Summary

This article describes how to replace the Recon battery pack on a Recon running the Windows CE .NET operating system.

More Information

Recon is designed to preserve your data, even if it completely loses power. User data, applications, and Windows registry information are safely stored in non-volatile flash memory, and will survive an indefinite loss of power. Even if you do not follow the instructions below, the only thing you should ever lose is the time which is stored in the real-time clock.

By following the instructions below, you will usually also be able to maintain the state of applications which are open and running in RAM. RAM is volatile memory, but Recon has been designed to preserve its contents across brief losses of power. For maximum safety, we recommend that you save any important data from open applications to a file before attempting to replace the battery.

Note that you have about 30 seconds (and probably quite a bit longer) to perform the combination of steps 7 and 8. Thus, the rest of these steps are important because they ensure that steps 7 and 8 go smoothly.

1. Turn your Recon off before replacing the battery!
2. Make certain that you have a spare, charged battery at hand.
3. Look at the bottom of the spare battery. Make sure that the arrows on this battery point towards the I/O connectors. Use the blade end of the Recon stylus to rotate the arrows.
4. Disconnect the hand strap from the battery pack currently installed on Recon. Slide the buckle in the direction of the I/O connectors and disconnect the end of the strap which is near those connectors. You may need to loosen the strap to do this.
5. Rotate the arrows on the attached battery to point towards the I/O connectors.
6. Turn your Recon off before replacing the battery!
7. Slide the attached battery off of Recon by pushing firmly with your thumbs in the direction of the arrows.
8. Firmly slide the new battery onto Recon. The rubber of the pack should mate closely with the matching relief of the plastic. Push hard until the pack is fully seated.
9. Reverse the orientation of the arrows to lock the battery in place!
10. Reattach the handstrap.
11. Turn Recon back on, and you are just where you left off.