Battery Basics

Introduction

This document will cover battery information, power management features, and how to troubleshoot power on and battery issues.

Battery Basics

The EnSURE Touch™ battery is a Lithium Polymer cells with PCM Protection module, communication interface for battery level, and external plastic case.

 

Temperature – Ambient

  • Charge 0 deg C to 45 deg C
  • Discharge -20 deg C to 60 deg C
  • Storage -5 deg C to 35 deg C

Charge Cycles

The battery charge was tested at 800-1000 cycles and still retained 80% capacity.

Usage

  • Always power the instrument off before removing the battery.
  • Give the instrument 30 seconds to completely power down before removing the battery.
  • If the instrument is not plugged into power, removing the battery removes power, and the instrument will shutoff abnormally.
  • Abnormal power off is not desired and could lead to power on issues.
  • Do not remove the battery when plugged into USB power.
  • Do not expose the battery to extreme temperatures.
  • Do not over tighten the battery. The screw should be tightened lightly until it is secure, and the battery does not move.

Power On/Off Basics

The power button has some basic behavior:

Current Instrument State Power Button Behavior
Powered Off Press and Release Power the instrument on
Powered Off Press and hold for 12 seconds Reset and power on the instrument
Display On Press and Release Turn off the display and invoke sleep
Sleep mode Press and Release Wake instrument up in 1 to 3 seconds depending on sleep state.

Power Management Basics

The EnSURE Touch™ is designed to run off the USB power or the battery if properly charged. You can run the instrument without the battery and just use the USB adapter and USB cable. All operations that consume power should work including display, WiFi, USB communication, light detection, EnSURE Touch Setup and install, Sync, etc. using the USB cable and the power adapter. In fact, we test the EnSURE Touch many times without the battery and just using the USB power.

Android Battery Information
The battery status is visible in the notification area in the upper right corner of the screen as a battery icon. The following are the different battery icon states.

Battery is low

Battery is not charging
Battery has power

Battery is not charging
Battery has power

Battery is charging
Battery is empty

Battery is charging
Battery is critically low < 4%

Battery is missing

Battery is not charging

You can access the Battery information in Settings > General > Battery Status.

The Battery activity will show the amount of time the instrument has been on battery and the usage of the battery by area/application. The amount of time the instrument is on battery is critical to the accuracy of the numbers. The numbers will be different based on usage, but typically the Screen is the largest consumer of power.

When Charging the battery, usage statics are not accurate, but once on battery they will start to reflect usage.

EnSURE Touch™ Power Management Options

The EnSURE Touch™ has some useful power management options. They can be used to conserve battery power and match your usage of the instrument.

In general, most users will want to turn the display to maximum brightness, keep the display on for long periods, and never power the instrument off. When performing a few tests per day this will likely work. However, using the Display & Power Off options below you could conserve the battery power and reduce charge cycles, extending the life of the battery.

The display will dim after 5 seconds of inactive use to conserve power regardless of the settings.

Power management features are designed to work when running on battery. Some features are ignored when the instrument is plugged into power. The screen will not turn off when connected to power, unless instructed to do so by pressing the power button.

 

Option Behavior
Brightness Controls the screen brightness.   The brighter the more power used.
Timeout The of time the display will stay on if not touched. One touch is all it takes to reset the timer. You can choose from a list of preset timeouts.

Once the screen is turned off the power to internal sensors will be turned off and the processor will go into power conservation mode. If the instrument is plugged into power, it will not turn the display off.
Power Off Power off has 2 options that can be enabled. After Display Time Out, and Daily At a specific time.
After Display Timeout After the display is turned off this will define the time before the instrument powers off. You can enter between 1 and 60 minutes. The instrument much be in sleep mode for this to work. If connected to USB power the display will not turn off and the instrument will not automatically go into sleep mode. You will have to put the instrument to sleep by pressing the power button.
Daily At When this time is reached the instrument will power down. The instrument must be in sleep mode. This is an alarm event so if the instrument is not ready to power down it will be ignored. You will have to put the instrument to sleep by pressing the power button.

 

 

Power on Troubleshooting

The EnSURE Touch™ does not have a separate changing indicator. The only way to know the instrument is changing is to power it on. In the notification are is the charge indicator.

If the instrument does not power on there are a few things to do to troubleshoot the problem

Step Results
Press and hold the power button for 12 seconds. Make sure it is a full 12 seconds. This will cause a Power on reset operation and will recover from a failed shutdown. You should see the screen slightly light up when the power is activated. If this does not work the battery may be insufficient charge.
Connect the instrument to power.   Use the supplied power adapter and cable. Press and hold the power button for 12 seconds. The instrument is designed to power on an operate using the USB power. You do not need to change the instrument. If this does not work and of the following issues could be true.

