Plan battery use and replacement

More frequent measurements, additional axes and longer records increase the data captured and transferred. Set a useful monitoring interval and keep a reliable radio connection. Battery-life examples in older FAQs are tied to particular sensors and recording settings.

Count the axes as part of the workload: the old FAQ treats each axis as a separate measurement. Use only the relevant axes, an appropriate sample count and a capture threshold that avoids transferring idle-machine data. A good radio link reduces additional transfer attempts.

The documented lithium manganese dioxide cells maintain a relatively stable voltage for much of their life. Voltage is therefore not a simple linear percentage of remaining capacity.

In the older coin-cell sensor behavior described by the discharge guide, low battery voltage can stop vibration captures while temperature, battery and RSSI reporting continue. An occasional later capture can result from the cell recovering after a transmission pulse. A sensor that is still visible is therefore not necessarily able to complete its normal measurement workload.

The existing sensor range includes models using CR2032 and models using CR123A cells. Follow the battery replacement manual for the exact model, including polarity and clean handling; do not substitute a different cell type based on another sensor’s guide.

For the documented two-cell sensors, both cells support transmission loads. Follow the specified two-cell arrangement and polarity rather than treating a single remaining cell as normal operation. Clean handling is also important for these very low-power devices.

The FAQ’s examples use 2,048 samples. At 3,200 samples per second, one axis covers 0.64 seconds; at 1,600 samples per second it covers 1.28 seconds. These examples explain capture duration, not an expected battery lifetime or a universal measurement setting.

The original battery advice also uses a longer wake-up interval to reduce radio activity. Choose it together with the capture interval: a sleeping sensor cannot collect queued work until its next contact with the base station.