HOW LONG SHOULD YOUR TIME MACHINE RUN FOR?
The Time Machine has been designed to give maximum performance versus battery life in a variety of event conditions.
Both Club and Pro readers use the same size battery. This battery has been selected as it is the largest capacity battery that is allowed by air transport authorities to be transported by aircraft as a single unit. The Club and the Pro readers use very little power to run thanks to their sophisticated and low power electronics. About 4 watts will be the norm.
The main power usage is done by the mats and is determined by the Power Setting. Of course less mats mean less power which is why the Club with only 2 mats runs almost twice as long as its big brother the Pro with 4 mats. The power setting can be adjusted by the user to suit the conditions of the day if required. This setting is factory set at 18 which in a Club will give around 7 hours battery life and about 4 hours in a Pro. The user can adjust the Power Setting from 1 to 32 although settings less than 5 would generally not be recommended.
- See your Manual for instructions on how to change the Power Setting.
The Power Setting is a little like the gas pedal in your car. Put your foot down and you will get heaps of power but the tank will soon be empty, Go a little easy and the tank will last longer. Same with the Power Setting. In most cases the factory setting is more than enough but we have given the user the ability to change it if need be. Bib tags in some harsh conditions (re enforced concrete) may require the power to be increased.
The attached graphs show a general indication of life span you can expect for each power setting and the power up range at these settings. Note that these tests were done in ideal conditions and may be slightly less in more harsh setups.
If you think you need high power for long periods you should consider adding a battery backup pack or one of our Battery /Chargers (when mains is available ) to your system.
Figure 1
With the Factory Power setting of 13 you can expect around 4 hours with the Pro and about 7 hours with the Club.
Figure 2
Power up for a shoe tag at the factory setting of 13 is about 1 meter (3’ feet).