UPS Battery Maintenance

What's Included?

Battery replacement, testing, installation & disposal

Whether your UPS batteries are valve-regulated lead-acid batteries (VRLA), lithium-ion or vented lead-acid (VLA), they require routine monitoring to check for signs of corrosion, cracking, leakage or swelling. Where issues are identified batteries should be replaced and disposed of appropriately.  

All battery connections should also be examined, and a visual inspection undertaken of any racks, cabinets or terminals for signs of wear and tear.

Load bank testing

Load bank testing is an integral part of UPS battery maintenance servicing and provides information on the battery’s autonomy at the time of the test, as well as the integrity of all electrical interconnections. The test is carried out when the UPS is under load conditions, to ensure the batteries are working optimally or to show whether any of the batteries are approaching the end of their working life or about to fail. The test is carried out with a device, the load bank, which develops an electrical load, applies the load to the UPS system or generator and converts or dissipates the resultant power output of the source.

When testing a system, the load bank should be placed no more than 20 meters from the PDU or UPS terminals. However, it is important to remember allowances for heat dissipation need to be addressed to allow the load bank fans to cool the system. A resistive load stimulates real-life resistive loads, such as incandescent lighting and heating loads as well as the resistive or unity power factor component of magnetic loads.

Upon completion of a load bank test, system performance is determined using measurements taken during discharge. The test is useful for identifying problems with generators or UPS systems and prompts the immediate actions that need to be taken to facilitate efficiency.

Impedance testing

A third element of the UPS Battery Maintenance Service is impedance testing. This is a way of monitoring the internal resistance of a UPS battery to indicate which cells are the weakest, or have abnormalities that may lead to future battery failure. An electrical current is passed through each battery sequentially to decipher the internal impedance.

As a battery ages its impedance increases. Where a lower internal resistance generally indicates a higher capacity, any increases can indicate the battery is declining in capacity or degrading, prompting the need for replacement.

UPS battery disposal service

All exhausted UPS batteries are hazardous. If you require the removal and disposal of old or recently replaced batteries, Power Control will arrange collection and ensure safe and environmentally friendly disposal of any sealed lead-acid batteries. All works are carried out to environment agency standards.