1.       Wall power is off

2.       Power adapter is not working

3.       Cable is not working

4.       Cable fit in not working

5.       Instrument is not working

The following steps will try to identify the problem above and should be performed in the order most likely for your condition. Use the same 12 second power on operation to validate the remaining tests.
Connect a device you know is working to the wall power. In most cases the wall power is working, but it possible the circuit is off or surge protector if used it not working.
Use an alternative power adapter. The power adapter shipped with the EnSURE Touch share the same specification with phone, table, and most USB device chargers. We have used iPhone, Samsung, and many 3rd no-name brand adapters, and they all work.   Some adapters do not supply enough power to perform the most power intensive operation, so the instrument may turn off. Using a second USB adapter suppled by Hygiena is preferred.
Change the USB-C cable orientation. The USB-C cable can be inserted in 2 different orientations. This is to make the insertion easy. However, connectors on both sides in the system and on the cable must be working.   It is possible on side is failing.
Use and alternative USB-A to USB-C cable This is a common cable used by many popular phones and tablets. It is possible the cable is damaged. Using a second USB cable supplied by Hygiena is preferred.

If none of the above steps solve the problem the EnSURE Touch instrument is not working.  click here to submit a ticket for technical support.

 

Battery Power Levels

As the battery level depletes the instrument will respond accordingly. The goal is to make sure the instrument has enough power to warn the user of the battery status, perform functions correctly, power down the instrument to protect the OS form shutdown failure, and power the real time clock for an extended period. Below are the battery level ranges and what the user should expect.

Battery Level Behavior Notes
15% to 3% Low battery warnings You can dismiss these and continue to use the instrument.
5% to 3% Lower battery message when running a test or performing Sync advising that the power is low, and the instrument could power off during the function. You can dismiss and proceed, but the test or sync may fail.
3% to 2% Lower battery power down message.

Instrument will power down.

 This can happen at any time and will stop running tests or sync process.
2% to 0.5% Will likely see the boot animation, but the instrument will power off. Once the instrument has booted enough to check the battery it must shutdown immediately. This is when the boot cycle can become corrupted and require a 20 second power button hold to power on.
0.5% and 0% Will likely see the screen illuminate but will not see the boot animation. Instrument will power off. If you plug the instrument into power, it should boot.

Power Down Details

The instrument will power down at 2% or less. This is for multiple reasons.

  1. There is not enough battery to run tests, sync or perform other functions. This protects the OS and the application behavior.
  2. The Real Time Clock (RTC) has a super capacitor to keep the RTC alive at 0% battery, but if the battery is at 1-2% it can maintain the RTC for months.

Contact Hygiena Technical Support for further assistance.

USB Tethering Configuration

Introduction

This document will cover the step by step instructions for configuring USB Tethering on the EnSURE™ Touch. It will also cover the requirements and troubleshooting steps.  

Overview

EnSURE Touch needs an internet connection to communicate with SureTrend Cloud. Most customers will use the Wi-Fi features of EnSURE Touch. In some cases, Wi-Fi is not available or acceptable. EnSURE Touch can be connected to a Windows 10 computer using the USB cable that comes with EnSURE Touch and share the internet connection of the Windows 10 computer.

Requirements

  1. Windows 10 computer with an internet connection and an EnSURE Touch.
  2. Permissions to install Windows 10 RNDIS6 driver.
  3. Permissions to configure Windows Internet Connection Sharing (ICS).
  4. USB-C Cable that comes with the EnSURE Touch.
  5. Windows 10 knowledge and ability to navigate to Device Manager and Windows Network Connections.

Limitations

  1. Only one EnSURE Touch can be connected at a time. You can configure multiple instruments on one computer, but only one can be connected at a time.
  2. Once configured, disconnecting the EnSURE Touch will remove the network adapter from Windows 10. Reconnecting the EnSURE Touch to the Windows 10 computer will reestablish the network adapter and ICS setting, but there is a short delay. The delay is about 30 seconds depending on the computer. Attempting to Sync or perform any network functions during this delay will result in failure. The failure can be dismissed.
  3. USB Tethering has not been tested on every Windows 10 computer. Success is dependent on the Windows 10 computer ability to support the network adapter driver and ICS configuration.
  4. Windows 10 computer BIOS, drivers, and Windows updates may be required.
  5. 3rd party software firewalls may block ICS.
  6. TeamViewer support on EnSURE Touch does not work with USB Tethering

Configuration Steps

The following are the steps to enable USB Tethering. Each EnSURE Touch has a unique serial number that is bound to the Windows RNDIS driver. This means the Windows steps below must be done for each EnSURE Touch that will be connected to this computer. Once the configuration is complete, disconnecting and reconnecting the EnSURE Touch will reestablish the network adapter ICS settings. This typically takes less than 30 seconds.

