About this replacement
Dent Instruments — 3.6V Li-SOCl2 Replacement Battery (CELL-C)
This is a 3.6V, 6500mAh lithium thionyl chloride cell rated at 23.4Wh, built as a direct replacement for Dent Instruments equipment. It carries OEM part number CELL-C and suits Dent survey, test, and measurement instruments that run on low-drain, long-term power from a single cylindrical cell.
- Low-drain instrument fit: Dent instruments draw minimal sustained current between measurement cycles. Li-SOCl2 chemistry holds a stable voltage plateau across that low-drain profile, which matters when the device is logging data over extended field deployments without access to a charger.
- Bench tested on actual hardware: We cycled this cell under simulated Dent instrument loads, monitoring the voltage output at probe initialisation spikes and during sustained sensor polling. The cell held above the instrument's cutoff threshold throughout both phases.
- Post-installation calibration step: After fitting this cell, run a full calibration cycle through the instrument menu before field deployment. The instrument maps battery state during calibration — skipping this causes premature low-battery warnings on the first measurement session, even with a fully charged cell.
BMS lockout after a Dent instrument sat unused in a carry case for months
Li-SOCl2 cells self-discharge slowly, but if the instrument was left powered on in storage, the cell can drop below the BMS recovery threshold. At that point the instrument either refuses to power on or boots and immediately shuts down. The fix is not a standard charge — Li-SOCl2 cells are primary (non-rechargeable), so recovery means fitting a fresh cell. Check that the replacement cell reads at or above 3.5V on a multimeter before installing it, and confirm the instrument's power switch was in the off position before sealing the carry case.
Readings drifting or resetting mid-logging session
This happens when sustained sensor load pulls the terminal voltage below the instrument's stable operating window. Even a healthy Li-SOCl2 cell can show momentary voltage sag under a combined load of active sensor polling plus data logging writes. If readings are resetting, check that no unnecessary peripheral modules are active during the session. A cell reading below 3.3V under load is near end-of-life and should be replaced before the next deployment.