Introduction
There are many significant investments which are done for maintaining a home or office. Installing a UPS system is one such important investment. UPS batteries are an effective solution for the problems relating to unwanted power outages. Not only these frequent power outages and fluctuations hampers the operations but also damages many electrical appliances. Therefore, it is imperative to get the UPS batteries installed and maintained from time to time so that they last long and protect your electrical appliances. There are many kinds of UPS devices which are available for different kinds of requirements such as single phase, modular and three-phase UPS. Also, different UPS systems available for industries includes stand-by UPS, online UPS and line interactive UPS.
What leads to reduced life span of batteries?
Maintenance of your UPS batteries requires understanding the behavioral aspect of your batteries i.e. the vital factors which can cause battery failure. These factors typically include battery temperature, battery cyclic life i.e. the charge-discharge cycle, the chemical composition and lack of regular inspection. All these factors are of vital importance and must be understood to prevent your UPS batteries from failure.
Improving the lifespan of batteries
Taking some of the measures as below would improve your UPS battery life span:
- Ambient temperature: Do not expose your battery to excessive heat. The ideas temperature for UPS batteries is between 19 to 25 degree Celsius.
- Conserve energy with energy saving devices: Using energy efficient devices to extend the backup duration of batteries is much effective as it will consume less power.
- Regular Maintenance: The batteries must be regularly checked up to ensure a prolonged span.
- Taking care of charging-discharging status: The UPS batteries should be fully discharged every 2-3 months. After a full-load discharge, the UPS batteries should be recharged for more than 8 hours.
- Avoid common installation errors: The battery life of UPS could be improved to great extent Common errors are: the absence of vent caps, lose inter-cell connections etc.
- Storing the substitute batteries properly: Having the UPS batteries backup is good but it needs to be ensured that they are not kept ideal for so long. The storage time for these batteries is 12 months but it is advisable to keep them charging at regular intervals.
Conclusion
The UPS batteries would anyway require replacement and would not last forever but it would be a bad investment if it does not satisfy the manufacturer’s mandated time. It is important to keep your UPS batteries at an ambient temperature so that they are not exposed to heat. Regular and timely inspections are necessary to know about the need of maintenance or replacement. It is also worthwhile to take assistance from the experts to know more about UPS batteries and to get the most of out of your inverter.
The interesting infographic guide below from the team at Power Protect helps us understand all these factors studied above. As your home is your biggest investment, it would be great to walk through this guide to know more about power systems.