Maintenance | |
| Moisture Management | When you return to the office, remove connector caps and allow connectors to air-dry for a number of hours. Use desiccant to keep the inside of the readout dry. This is particularly important in hot humid weather. Warm moist air trapped in the readout can condense when the readout is brought into a cool air-conditioned office. |
| Battery | Recharge battery after every use. Charge at least two hours for every hour of use. Charging overnight is common practice. Do not change longer than 72 hours. Longer charge time may damage the battery. A new, recharged battery will show 6.2V or higher. The DataMate displays a low battery warning when voltage drops to 5.5 volts. Turn off the DataMate when the warning appears and then recharge as soon as possible. Deep discharge of the main battery can reduce its performance and shorten its life. |
| Desiccant | Check humidity under utilities menu. If humidity exceeds 75%, replace desiccant. If humidity is very high, open the box and let the boards dry for a few hours. In the winter, taking the DataMate from warm, moist office to cold outdoors can cause the humidity in the box to condense on the boards. This can lead to bad readings. In the summer, warm moist air in the box can condense when the DataMate is brought into a cool office. In either case, the best way to avoid humidity problems is to minimize temperature changes to the box and to keep the desiccant fresh. |
| Connector sockets | If it is necessary to clean the connector, use a small brush or a slim cotton swab. Do not use spray lubricants or electric contact cleaners. Solvents contained in such products will attack the neoprene inserts in the connectors. |
Inspection | ||
| Note: If you open the DataMate, be sure to ground yourself so that you don’t transmit an electrostatic charge to the DataMate’s circuit boards. Technicians at Slope Indicator always wear a wrist strap that is connected to a special, grounded rubber mat. | ||
| Part | Check this | Remedy |
|---|---|---|
| Desiccant | Check the humidity item on the utilities menu. | If humidity exceeds 75%, replace or recharge desiccant. |
| Batteries | Check main battery and lithium battery under utilities menu. | Main battery can be recharged. If battery does not hold charge, battery can be replaced. Lithium backup battery is good for 7 to 10 years if main battery keeps charge. Return for servicing if Lithium battery is bad. |
| SMP Board | DataMate stops working, locks up, does hot keep time, or has intermittent failures. | Surface Mount Processor (SMP) board may be loose. Open DataMate. Ground your self and the DataMate because electrostatic discharge can destroy the electronics. Remove battery. Press SMP board into place. Also check that other connectors are firmly mated to pins. |
| Connectors | Dirt, bent pins, O-ring | Clean with alcohol moistened swab. Note that connectors are waterproof only when capped or when connector is plugged in. |
| Keypad | Handswitch works, but keys do not. | The handswitch circuit parallels the ‘enter’ key on the front panel keypad, but is connected directly to the main circuit board. Since the handswitch works, the circuit that reads the keypad works. The problem is either a bad keypad or, more likely, the keypad has become disconnected from the main board. Solution: Remove the case and inspect the connection to the keypad. The keypad ribbon cable comes out of the front panel near the display. This ribbon cable plugs into a short adapter which plugs into the main board. Make sure both connections are secure. An ohmmeter can be used to check continuity on the adapter. If all this is OK, the keypad may need to be replaced. |
| Self Test | Error channel 0 | Bad signal input. Return for servicing. |
| Error channel 1 | Lithium Battery. Can continue use, but lithium battery will not protect data if main battery is discharged. | |
| Error channel 2 | High reference voltage. Affects readings. Try recharging battery. If error persists, return for service. | |
| Error channel 3 | Low reference voltage. Affects readings. Try recharging battery. If error persists, return for service. | |
| Error channel 4 | +4.9 V readout power. Does not affect readings but could cause errors in operation. Try recharging battery. If error persists, return for service. | |
| Error channel 5 | 12V sensor power. Disconnect control cable and probe. Try again. If error goes away, problem could be in probe or cable. Connect cable only. If no error, then probe is the problem. This error could also be caused by discharged battery. So try recharging battery first. If error persists, some component must be returned for servicing. | |
| Error channel 6 | +2.5 / -5V internal power supply. Can affect readings and communications. Return for service. | |
| Error channel 7 | Main battery is low. Try recharging. If error persists, replace battery. | |