Battery Service:
"A UPS system is only as good as its battery". This is a quote that is often forgotten when it comes to proper UPS maintenance regimes. A well maintained UPS will provide many years of trouble free operation but when the power fails it is the battery that has to be relied upon.

Some sites have a maintenance regime that involves taking cell float voltage readings at regular intervals backed up by a 2 yearly discharge test. Unfortunately, cell float voltage readings are in no way a guide to the health of an individual cell. Therefore there is a two year period where a problem with a cell or whole battery can go undetected. If this fault turns out to be an open circuit cell or a low capacity battery string then there can be serious financial and safety implications if the loads are lost. Can you afford to take the chance?

Proven technology is now available to prevent this kind of situation from arising. Calibre Power has been using the Albercorp Cellcorder for many years now and has built up a confidence in this system. Over many sites and many tests it has shown that cells are healthy or not with good accuracy.

The Cellcorder uses a proven method to determine the internal resistance of a lead acid cell (Internal resistance in Ni-Cad cells has no proven corralation to decreased capacity and it still amazes us how many battery service companies still perform this test on Ni-Cad cells). This test can be performed on line without jeopardising the load in any way. The frequency of this test is dependant on the customers needs but it is widley accepted that tests should be performed every quarter or at least every 6 months.

As with any tool, it is only as good as the person who is using it. The Cellcorder is mainly a trending tool. It will predict that a cell is starting to increase in internal resistance pointing towards loss of capacity. It will also detect any open circuit cells. The engineer using the cellcorder must be conversant with full software package and be competent to use the trending tools to there maximum potential. A single test alone will not show this change in internal resistance.

All Calibre Power UPS service engineers are experts in using the cellcorder and its associated software package to provide trend reports for each individual site. More→