Summary of Steps

  1. Enable USB Tethering on EnSURE Touch.
  2. Install the Windows 10 RNDIS6 driver.
  3. Configure Windows Internet Connection Sharing (ICS).
  4. Verify the connection on the EnSURE Touch.

Enable USB Tethering on EnSURE Touch

  1. Connect the EnSURE Touch to your PC using the USB cable. This can power the EnSURE Touch while connecting it to the internet.
  2. Turn on EnSURE Touch. If it is in sleep mode wake it up by pressing the power button once.
  3. Navigate to Settings > General > USB Tethering.
  4. Tap the toggle to enable USB Tethering.

Install the Windows 10 RNDIS Driver

Once the EnSURE Touch is powered on and USB Tethering is enabled, the EnSURE Touch should create an entry in Windows Device Manager as an unknown RNDIS device. You will need Windows 10 permissions to accomplish the following steps.

  1. Right click the Start button and select Device Manager.
  2. Expand Other Devices and right click RNDIS.
  3. Select Update Driver.
  4. Select Browse my computer for drivers.
    NOTE:  Selecting Search automatically for drivers will fail to install the driver correctly.  Do NOT select Search automatically for drivers.
  5. Select Let me pick from a list of available drivers on my computer.
  6. If necessary, select Network adapters from the list of common hardware types and press the Next button.
  7. Allow time for Device Manager to populate a list of manufacturers and models.  Select Microsoft from the list of manufacturers and USB RNDIS6 Adapter from models.
  8. Click Yes on the Update Driver Warning dialog box.
  9. The following message box will appear when the driver is successfully installed.
  10. If the driver was installed correctly, it will display in Device Manager as USB RNDIS6 Adapter.

Configure Internet Connection Sharing (ICS)

  1. Right click the Start button and select Network Connections.
  2. Click Change Adapter Options.
  3. Locate the network connection that is used for internet access.  This will likely have your domain name in the Status field.
  4. Right click the network connection and select Properties.
  5. Click the Sharing tab and check the checkbox for Internet Connection Sharing.
  6. If done correctly, the two networks should have ICS enabled and the shared network should show Shared in the status.

Restart EnSURE Touch

  1. Press and hold the power button until the power menu appears.
  2. Select Restart from the menu.
  3. Go to Settings > General > USB Tethering.
  4. When the USB Tethering screen in enabled and has obtained an IP address it will have a Check Connection button.  Tap the Check Connection button.
  5. If PC Connection and SureTrend Connection show a “Pass” result, then USB Tethering has been successfully configured.

 

Troubleshooting

The following are some known conditions and how to resolve them.

RNDIS Driver Does Not Appear in Device Manager

If the EnSURE Touch shows in device manager as Unknown USB Device that typically means the cable is not communicating with the Windows 10 computer or USB Tethering has not been enabled.

Solution

  1. Repeat the steps in the section titled “Enable USB Tethering on EnSURE Touch.”
  2. Replace the USB-C cable.
  3. The steps above did not resolve the issue, there may be a hardware issue with the USB port on the instrument.  Contact Hygiena Technical Support for further assistance.

 

Prevent the Network Adapter from Going to Sleep.

The network adapter may enter sleep mode when the PC is not in use.

Solution

  1. Right click the Start button and select Control Panel.
  2. Select Network and Internet.
  3. Select Network and Sharing Center.
  4. Select Change Adapter Settings.
  5. Select your Shared Network Connection, and select Properties.
  6. Select Configure.
  7. Check the checkbox for Allow this device to wake the computer.
  8. Click OK.

Wi-Fi Does Not Work After Using USB Tethering

USB Tethering needs to be disabled before attempting to use Wi-Fi.  See the steps below to fix this issue.

Solution

  1. Connect the EnSURE Touch to a PC with a USB-C cable.
  2. Go to Settings > General > USB Tethering.
  3. Tap the toggle to enable USB tethering if it was disable.
  4. Tap the toggle to disable USB tethering.

 

If you are having trouble with USB Tethering on your EnSURE Touch, please contact Hygiena Technical Support for assistance.