This test procedure will place the activPAL in a “high-burn” mode where a fully-charged healthy battery will be depleted in 4-5 days. This allows an assessment of battery health to be undertaken in a compressed time frame (a fully-charged battery in new condition will record for ~4 weeks). The results can be viewed in summary form in the activPAL performance dashboard.
To begin, click on “Start Performance Test” in the menu.
There are two performance test protocols:
Short test (6 hours)
For activPALs not recording for longer than 6 hours (or not starting recording at all):
- Charge for 2-3 hours (until the amber light goes out)
- Click the “Start Short Test” button
During the recording period of the performance test you will notice the lights on the activPAL are on constantly. This is a normal part of the test and indicates the activPAL is in performance test mode
Connect the devices after 6 hours and confirm that the device is able to record for 6 hours, indicated by the dark purple bars below. Repeat this until you achieve 3x six hour recordings
Full test (7 days)
The above six hour tests are to establish if the activPAL can record reliably. The longer duration full performance test is to test battery condition. This 7 day performance test provides a convenient measure of battery capacity when the accelerated testing function is used. In the performance test the battery will drain in ~4.5 days compared with >21 days in typical operation.
To perform a full performance test
- Charge for 2-3 hours (until the amber light goes out)
- Click the “Start Full Test” button
During the recording period of the performance test you will notice the lights on the activPAL are on constantly. This is a normal part of the test and indicates the activPAL is in performance test mode
When the lights on the device turn off, the performance test is complete. For devices with high battery performance, this should take around 4.5 – 5.5 days. The purple bars below indicate the health of the battery.
