Home Support Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ's) DynaVox FAQ's DynaVox Vmax and V FAQs

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When it is fully charged, the battery in a Series 5 device should last for approximately four hours when the screen it at full brightness and in continuous use. However, by varying the settings below, many users are able to have the battery last for most of each day.

If the screen is at half brightness (and always on), the battery in the V device should last approximately 4 to 4.5 hours. In the same situation, the battery in the Vmax device should last approximately 5.25 to 5.75 hours. (These times may vary for actual use).

You can improve the runtime of the V/Vmax battery by reducing the screen brightness. You can also set the backlight timeout feature to put the device into a low power state whenever it is not in use. Both of these settings are found in the System Settings menu on the unit (and instructions are detailed below). In addition, the device should be utilizing the most up to date version of software.

It will take approximately 3 hours to fully charge a completely empty battery in a V device, and approximately 4 hours to fully charge a completely empty battery in a Vmax device (these numbers may vary with actual use, and residual charge left in the battery). When the battery is fully charged, the amber charging indicator LED above the device’s touch screen will go out. You cannot overcharge the battery, so do not be concerned about leaving the device plugged in overnight.

After the initial full charge that you give the battery, it is OK to charge the device at anytime. You do not have to wait for the battery to be fully depleted before charging it up again.

1. How does the backlight/brightness affect runtimes?

   The actual battery life experienced will vary depending upon the use and settings of the device. Actual runtimes will be slightly less than these, especially as the battery ages. For a fresh battery, here are some of the tested run times:

   Power	V battery life hours	Vmax battery life hours
   100% Backlight	4.7	5.5
   75% Backlight	5.0	5.9
   50% Backlight	5.5	6.5
   25% Backlight	6.0	7.5
   0% Backlight	6.8	8.8
   Backlight	8.5	10.5

2. How to set the backlight and brightness to conserve the battery run time:

   You can conserve battery power by selecting a backlight timeout and brightness setting for your device. When your device is on, the backlight timeout feature will dim the touch screen if no selections have been for a specified period of time. The dark screen will use less battery power than the normal brightness setting. You simply make a selection anywhere on the touch screen to return to the normal screen brightness.

   Additionally, the amount of light behind the V/Vmax touch screen can be adjusted to suit the user’s visual needs and conserve battery power. This can also be set to automatically adjust to the surrounding light level using the device’s ambient light sensor.

   To set the backlight timeout, follow these steps:
   

   1. Select the Main Menu button in the title bar.
      
   2. Select Setup.
      
   3. Select System Settings.
      
   4. Select the Backlight Timeout drop-down menu in the Screen Settings group box and then select one of the four available options:
      
      • 1 Minute: The touch screen will dim if no selection is made for one minute.
        
      • 5 Minutes: The touch screen will dim if no selection is made for five minutes.
        
      • 30 Minutes: The touch screen will dim if no selection is made for thirty minutes.
        
      • Off: The Backlight Timeout feature will be inactive. The touch screen will never dim.
      
      
   5. To adjust the brightness of the touch screen, select the Control Style drop-down menu in the Backlight Control box and then select one of the following options:
      
      • Constant Brightness: When this is enabled, it will always display the currently set brightness level of the touch screen.
        
      • Ambient Light Sensor: When this is enabled, it will display the minimum brightness level allowed by the light sensor. The sensor will adjust the screen brightness between this value and 100% brightness, based on the light level surrounding the device.
      
      
   6. Select the grey slider thumb on the slider and adjust it to meet your needs. Maintain the selection while you drag the slider thumb left or right. Drag the slider thumb to the left to decrease the screen brightness, or drag the slider thumb to the right to increase the screen brightness. If you double tap on the slider, it will bring up a keypad to type in the desired brightness.
      
   7. Once all settings have been adjusted, select the OK button to close all open menus.

   Other options to increase the battery life of the device:

   
   
   1. External Battery for the Series 5 or M3 devices

      You can also purchase an external battery for your Series V device. These are commercially available at a number of other retailers as long as the specifications are compatible.

      The battery provides additional runtime (5.5 hrs for V, 4.9 hrs for Vmax, on top of the internal battery) for the device. It weighs less than 1kg, recharges in 3.5 hrs and comes with a long cable.

      The Vmax/V charger plugs from the wall outlet directly into the short cable of the APC external battery. The long cable of APC external battery plugs directly into the charging port on the left side of the DynaVox.

      The UPB80 will pass power through to the device when connected to the AC adapter or when the charger is plugged in, so when charging the device with the external battery attached it will provide power to both, and therefore, may take longer to charge.

      The APC UPB80 External Battery User’s Guide is available at the following link:
      http://www.dynavoxtech.com/support/kb/details/?id=3617

   2. Using Wheelchair Battery as a power source for a DynaVox device

      Power wheelchairs can make use of one or two batteries to make them run. It is possible with some chairs to plug an external device into the battery.

      With additional hardware, it is possible to use a power wheelchair as the source of charging another electronic device. However, because of the power surges or spikes that a power wheelchair can create, it is neither recommended nor supported for customers make use of the wheelchair batteries to run any DynaVox device.