maintaining your uninterruptible power supply battery

Battery failure is the leading offender behind most UPS disasters. However regardless of batteries’ vulnerability to early failure, you do not need to be a victim. We’re going to go through the leading 5 reasons for early battery failure and how you can avoid it.

UPS batteries are electro-chemical gadgets whose capability to store and provide power diminishes gradually.

It still surprises me that after having critical equipment installed, some forget to maintain it properly, such as these batteries that were just 2 years old.We were only called to this Brisbane office after smoke was seen, fortunately we got there in time but it could have been more than just batteries they were up for. Had they regular  servicing we would have noticed and replaced the one battery that caused them all to  fail.

No matter how well you preserve, save and utilize your batteries, they will still need replacement when they have actually reached their end of life.


Life expectancy of UPS batteries


Typically the basic life span of a conventional Valve Regulated Lead Acid (VRLA) battery for uninterruptible Power Supply is either:-

  • typically a small UPS battery has a design life of 3-5 years
  • typically a large UPS battery has a design life of 8-10 years

Nevertheless, there are a variety of ecological, chemical and user-related elements that can significantly impact a battery’s life.

Faulty UPS batteries Sunshine Coast Plaza

How to prevent premature UPS Battery replacement

Whilst nothing can be done to avoid a battery from ultimately reaching its end-of-service life. 
Regular maintenance can prevent UPS failure, disruption to the business and costly premature battery replacement




  1. Eaton UPS battery ReplacementPoor storage of unused batteries– Even as a battery sits unused, its life time starts to reduce. That’s since lead-acid batteries immediately release percentages of energy. To extend a battery’s storage life, we advise you charge it every 3 to 4 months of storage. If you do not, you might see a long-term loss of capability in just 6 months. You can likewise lengthen your unused battery’s storage life by saving it at a temperature level of 50 ° F( 10 ° C)or less.
  2. High ambient temperature level– The rated capability of every battery is based upon an ambient temperature level of 25 ° C Any variation, however particularly enhanced temperature level, can influence efficiency and life expectancy. Battery Manufacturers typically state that temperatures over 25 C can severly damage battery life.
  3. Over-cycling– After a UPS runs on battery power throughout a power failure, the battery charges for future usage, an occasion called the discharge cycle. When a battery is set up, it is at 100 percent of its ranked capability. Nevertheless, each discharge and subsequent recharge a little decreases the capability of the battery.
  4. Incorrect float voltage– Every battery producer will define the charging voltage varieties for their own cell design. If a battery is regularly charged beyond these specifications, it can trigger considerable damage.
  5. Undercharging or low voltage can trigger sulfate crystals to form on the battery plates. These crystals will ultimately solidify and decrease the offered capability of the battery with time.
  6. Overcharging with a float voltage that is expensive can trigger extreme hydrogen and oxygen gases and can cause internal dryout that, as soon as sped up, can trigger thermal runaway– leading to failure and even fire and surge.
  7. Inaccurate battery application– UPS batteries are made particularly for UPS power supply systems, simply as other batteries are made particularly for their particular home appliances. These batteries are developed to provide very high rates of energy for a brief time, usually as much as 15 minutes.

 If you are unsure of your UPS battery condition give us a call today.

Regular servicing prevents UPS malfunction through battery failure


The most typical failure mode of a VRLA Battery is an open circuit, frequently brought on by cell dryout. UPS systems normally have actually a SERIES linked battery system to offer a high present to the UPS System DC Bus. If one cell in a string opens, it will break the existing in the whole string. In other words, simply one failed battery cell can lower your whole facilities.

Regular maintenance of your uninterruptible power supply system, as a minimum 6 monthly, but many leading facility companies that understand the critical link of the battery in the power protection system, opt for quarterly servicing.

Experienced UPS service technicians will test each battery during the service and detect if a battery is weakening BEFORE it get to failing completely preventing power loss to critical equipment and occasionally fire through thermal runaway.

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