Should the Fluke-196B drain the battery when the oscilloscope is turned off? - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / beginners

author: Lachin012
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: January 27, 2023, 02:53:13 pm
content: Hey! tell me, please, should the Fluke 196B oscilloscope be discharged if it is not used? the fact is that when I last worked with them, I fully charged it to 100%, turned it off, and I went on vacation for 3 weeks, after the vacation for the second day I went to work, checked the oscilloscope and there was 50% battery left, I wanted is this normal or not? I put a new battery in, the battery lasts 4 hours when working with oscilloscopes.And one more question, does the Ni-MH battery have to be completely discharged and then only charged?

author: BeBuLamar
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 27, 2023, 02:55:08 pm
content: I don't know but the one I have at work does the same thing. I have to charge it everytime I used it. I replaced the battery but still the same problem.

author: Lachin012
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: January 27, 2023, 03:38:27 pm
content: You didn’t understand me, my battery holds perfectly, exactly 4 hours, then I charge, I mean, if I turned off the oscilloscope and don’t work with it for a long time, say a month or a little less, should the battery be discharged?

author: BeBuLamar
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 27, 2023, 05:11:14 pm
content: So you meant if you remove the battery then only put it back when you use the scope it would be OK? That's a lot better than mine. With new battery it only works like 1 hour or less. Leave it fully charge the battery is completely dead in 2 weeks. And that's brand new battery bought from Fluke.

author: Lachin012
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: January 27, 2023, 05:37:29 pm
content: No, you don’t understand me correctly, I don’t pull anything from the oscilloscope, I wanted to say, so I charged my oscilloscope before going on vacation, it was exactly 100% after 3 weeks, maybe a little more, I came back from vacation, turn on my oscilloscope And I see that the battery has exactly half left.

author: BeBuLamar
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 27, 2023, 06:08:01 pm
content: What happens if you remove the full charged battery? Try that and see.

author: Lachin012
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: January 27, 2023, 06:29:59 pm
content: I think that it will be discharged but not much.

author: Bud
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 27, 2023, 07:14:07 pm
content: Batteries self-discharge through internal leakage and discharge thru the device circuitry if left in the device. How much it may discharge if left in a device depends on the device design. Loss of 50% charge over 3 weeks seems possible.

author: Lachin012
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: January 27, 2023, 08:33:39 pm
content: Quote from: Bud on January 27, 2023, 07:14:07 pmThanks for the answer, it turns out it is discharged up to 50% and should not be discharged further?

author: mcinque
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: January 28, 2023, 03:59:42 pm
content: since it has a soft power on (not hard on-off switch), it drains some current when turned off.but that model for sure it drains hundreds of uA (or worst, few mA) while is turned off. So it discharges the battery.they should had realized a better soft power on circuit, you can have few uA drained while off, that is negligible compared to battery autodischarge

author: Lachin012
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: January 28, 2023, 08:44:46 pm
content: Quote from: mcinque on January 28, 2023, 03:59:42 pmThank you for the answer! what do you mean with autodischarge?

author: mcinque
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: January 29, 2023, 08:11:57 pm
content: Quote from: Lachin012 on January 28, 2023, 08:44:46 pmI mean self discharge, probably I used the wrong term.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-discharge

author: Bud
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 29, 2023, 10:57:52 pm
content: Quote from: Lachin012 on January 27, 2023, 08:33:39 pmThis totally depends on the design. If there is no a low battery cut off circuit, it may keep discharging to zero voltage. And the cut off switch still can leak some current so the battery will eventially drain completely, it just takes longer.

author: Lachin012
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: January 30, 2023, 12:10:25 am
content: There is a low battery shutdown.Tell me, how to properly charge the battery when the battery is completely discharged or does it not need to be completely discharged? Somewhere they write that if the battery is at 50%, then you should not charge it, you need to discharge it to 0% and then put the device on charge.

author: pantherj
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: April 17, 2023, 12:44:16 pm
content: perhaps a simple solution is to put in a micro on of button switch

author: coromonadalix
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 17, 2023, 03:01:11 pm
content: I think you need to re-readThe battery will self discharge over time, there is nothing you can doEDITEven separating each cell of the pack, they will eventually drop ...Factors like the battery pack age can affect its longevity for sure, a 50% drop after a few days ? it depends how the scope consumes at Power OffFor sure this battery pack is NiMH, it should last a bit, but bad charging practices may affect longevity ... how old is the pack ?For every laptop i have / tablet / portable instrument(s) I plug them say once at every 2 monthsFor lithium / ion drill pack, i've done some tests, they can last a year on a shelfif i put them fully chargedthere, but eventually they drop tooIf the pack is older in age, i do them at every 6 months, If they dont last 6 months, i'll use them more until they die.It is your responsability to check them ...