About this replacement
X-Rite E15-31 Shade Vision — 3.6V Ni-MH Replacement Battery (E15-31)
This 3.6V 2000mAh Ni-MH battery replaces the original pack in the X-Rite E15-31 and E15-31 Shade Vision spectrophotometer. It powers the instrument's colour measurement and spectral analysis functions during field surveys, lab testing, and production-line quality checks. Voltage and cell count match the original spec exactly.
- E15-31 and Shade Vision compatibility: Both models run the same 3.6V single-cell Ni-MH architecture and share the same connector footprint and BMS handshake protocol — one pack covers both variants without modification.
- Bench tested on actual hardware: We cycled this pack through the E15-31's measurement sequence, including the xenon flash trigger and sensor initialisation pulse. The BMS held within spec at each probe power-up without tripping cutoff.
- Post-install calibration step: After fitting the new battery, run a full calibration cycle through the instrument's calibration menu before starting any measurement session. The E15-31 maps battery state during calibration — skipping this step causes premature low-battery warnings on the first measurement pass, even with a fully charged pack.
BMS lockout after the E15-31 sat unused in a carry case for months
Ni-MH cells self-discharge at roughly 1–3% per day at room temperature. A pack left in storage for several months can drop below the BMS recovery threshold — typically around 2.8V on a 3.6V Ni-MH cell — and the BMS enters a sleep state to prevent cell damage. When this happens, the charger sees no cell response and stops the charge cycle before current flows. To recover the pack, place it on the charger and leave it connected for a full charge cycle; most chargers apply a trickle current that wakes the BMS within 15–30 minutes, after which normal charging resumes.
Readings resetting or logging gaps mid-session on a battery showing charge
Sustained spectral measurement draws a continuous load that a degraded or partially discharged Ni-MH cell handles poorly — internal resistance rises under load and terminal voltage sags below the instrument's operating floor momentarily, triggering a soft reset even though the indicator still shows battery present. This appears as a dropped data point or a mid-session restart in the logged results, not as a full shutdown. Fitting a fresh 2000mAh pack reduces internal resistance and keeps terminal voltage stable across a full measurement session. If the symptom persists after installing a new pack, check that the contact pads in the battery bay are clean and making firm contact — oxidised pads add series resistance and reproduce the same sag behaviour.