The emPOWER Ankle is powered by a state-of-the-art Lithium-Ion Battery. The Batteries have been tested to last 1 million steps and still maintain 70% of their original capacity. Users can get up to 8 hours of battery life a day depending on their usage.
To ensure your emPOWER Battery provides the longest life possible, try the following:
- When possible, charge the Battery before it becomes fully depleted. It may extend battery life.
- Before charging the Battery, allow it to warm or cool to room temperature.
- After inserting the Battery in the Charger, watch the status light on the Charger for 10 seconds to confirm that the Battery is actually charging.
- Store and charge the Batteries in a climate-controlled, dry location out of direct sunlight. Avoid leaving the Batteries in a car where temperature extremes can permanently damage the Batteries.
- For long term storage (greater than 6 months), ensure that the battery is fully charged to extend shelf life.
EXTENDING SHELF LIFE
The most common problem people experience with their batteries is the result of incorrectly storing them. That is because a battery continues to slowly discharge during storage. A fully charged battery can be stored as long as 3 years. Storing a discharged battery may cause it to become permanently disabled in as little as one month.
A battery left in the Ankle will also drain relatively quickly (3% per day) even if the Ankle is powered off. To extend your battery life, fully charge and store it separately from the ankle or the charger.
UNDERSTANDING SLEEP MODE
If a Battery suddenly loses power, it may automatically shut down as a safety precaution or to protect the Battery if its operating limits are exceeded. You will know if this happens as the Ankle will lose all power (just as if the ON/OFF switch has been turned to OFF). The Ankle will continue to function, but it will not offer powered propulsion and will feel heavy. In this state, the Battery will not charge or discharge. Causes for this include:
- Too high of a temperature (110 °F while charging, 150°F while walking).
- Too low of a temperature (40°F while charging, but no limit while walking).
- The Battery has reached its discharge limit.
If your battery has been “locked out”, when the condition has been remedied, simply unplug the battery and then plug it back in to correct it.
- If the temperature was too high, allow the battery to cool to below 110?F.
- If the battery reached its discharge limit, simply recharge the battery.
Some conditions cause the Battery to turn off permanently because charging or discharging could present a safety hazard. If this happens, there will be a red LED on the battery UI when the ON/OFF button is pressed.
ANKLE WILL NOT POWER ON
Press the Power Button briefly and examine the State of Charge (SOC) LED on the front face of the Battery. If SOC LEDs are non-responsive, charge the Battery or try another.
Follow these ideas to get the maximum performance from your emPOWER Lithium Ion Battery. All batteries eventually wear out. If you need new or additional batteries, contact your prosthetist or BionX.
BATTERY LIGHT INDICATORS
| Solid green light at Ankle power ON | Indicates that the Ankle is powered ON | |
| Blinking red light - Fault State | Ankle will not power ON | |
| One flashing blue chevron | <10% state of charge | |
| One solid blue chevron | 11 – 25% state of charge | |
| Two solid blue chevrons | 26 – 50% state of charge | |
| Three solid blue chevrons | 51 – 75% state of charge | |
| Four solid blue chevrons | 76 – 100% state of charge |
