Electrical & Mechanical Support for Mission Critical Systems

MITCHELLWEST LTD

BATTERY IMPEDANCE TESTING

The battery is the most important link in a Critical Power back up system.
WHY IS MONITORING BATTERY IMPEDANCE AN IMPORTANT PART OF PREVENTATIVE MAINTENANCE? High impedance is another term for "high internal resistance"; this means with age or poor maintenance a rechargeable battery develops a high internal resistance causing the battery to collapse with heavy current demands. Effects of impedance on battery load. A battery with low impedance provides unrestricted current flow and delivers all available energy. A battery with high impedance cannot deliver high energy bursts due to a restricted path and equipment may cut off prematurely. What can I do to maintain a reliable mains failure system? Impedance testing is a safer, easier and more effective method of determining the battery condition without the downtime and cost associated with load bank discharge tests. This involves passing a low frequency AC current through the battery string. The resulting AC voltage produced across each cell is measured and simply divided by the current to give the impedance of the cell. An individual cell can be immediately compared with the average impedance results of the other cells to determine its condition. By comparing results over time, the ageing of an entire battery can be plotted and replacement cost budgeted. By measuring across the cells and adjacent interlinks any failing interconnections will also stand out during the test. Advantages Battery remains fully charged after the test Battery life is not reduced by repeated cycling Individual weak or failing blocks are easily identified No load bank required reduces cost and risk/downtime for connection Safe injected AC current is low: batteries will not fail catastrophically
Plot of Impedance Results
7.0 6.0 5.0 Impedance Results 4.0 3.0 2.0 1 4 7 10 13 16 19 22 25 28 31 34 Cell Number

OTHER MEANS OF TESTING WHICH MAY BE OFFERED BY ALTERNATIVE SUPPLIERS:

Disadvantages of Battery Discharge Testing Battery discharge testing can reveal if a battery string has failed and can be used to determine overall ageing over time. The disadvantages are this leaves the UPS system with a discharged battery: The battery life expectancy will decrease with each discharge The testing itself will accelerate the ageing process. Also, to identify individual failing blocks, the voltage of each must be monitored during the discharge test. A serious task with 204 cells and a discharge time of only 10 minutes; and a serious safety hazard if a cell fails and ruptures under load. 1 7

Electrical & Mechanical Support for Mission Critical Systems

MITCHELLWEST LTD

Battery Impedance Maintenance offered by MitchellWest

MitchellWest utilises testing equipment for battery impedance testing, this allows us to offer our customers accurate information by utilising the most advanced technology. Our equipment helps determine the health of lead-acid cells up to 2000 AH by taking measurements of the most important battery parameters.
MitchellWest believes in the investment of the latest testing equipment to offer our customers the most reliable and advanced methods of testing with minimum down time and risks to their business. Our Battery impedance testing equipment allows live battery testing with no UPS down time which in turn offers our customers less risk during battery testing compared with load testing and other techniques. Impedance testing results are calculated immediately by the equipment allowing on site reviews to enable immediate decisions to be made where required. We are able to measure up to 2000 AH lead acid cells to test a wide range of batteries. The equipment has the capacity to store 1 million cells in a string formation which means no stopping or deleting of information is required to enable testing to continue.

Areas that lead to battery failure Impedance testing and visual inspection can help determine such faults and assist to maintain a secure back up supply
FLOODED LEAD ACID POSITIVE GRID CORROSION PORT SEAL LEAKING SHEDDING SULPHATION HARD SHORTS SLIVERING VRLA POSITIVE GRID CORROSION POST SEAL LEAKS DRY OUT (LOSS OF COMPRESSION) SULPHATION HARD AND SOFT (DENDRITIC) SHORTS THERMAL RUNAWAY

By conducting regular impedance testing of UPS batteries and visual inspections all of the above can be determined, inspection of the UPS unit alone is not sufficient to maintain a reliable back support system, carrying out regular battery impedance services will ensure reliable systems, by assisting in early warnings that could have resulted in system failure during a mains outage. By detecting the above defects early or as they start it is possible to eliminate some of these situations, by lengthening the life of the battery system and being able to predict when battery replacement is required you can make certain the system is as cost effective as possible by ensuring that the battery system is being maintained in a healthy state. MitchellWest engineers are trained to carry out all services required to maintain a reliable back up power system and on every maintenance visit our engineers carry out battery impedance testing to ensure a secure back up system as part of our service regime unlike most other service companies who charge this as an additional service.

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