Magna Systems ThermoBiscuit, Quick Start Manual, Page: 3 / 11

Rev. 0.2
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User Tips
1. Use regu lar AA batt eries su ch as DuraC el l ® Alkali ne B atteri es or recharg eab le
Energ i z er® N ickel - Meta l H y d ri de b atter ies.
2. Improper instal lat ion ( wron g orie ntat io n) of ba tt eries w il l damage t he ThermoBiscuit ™ .
3. Make sure the batt eries are goo d. The ba tteri es shou l d measure at le ast 1. 3 v olts but
NO MORE t ha n 1. 5 v olt s fo r each ba tter y .
4. Batt er y life d epe nds on the data sampli ng p erio d. Lon ger times bet we en d ata sa mp l es
w il l exte nd batt er y life .
5. Init ia li z e data com munication b et we en t he ThermoBiscuit a nd t he Gat e Way ™ wh ile the y
are wit hi n 1 5 feet of each o ther before start in g a t est. Once Data Li nk ™ starts displa y i ng
real t ime data from Ther mo Bi scuit , pos iti on ThermoBiscuit at the desire d start loca tion .
6. DataL ink can on l y c ol lect a nd store a maxi mu m of 65 , 500 data samples for each
Ther moBiscuit. To ensure c omplete dat a co llect ion , y o u can ca lcula te a n a ppropr i ate
data sampling p erio d . F or e xa mple, if th e data samplin g p erio d is o ne sample p er second,
then the maximu m data coll ection durat io n is 65 ,5 00 se conds (~ 1 8 h ours of data ) . If the
amount of data co ll ected exceeds the maxi mu m nu mb er of data samples a fil e ca n ho ld ,
y o ur data wi ll on l y be av ai la ble from the real - t ime Data Link displ a y but it w i ll not b e sav ed
to y o ur d ata fil e.
7. To set up in Dat a L ogg ing Mode , f oll o w D ataL ink Data Log ger Instruct ions (i nclu d ed
bel o w) .
8. Verif y proper t hermocouple operat io n b y w atchi ng t he data var iat ion in an en viro n ment
w ith a stea d y temperature. If the temperature rea di ng sho ws unre asona ble fluctu atio n s,
there ma y be an int ermittent thermocouple co nnect io n. The open thermocouple de tectio n
function in D ataL ink onl y in dicates ope n th ermocouple chann els if th e th ermocou ple w ire
is completel y d isconnect ed ; an intermittent co nnect ion may not be det ected.
9. Before runn in g a test a l wa y s verif y t hat y o u wi l l be run nin g i n th e S afe Operat ing Regi on
of the temperature vs test d uratio n curv e. For t hese cur ves, t he start ing ThermoBiscuit
temperature is 2 5°C (7 7° F). One w a y to ext en d the tes t durat ion is to refrigerate th e
Ther moBiscuit ( an d / or fre e ze the Ther moSlee ve ™) b efore use.
10. Prol ong ed exp osure of th e Ther moBiscuit to extreme temperatures w il l d amage the
dev ice. If exte nde d exposur e to hig h temperature has o ccurred , im mediatel y o pen
Ther moBiscuit cov er to al lo w air c oo l ing of the e lectro n ics and b att eries. Be careful t o
w ear prot ecti ve cl oth in g (ho t mitt) whe n h and li ng a hot Ther moBiscuit™ u nit .
11. Do no t break the insu lat ion packaging insi de ThermoBiscuit or ThermoSleev e.
12. Use of Barker™ modules t o exten d w irel ess net work range REQUI RE S t he L ab Plus
versio n of Dat aLi nk.