I recently purchased a Topcon GPT-2003. I also bought a brand new battery. I have turned off the tracking lights, and any other power sucker i can find, but i only get three hours per battery. I have two batteries that will work 8 hours each on my GTS-226. the instrument sounds like there is something running inside it, it makes a slight humming noise, and I suspect that is what is killing the batteries. I have turned the reflector less off in the data collector, and my distances are checking fine, so I do not think that the reflectorless edm is running, but then again it could be. Has anyone dealt with this issue before?
I have the same instrument and that's about all I ever get out of the on-board batteries. In fact, 3 hours is pretty good. I hardly use them any more. I got a 12-volt external battery from Batteries Plus and use it with a converter from Hayes. It will last a couple of days on a full charge.
My mistake, my instrument is a GPT-8003 (robotic). But that is the issue I have with it.
Do you have the manual for the instrument? If so check out "EDM OFF TIME" on page 16-2. This instrument keeps the edm firing for a certain time after your last measurement as a way to speed up the next shot. For topos and other shot intensive jobs this saves time and has a minimal impact on battery life since you're using the edm almost constantly anyway. For boundaries and work where the shots are less frequent you can change this to "0" and greatly extend your battery run time. Page 23-3 lists the max operating time including distance measurement (edm on) as 3.2 hours; max operating time angle measurement only (edm off) is 45 hours.
If you don't have the manual or access to Topcon's Support site let me know and I will DropBox the manual for you.
Does that model have the laser plummet? If so, may its on all the time.
yep. set your edm run time down lower. and you may need to recell the batteries. I get days out of a single battery.
your guide lights are on for the staking mode. hit menue menue twice and it will turn off.
I have a Topcon CTS 3007, which is a very similar model. My instrument and batteries are almost 5 years old, and I get at least 5 or 6 hours off of a full charge.
I hear that clicking or humming for a short period of time, and then it quits. It sounds like the EDM setting is what you need to change.
It is a great gun, and I use it all the time when my robot is too much for the job.
The clicking sound is a normal state for the EDM in that series and all GPT conventional model total stations. Changing the EDM wait state time to a lower setting may help a little but it is a trade off. If you set it to 0, the EDM wll power down after every shot. The combination of the time required and the power consumption to power the EDM back up the next time you call for a shot will offset any run-time gains from setting that value too low.
Our technicians discovered that the default 3 minute wait-time before the EDM powers down after the last shot is a reasonable setting for most folks. If you only take a shot or two every few minutes, you'd probably get as much benefit by simply powering down the instrument. Topcon instruments retain their last angle setting when they are powered down, even if you turn the instrument before you power it back up.
A 12-volt auxillary battery for intensive shooting such as a topo may be a good option. We should have that cable on hand.