SB01 2017-07-28 Low Voltage Cutoff

Date Released: 28-July-2017
Subject: Non functional low battery voltage cutoff
Effectivity: Mōvi XL running GCU firmware version 1.2.6 and earlier
Require Action: Recommended

INTRODUCTION

This Service Bulletin is being issued to alert all Mōvi XL users of a bug associated with the low voltage battery cutoff feature in Mōvi XL GCU firmware version 1.2.6 or earlier.

Presently, Mōvi XL will not power down as intended at 3.5v per cell.

BACKGROUND

Mōvi XL uses lithium polymer batteries that are sensitive to over discharge.  If these packs are discharged below 3.0v per cell they can become damaged and cease to function.  The intended behavior for Mōvi XL is for the gimbal to power down at 3.5v per cell to to protect the integrity of the batteries.

DISCUSSION

Unfortunately, we commented out the low voltage cutoff in the production release code.  This means Mōvi XL will not power down at 3.5v per cell as intended and users will need to use the state of charge indicators located on the batteries or monitor voltage via the embedded screen or app to ascertain battery state of charge.

RECOMMENDATION

Users should monitor battery voltage via the app, embedded screen on GCU, or via the battery state of charge indicators and cease operation at 3.5v per cell.

Mōvi Software Bundle version 1.3 is now released and includes MXL GCU version 1.2.9 that addresses this issue. Mōvi XL can be updated to new versions with the Mōvi Pro App v1.3.