were preserved.