Installing IQ-BAT

IQ-BAT runs on its own batteries, which is what lets it track a trailer, a skid steer or a container that has no power to give it. The install is straightforward, but the seal at the end of it is what decides whether the device survives a winter.

Do not touch the GPS antenna while the board is exposed. It is the small brown ceramic square on the back of the device, under a sheet of clear orange plastic.

Waking it up

1. Take the device outside first, so it can find a GPS position as soon as it powers on.
2. Fit three new AA lithium batteries, in the positions marked in the housing. They need to be new, and they need to be lithium. Alkalines will not give you the service life.
3. Watch the status light. It should start flashing as soon as the last battery goes in.
4. Wait for the light to go out. That is the device telling you it has connected and has a position.

What the light is doing

• Rapid flashing: connecting to the server.
• Slow flashing: looking for a GPS fix.
• Off: asleep, which is what you want once it has connected. A device that never lit up at all has dead batteries or batteries in the wrong way round.

Sealing the housing

This is the step worth slowing down for. The device is rated IP-68, but only if you close it properly.

1. Check the clear silicone seal is in good condition, lying flat in its channel, and clean. A single chip of plastic debris across the seal is enough to let water in.
2. Tighten the six screws to a uniform tightness, roughly 0.7 Nm. An electric screwdriver with a torque-limiting clutch makes this easy to get right.
3. Expect the screws to feel stiff the first time. They are thermoplastic, and they cut their own thread on first assembly.

If you open the housing later to change batteries, check the seal again before you close it. Most water ingress happens on the second assembly, not the first.

Where the device goes

Work this out before you drill anything or run any wire. Decide where the device sits, where the bracket goes if there is one, and how the cable gets there.

• Give it a clear view of the sky. GPS reads through glass and plastic, but not through metal, so mount it above anything that would sit between the device and the satellites.
• In a vehicle, the usual spot is near the dash on the passenger side, with open exposure to the windshield. On a trailer or a piece of equipment, put it on the asset itself with the sky in view.
• Keep it clear of the airbag system. Nothing you install should sit anywhere that could interfere with deployment.
• Leave the status lights visible. You will want to read them later, and a device buried behind trim is a device you cannot troubleshoot.
• Keep it out of the weather and out of the way: sun, heat, rain, moisture, feet and cargo.
• Fix it to solid body, not to a plastic panel. Secure any slack cable with nonconductive ties, and do not crimp or flatten the wire. Do not reuse the shipping tie, and do not glue the device to the dash.

Mounting it

Record the serial number before it goes on the asset, it is much easier to read now than it will be under a trailer. Then fix the device through the mounting holes in the housing, using screws, zip ties or double-sided tape. None of those are supplied.

Confirming it worked

Give it a minute or two to find the network, then open your dashboard and look for a Power Up event on the asset. That one event tells you three things at once: the device has power, it is talking to the network, and its position has updated.

If the vehicle was switched off when you fitted the device, ignition state and voltage may not show until the vehicle has been through one ignition cycle.

Nothing showing up? Read the status lights first, then call Client Care at 1-888-606-6444. Have the vehicle and the device in front of you when you call.