4
Connect the DataTrac and enhance your ability to manage battery usage,
maintenance and overall life. Start tracking daily usage, charge return,
temperature, water level and equalization events. With the DataTrac, you’ll collect
data needed to:
•
Confirm operator compliance charging and equalizing
•
Identify battery maintenance needs
•
Easily optimize fleet size and truck operation
Features and Capabilities
DataTrac is an intelligent battery data-collection device for use with industrial
battery applications. It contains instrumentation to continuously measure
temperature, current and voltage. DataTrac is available with a split-core current
transducer, for applications which require portability and with a solid core
transducer, which is designed to be installed permanently on a single battery for
long term energy metering applications. DataTrac has an internal sensor which it
uses to monitor temperature. It can also be configured with an external thermistor
which can be inserted between two battery cells, for more precise temperature
measurements. It can optionally be configured to monitor battery electrolyte level
and to drive a 24V solid-state relay.
DataTrac can have one or two serial ports. One serial port is used for host
communication and is typically configured with a Bluetooth
®
radio for wireless
communications but can also be configured as an RS232 port for communicating
with a truck based host computer. The other serial port may be used in some
applications to communicate with the charger via an isolated RS232 serial port.
It continuously monitors the state of the battery after being configured and
started by the user. Data is retained in onboard flash memory and events are
recorded detailing the operating condition of the battery. At all times the battery is
considered to be in one of three states:
•
Charging
•
Discharging
•
Idle
When DataTrac determines that the state of the battery has changed, an event
record is generated and stored that records the cumulative data of the state that
has just ended, and a new summary recording the data of the new state is started.
In addition, key high and low values measured during the operating state are
recorded with this event record.
® Bluetooth is a registered trademark of Bluetooth SIG, Inc.
Section 1: Introduction
