Conditions and Failure Mode

Hot Temperature
No1 Killer: Dry out
No2 Killer: Grid
Corrosion
No3 Killer: Bulge

Frequent Power Cuts

Undercharge
Deep discharge
Active material
soften

Possible Reasons leads to undercharge

No equalization charge
Wrong float voltage
Too low charge current
TP500 need 100A charge current

Rectifier faults

Examples from site visit, 2012/09/13

Rectifier is plug out
to start the DG, thus
caused battery charge
current lower than
100A.
Can not conduct equalization charge as MCU faults
GEM not installed caused deep discharge, and not
sufficient charging for battery banks
GEM is not Functional
Aircon Breaker Found intentionally Switched Off to get
longer backups

Rectifier Setting (Power One/Eltek)

S.N

Description

Rectifier Setting

1
2
3
4
5

U1-Normal
U2-Boost
U3-Test
U4-Spare
AH Limit for Test

54.5
56.4
46
54.5
500

6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16

GEM alarm Voltage

Low V Alarm
Hi Battery
O V Shutdown
LVBD
LVLD
Current Limit
Automatic Boost
Boost Time
Boost Interval
Boost Factor

47.3
46
58.5
59.7
44
100
Enable
12hr
3 wk
2

Rectifier Setting (Power One/Eltek)

Reports & Checks For PM , 4 times in a Year

Voltage Reading of each Cell during charge and discharge
Current Reading of each bank during charge and discharge
Battery Surface Temperature in the middle of the Bank(Cabinet Temperature
is not Sufficient)
Battery Internal Resistance / Conductance for State of Health(SOH)
Battery Capacity Test and recording of each cell voltage to find the weakest
battery for boost charging going to site or by RMS
Full Charging of Batteries is required quarterly, Need to work at rectifier side
for this purpose
Constant Current Charging if Required for reconditionning
Rectifier Logs , Settings and Status
Difference of voltage reading at rectifier side and the terminal of the battery
string
Setting of Float voltage, boost voltage and interval of boost charging
Visual Inspection of Batteries for Sign of battery swelling , leekage or damage
Float voltage temperature compensation setting
Tightness of connectors, terminals etc
DC Air Con Prventive Maintenance

Quarterly Maintenance is the PM!

Part of Preventive maintenance
PM must be done each quarter.!
During the PM actions, make sure
the battery is fully recharged
Battery is under float charge conditions
The charge current is lower than 5A

The easy forgotten points

Record the battery voltage and temperature,
internal resistance and
Clean the battery with wet cloths
Visual inspection of battery if there is any
sign of leakage from the container or post
Measure DC power voltage output and
compared with the displayed number on
rectifier controller
Verify the battery connection, if there is any
signs of loosing connection, fasten it!

Trouble Shooting - Batteries

Capacity Reconfirm
Make sure fully recharged!
Otherwise Boost charge with DG runs
for 12-24 hours
Conduct capacity test with shut off the
AC mains and drown 60% capacity out
of the batteries, or the average
voltage is lower than 1.95Vpc.
Feedback the results to BSB.