Reading and Understanding Data from the Dual Pro Battery Charger
Introduction
If you’re wondering about the health of your battery pack, your battery charger just might hold the answers. In this article, we take a look at the DeltaView® Link feature included with certain NSS cleaning machines built after November 29, 2016.
To find out if this article applies to your machine, first look for a Dual Pro battery charger. Then check the serial number label on the pigtail cord on the charger. In this example, the charger was produced on October 11, 2018. The battery charger serial number is also on this label. Take note of it, because we’ll need it later.
These NSS models use Dual Pro battery chargers:
• Champ 2929, 3329, and 3529 ride-on Scrubbers
• Wrangler 2625, 2730 and 3330 walk-behind scrubbers
• Wrangler 2016 DB walk-behind scrubbers with 235 AH batteries
• Charger 2022 ABLT, 2022 DB, 2717 AB and 2717 DB walk-behind battery burnishers
Connecting to the Dual Pro Battery Charger
The DeltaView Link system connects the battery charger to your smartphone through a Bluetooth connection.
Step 1: Download the Pro Charging Systems “DeltaView Link” App.
For Android Phones, click on this link: DeltaView Link for Android
For Apple iPhones, click on this link: DeltaView Link for iPhone
Step 2: Turn on your phone’s Bluetooth function. If your Bluetooth function is off, the app will turn it on for you when it starts. Answer “yes” when prompted to turn on Bluetooth.
Step 3: Start the “DeltaView Link” app on your phone. When you start the app, you may be asked to allow permission for the app to access certain functions on your phone. This app can store and send data, so it asks for permission to access your location, phone, and storage.
Step 4: Once the app is open, you will see a list of chargers that are within Bluetooth range of your phone. In order to show up on this list, the battery charger must be plugged into the wall. The serial number of the charger is listed after the letters “ECCS” for each battery charger. Tap on the charger to connect to it through your smartphone.
Using the DeltaView Link App to Check the Battery Pack Charging Data
Once connected to a particular charger, you will see a menu. We’re going to use the Summary and Details options (see red box below).
Example Summary Report
In this example, we can see that the machine has been charged a total of 31 times. The little numbers to the right of the bar graphs are the number of cycles in that category.
Starting Voltage
We can see that the starting voltage for this machine has been above 35.64 Volts for 29 out of 31 cycles. Two of the cycles were below the target voltage. One common cause of low starting charge is neglect. It looks like these batteries might have gone too long between charge cycles on two occasions.
Early/Normal Charge Terminations
The charge cycle has four stages. They are Bulk, Absorption, Finish and Float. When a charge cycle is complete, the Float stage begins. For these batteries, the charge cycle was stopped before the charge cycle ended on 20 out of 31 charge cycles. That could mean that the machine isn’t being given enough time to charge each day.
Charge Length (Hours)
In this chart, we learn how long the charge cycles are taking. Note that this doesn’t indicate if the charge cycle finished successfully. In this case, 25 of the charge cycles are shorter than 12.25 hours. This information combined with the large number of early terminations strengthens the idea that this machine is not being given enough time to charge.
Fault Code Summary
In this chart, we see the number of times that the battery charge was unable to finish the cycle. For this machine, there is only one charge cycle that caused a fault. Keep reading for more details about the meanings of the fault codes.
Example Detail Report
To expand our understanding of this battery charger’s performance, we can look through the detail report to see the data related to the outstanding issues we noticed in the summary.
Cycle #26. Here’s an example of a fully completed charge cycle. In this report, we can see the date and time the charge cycle started. We can also see the starting voltage and the length of the charge cycle. Finally, we can see that this charge cycle ended in the float cycle, which means the cycle was 100% complete.30
Cycle #30. Here’s an example of a charge cycle that was interrupted by unplugging the charger. A charge cycle is recorded if the charger is plugged in longer than 15 minutes. In this case, the charger was unplugged in under two hours.
Cycle #31. From the summary, we saw there was one charge cycle with a low starting voltage. Looking through the details, we can figure out that it was cycle 31. In this case, the battery pack was discharged to about 29 volts at the start of the cycle. We can also see that the battery pack had not been charged for 56 days! That explains it!
Cycle #6. We also knew from the summary that there was a charge cycle with a fault. We found in the detail report that it was charge cycle number 6. Charge cycle 7 (not pictured) looked normal, so there’s probably no real issue here. An occasional fault code isn’t a big problem. If they are repeating, then there is probably a problem with the battery pack.
Now that we’ve reviewed the data, what can we say about this battery pack? It’s probably in pretty good shape and will last a while. The people that use this machine, however, need to allow more time for the charger to finish. The best practice is to plan for 16 hours for a charge cycle to complete. If this customer doesn’t change their charger habits, the battery pack will probably wear out before it should.
Fault Codes Explained
The occasional fault code is normal. The Dual Pro Charger is designed to protect your batteries. If something looks off, it will stop the charge cycle. If you experience repeated fault codes, then there’s a problem. If the battery charger indicator lights (30 / 60 / 90 /100) are flashing, that indicates a fault. The pattern of the flashing lights indicates what kind of fault happened. See the operation manual for more details.
If your charge cycle ends with a fault code, unplug the charger. Check the battery cells to make sure the plates are covered with electrolyte. Add distilled water if the plates are exposed. Plugin the charger again and see what happens. If the next few charge cycles cause faults, contact your local NSS Service Center. For a full explanation of how to add water to a battery, check out The Definitive Guide to Battery Maintenance.
Faults Listed in the DeltaLink App
Forming: The battery voltage didn’t attain the minimum required voltage after three hours of charging. This indicates a possible charging problem and the charger shuts down if this happens.
Over-Temp: Internal Over-Temperature Shutdown. The charger circuitry has detected operating temperatures inside above factory specified levels. This could indicate that a possible charger problem exists and the charge cycle has been terminated. Move the machine to a cooler location and try to charge the machine again.
Bulk Time: This fault occurs when the charge cycle has not completed within the allowed factory set time. The factory-set time for the NSS / Dual Pro charger is 18 hours.
Bulk Dv/Dt: This fault occurs when the battery voltage does not increase correctly during the bulk charging phase. This indicates a possible problem with the battery pack.