During stocktake time, people start recycling old POS equipment. Often, no one has given much thought to the batteries that keep some of your POS equipment going, such as the portable data terminals (PDTs). They came from storage, and a few people had problems. The problems were not big, but if the stocktake was planned for last Sunday and the PDT could not be fixed until Monday, you can see the situation these people faced. We specifically told people to check their equipment first. Some did not. 

Let's chat about battery care - it's not as dull as it sounds, I promise!

Lithium-ion batteries are today's unsung heroes. They are everywhere: in phones, laptops, PDTs, and more. But like any piece of equipment, they need a bit of TLC.

Proper battery care can result in significant cost savings. We need to maximise battery life and reduce unnecessary battery replacements.

POS battery care

1. Store Smart, Stay Safe

Where you keep your batteries matters. They don't like it too hot or too cold. An excellent spot that is cool and dry is just right. Please keep them away from anything that might catch fire. Improper battery care can be a fire hazard; if it's next to something that burns, you may have a problem.

2. Charge with Care

Unplugging is underrated. Once your PDT is fully charged, disconnect the charger. If connected, it can cause problems.

3. Cool It Down

After a busy day of scanning and tapping, your PDT will feel the heat. Let it cool off before charging. 

4. Watch for Warning Signs

Your battery might be trying to tell you something. Keep an eye (and nose) out for these red flags:

• Strange smells
• Colour changes
• Excessive heat
• Shape changes
• Leaks
• Odd noises

If you spot any of these, it's time to retire that battery. Better safe than sorry!

POS system battery care

While maintaining your batteries is not difficult, it does require some TLC.

These simple steps will help you keep POS systems working and reduce the need for replacements.

Looking at the cash drawer today for your POS software, here are some problems I have noticed recently.

1) When we supplied some drawers for a client, we found that every drawer in that model used the same key. It will not be a problem if you have one cash draw in the shop. It makes it easy to get spare keys. However, if you have many in the shop, anyone with access to any of your cash draws can open any other one.

2) Modern cash draws often use a lot of plastic. Most of these cannot take much in the way of punishment. Even if you do not use that cash draw much in a shop, these need to be able to take punishment. People are tense, they are in a rush, and they do belt them. 

One client told me that the lock on the door had fallen out. They had to disassemble the unit to get the cash out. Now they cannot put the lock back on. Another told me that their drawer continuously comes off the tracks. Another has a spring that is gone. They have to yank on the key and pull it out the door to open it. 

3) Do not trust the manufactures dimensions. A client built a desk to hold his new cash drawer with the measurements from the specifications. One was a back measurement and was wrong. Wait till you get it before building.

4) Lastly, this is getting to be a big problem. Check the size of the notes the cash draw can handle. Many Australian notes are bigger than US or Chinese notes. As a result, many cash draws cannot hold Australian notes. We had to send some back because of this. 

I hope this helps.