How long do you charge the internal battery on a trimble 5600 using the standard power supply charger?
Internal batteries generally comprise primary cells, not rechargeables. They typically use lithium cells, which have a high charge density that allows them to provide small amounts of power over a time span denominated in years. They need to be replaced when depleted.
I may be wrong in the case of the 5600, but it would be a departure from the general practice for a manufacturer to use a rechargeable for the purpose of retaining instrument settings between powerups.
i thought i read that the internal battery would run the instrument for up to 2 hours. So i figured you had to charge it after that. I must have read something wrong.
I've never seen a 5600 with an internal battery, at least not one that runs the instrument.
> i thought i read that the internal battery would run the instrument for up to 2 hours. So i figured you had to charge it after that. I must have read something wrong.
You may be thinking about the little batteries that fit below the scope of a 5600 that's not equipped with a tracker (i.e., a fully manual non-robotic model). A couple of hours sounds about right for those.
There are two internal batteries on the instrument and two on the faceplate. These batteries are lit-ion and are not rechargeable. They need to be changed every three years to avoid losing the programing and calibration values.
The internal batteries should put up a warning message that they need replacing. This is set when the instrument goes in for a service and is normally triggered after three years.
Experience shows that Trimble (Geodimeter) internal batteries generally run for some months after the message appears, although I've had one occasion when one failed on the three year date. The longest ran for 4 years and was still OK when the instrument went back for service.
The worst that will happen is that you loose all the programmed settings and you'll have to key them all back in again. If you always use the same service shop then they probably have a copy of your settings that they can reinstall.
Check your service record though; it isn't unknown for some service shops to set the date at less than three years to make sure they get the extra trade from instruments which come back in early.
thanks. I don't run a face plate and I know the internal was just replaced when I bought it. I will just continue to run my external 12v battery. I appreciate all the feedback. I love this gun. Surprises me every day.
Only charge time that you actually work on the job. Charging extra while you are using the Trimble 5600 internal battery should not be done. You should include that time as part of your overhead in the form of a charging multiplier. 😀