What does the Battery Health Indicator tell me?

The battery health indicator provides a guide as to whether a FitMachine is getting close to the end of its battery life.

How can it help you?

We've recently updated the battery health indicator to better help you get ahead of depleting batteries and ship stock prior to battery death. 

How does it work?

Previously, the battery voltage column displayed the voltage reported by the FitMachine from the most recent sample. However, this didn't provide much guidance on how soon a battery may need to be replaced, as FitMachines use Lithium Thionyl Chloride batteries. In these batteries, the voltage rapidly decreases near their end of life.

Further, the battery capacity could vary between samples depending on the network strength and how hard the FitMachine had to work to send through its stored data. This would mean the battery would alternate between full and empty readings and only provide value when it stopped reporting.

Now, the battery health indicator calculates the average battery voltage and current over the last eight samples and as well as any onboard errors we encounter due to insufficient battery capacity. This makes it more resistant to instances where a FitMachine may draw excess power due to a temporary network issue.

Four statuses can be now displayed:

Battery Icon

Explanation

This FitMachine is showing signs of a healthy battery. No action is required.

The battery is showing signs that it is reaching the end of life and will need to be replaced soon. Please get in touch with MOVUS to organise a replacement. 

The battery capacity has been critically depleted and will need to be replaced as soon as possible. Our article How to Replace a FitMachine Sensor Battery outlines how to do so. Please contact MOVUS if you haven't already ordered a replacement.

This will appear once the FitMachine enters a non-reporting state and we haven't received data from it in 1 week. We no longer have enough recent data to determine the state of the battery's health. Please see our article How to Troubleshoot Non-Reporting FitMachines to resolve this. 

Hovering over the icon will provide you with the exact voltage value. 

How do I access it?

The Battery Health data is accessible via the FitMachine Admin Page. In the User Menu in the top right-hand corner of the dashboard, under Admin Tools, you can find the FitMachines page. 

Only users with admin access can view this page. 

fitmachine admin page

FAQ's

1. I've replaced my battery recently. Why is it still showing a low battery reading?

As the Battery indicator takes an average of the last eight samples, it will take some time for the older samples to be cleared out and the average to only use the readings post-replacement. Therefore, it will be normal to see the FitMachine retain a low-battery warning for a few days until it has cleared these samples.

What else should I look at?

---

Thanks for reading. If you have any questions or concerns, please reach out to MOVUS Support here.