Vigil battery replacement interval - clarification bulletin

[pchapman 261]

A few months ago Vigil clarified the battery replacement requirements for the Vigil I, II, and 2+.

It is 10 years + 3 months max from the Vigil manufacture date (not the battery manufacture date)

Vigil Info-bulletin-Battery-replace-reminder-v2016.04.27
http://www.vigil.aero/wp-content/uploads/Info-bulletin-Battery-replace-reminder-v2016.04.27.pdf

There's also a warning for Vigil II's, not in the manual, to leave it turned off for 12 hours after battery replacement.


Background: -- basically me critiquing Vigil's vague and shifting instructions:

I thought I'd mention it because there had been some discussions before about uncertain instructions.

On dropzone, I had argued in 2015 that one could make a case for the Vigil 1 not needing it until the display required it, based on the wording in the current manual. Later Hackish talked to a company rep in Feb '16 and was told 10 years is a hard limit for Vigils. Degeneration emailed the company early in 2016 presumably and got the answer that it has to be done but the 10 years isn't an exact hard limit. Everyone was getting different answers. Even for the Vigil II, the manual was odd: It mentioned "10 years of use" in bold face, without clarifying what that meant. And we know that a unit might not be placed into service for months after the manufacture date.

[hackish 8]

pchapman

Background: -- basically me critiquing Vigil's vague and shifting instructions:

- snip -

Everyone was getting different answers. Even for the Vigil II, the manual was odd: It mentioned "10 years of use" in bold face, without clarifying what that meant. And we know that a unit might not be placed into service for months after the manufacture date.

I think the problem is 2-fold.
a) They are not native English speakers and understanding the need for precision in language is something even we can get wrong.

b) The advice you get depends on who you ask.

A part of me wants to say technically unless the original manual is officially withdrawn and superseded you may be justified with following the manual that was originally shipped with the unit. On a practical point we want to keep the jumpers safe so you probably should replace the battery once it's 10 years old. I have done several so far this season.

-Michael