Nimh battery (s/n (b)(4)) was returned to the manufacturer for investigation.Visual inspection of the returned battery found one of the guiding pins and battery pins to be damaged.Because of the noted damage, the battery was unable to be tested due to the possibility of shock/burn/short.The electrical connector's extension beyond the battery's face was checked relative to the protective alignment pins and visual inspection of the returned battery found one of the guiding pins and one of the battery pins to be damaged.It is not known whether the noted damage occurred before or after the reported incident.Accidental contact between terminals and metal object is considered a use error.Zoll ships batteries with a protective non-conducting cap on terminals.Also, the battery user guide (p/n 10762-001, section 5.2) includes a caution statement: "do not short the battery power leads.Electrical connection (short) between battery power leads on the connector permanently damages the battery and renders the battery inoperable".An investigation conducted using the batteries serial number, found that the battery was within its expected life span of 2-4 years, with a manufacture date of 8/2012.The expected service life of the autopulse battery is 100 charge cycles or 2 to 4 years depending on battery maintenance and usage patterns.As the test cycles were not logged on the battery, readings were unable to be obtained and it was unable to be determined if the battery was properly maintained.If proper battery maintenance is not performed (charged/test cycled) as instructed per the ifu, the batteries life span will be adversely effected.
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