BackCharging options and limits
8 Oct 2014
The intelligent Lithium-Ion 3.7 VDC @ 10600 mAh (38.7 Whr) battery in the Archer 2 and Allegro 2 can provide extended power for long work days and even for powering external devices and sensors.
The rugged handheld computer comes with a standard US and International Wall Charger providing output of 12V at up to 18 or 20 watts (1500 or around 1700 milliamps). This allows the battery to be fully charged within two to four hours, such as over every night and weekend as recommended.
Attaching the rugged handheld computer (through the bottom DC Jack) to a vehicle charger (cigarette lighter adapter) or other direct 12-24V power source that has a high or no current limit could allow the "rapid charge" feature of the handheld to source up to 36 watts (3 amps @ 12V). At such a rate, this can charge two-thirds of the battery capacity within one hour, providing many more hours of operation.
Update Dec 2017 - MCU (A2 Tiny) firmware version 2.13 (Build 02) that is included with A2 OS release 1.8.3 or higher, that is for support of new batteries containing Samsung cells due to the previous Boston Power cells going end of life, will disable this previous in-vehicle "Rapid Charge" feature. This is being done to promote longevity of the charge life of the new battery cells based on their recommended charging temperature range.
Additional legacy information which is mostly still applicable is provided in the following article.
