About this replacement
X-Rite 500 Series — 4.8V Ni-MH Replacement Battery (SE15-26)
This is a 4.8V, 2000mAh Ni-MH replacement battery for the X-Rite 500, 504, 508, and 518 spectrophotometers. It uses OEM part number SE15-26 and fits the same battery bay as the original pack. These instruments are used in colour measurement and quality control across printing, textile, and manufacturing environments.
- 500 series platform compatibility: The 500, 504, 508, and 518 all share the same 4.8V battery architecture, connector pinout, and BMS handshake protocol. One battery format covers the full platform.
- Bench tested on actual hardware: We cycled this pack through the instrument's charge and calibration sequence. The BMS accepted the new cells without fault codes, and the charge indicator tracked correctly across full charge and discharge cycles.
- Calibration cycle before field deployment: After installing this battery, run a full calibration cycle through the instrument menu before taking it into the field. The spectrophotometer maps battery state during calibration — skipping this step causes premature low-battery warnings during the first measurement session, even with a fully charged pack.
BMS lockout after the X-Rite 500 sat unused in a carry case for months
Ni-MH cells self-discharge even in storage. If a pack sits unused long enough, cell voltage drops below the BMS recovery threshold and the instrument will not recognise the battery at all. The charger may also refuse to begin a charge cycle because the protection circuit sees the pack as a fault condition rather than a depleted cell. To recover, place the pack in a compatible Ni-MH charger that supports a low-voltage trickle recovery mode — typically a 50–100mA pre-charge pulse until cell voltage climbs above 1.0V per cell before full charge begins.
X-Rite 500 shuts down mid-measurement even with a charged battery
The spectrophotometer's measurement head draws a concentrated current pulse each time it fires the illumination source. On an aged or partially discharged Ni-MH pack, that pulse causes a momentary voltage sag that trips the BMS undervoltage cutoff — shutting the instrument down mid-reading. This is not a software fault. A fresh, fully charged cell recovers voltage quickly enough to ride through the spike. If shutdowns persist after a full charge cycle with the new pack, confirm the pack voltage at the battery contacts reads at least 5.4V before the measurement cycle starts.