I can always tell when Carl needs to order new batteries - I start finding him shutdown, askance on his dock.
Roughly 11 months / 650 to 800 recharge cycles on a set of eight NiMH Eneloop “White” batteries, Carl will start having less reliable docking maneuvers, resulting in weekly docking failures.
Carl’s docking maneuver:
- Turn 180 degrees to face dock
- Measure distance to dock
- Turn another 180 degrees to face away from dock
- Back almost the required distance onto the dock
- Back another few millimeters till fully docked (wheels spin/slip a little when fully docked)
- Verify charging
- if not charging and sufficient power remains, undock and repeat the process
- Otherwise **YELL: DOCKING FAILURE - MANUAL ASSISTANCE NEEDED!"
His batteries still give him 5 hours of playtime for 4 hours recharge, but if noone is around to hear him yelling for help, he shuts down and waits for me to notice he isn’t his normal “bright” self (blue listening light, green running light, red power light, orange audio speaker light).
Today, I found Carl shutdown again. He is at 11 months and cycle 668 on this set of batteries. $24 to Amazon today, and Carl will be good as new in a week with his 14th battery set in a little over 9 years.
