Parents can now monitor and manage the time their children spend watching TV and playing Video Games.

Random Shutoff Fix

The reason the BOB Timer sometimes randomly shuts off is because it thinks the TV (or other connected device) has been shut-off.  When the TV’s electrical power current changes (due to a commercial or other electrical appliances nearby drawing power, etc.), BOB detects a change or dip in current, and thinks you have turned off the connected device. If you manually change that threshold value, BOB should stay on until you manually turn off your connected device (in this case, the TV).

The following instructions should help you prevent the BOB from randomly shutting off.

  1. Enter your master user PIN.
    You will see the following on the BOB display:

    Master User is ON
    Choose SETTINGS
    or REPORTS in 30 secs
    use > and press Enter

    Enter 62 before the countdown goes to zero.  This hidden menu will allow you to modify the Standby Current setting.  If you miss this screen, simply press the OFF button to sign out, then attempt Step 1 again.

    The screen should read: Enter standby current ____

  2. Start by entering 2000 and press Enter.  BOB will automatically turn off (this is normal).  2000 is a good baseline to start, but that number may need to be adjusted after testing.
  3. Log in and test the unit to see if the random shut off still occurs.

If you notice your device is still randomly shutting off, raise this number by 0500 units (ie 2500, 3000, 3500, etc.) and test the unit again to see if it randomly shuts off.  If that is not successful, try removing 0500 units from the initial 2000 Standby Current (ie 1500, 1000, 0500, etc.) and test, repeating if needed.

If the Standby Current is too high/low BOB may not be able to detect when the TV is turned off.  Therefore, have the user turn off the TV and press OFF on the BOB when finished watching TV, to prevent their allowance from depleting.

Please contact support if you have any questions or to give us feedback on the above instructions.