Crestron Touch Panel Batteries - Death Trend?

8X and 10X Touch Panels
By the Spring of 2008, IMS had received reports from several customers that their touch panels were not receiving a sufficient charge. IMS began to collaborate with Crestron Engineering to determine trends and a best practice model. Through this process, IMS changed those customers’ touch panels to reflect the Crestron-recommended settings listed below. Please contact the IMS Service Department for more information on how to make those changes.



Best Practices
IMS’ leading control system partner, Crestron Control, Inc., recommends the following as a best practice for their 8X and 10X touch panels for optimal battery life. In most cases, customers can expect approximately 60 minutes of use per charge with these settings:

• Touch Panel Brightness: 50% to 80%
• Standby Timer: 1-2 minutes
• Shut-Off Timer: 2-5 minutes

However, touch panel settings are only part of the scenario. The antennae which transmit and
receive information to/from the touch panel and processor also utilizes the battery life. This activity depends upon how many different commands the touch panel receives from the user. The more often the touch panel is used while off the docking station, then the more the antennae are used; thereby draining the battery. This can drastically affect the length of a charge.

Battery Life Cycle
Crestron 8X and 10X touch panels utilize a lithium-ion battery, such as what you would find in a laptop or a cell phone. Crestron Engineering explains the life cycle of their touch panel batteries as thus:

• Each battery maintains its full life for approximately 300 - 500 cycles. A cycle is defined as whenever a touch panel is placed on the docking station or base and begins to charge.
• After 300 - 500 cycles, the battery life goes from 100% to approximately 80%.
• After 600 - 1000 cycles, the battery life goes from 80% to approximately 64%.
• After 1200 - 1500 cycles, the battery life goes from 64% to approximately 51%.
• This continues until ultimately the battery dies and needs to be replaced.
  

Crestron recommends that users should utilize as much of the battery charge as possible
before returning it to the docking station. As a best practice for optimal battery life, IMS recommends that customers should not return their touch panels to the docking station until 15% or less of the battery remains.

Once a touch panel is returned to the docking station, the touch panel battery is disabled and is charged until it reaches 100%. Once the battery reaches 100%, the charging mechanism is turned off. As long as the touch panel remains on the base, it draws power directly from the docking station and does not reactivate the battery until it is removed from the docking station.

If your organization needs more of a charge out of your TPMC-8X touch panel than what the average expectancy is at optimal settings, Crestron has extended battery options as an add-on solution. Please contact your Account Manager at IMS Audio-Visual for more information. Unfortunately, this solution is not currently offered for the TPMC-10X series.

If you would like to replace your Crestron TPMC-8X or TPMC-10X battery, please contact the IMS Service Department for more information.