What Is A Battery Impedance Test?
Typical UPS batteries have a design life of between 3-5 years and some are designed to last longer for special applications. However, external factors such as heat, dust, frequency of use and amount of discharge can reduce their overall life.
By passing an electrical current through each battery in sequence, the battery engineer can monitor the internal resistance and ascertain which cells are weak or abnormal and may lead to future battery failure.
Why Is A Battery Impedance Test Important?
As batteries are a critical component of a UPS system, an unrecognised fault can lead to an overall system failure when it’s needed the most.
As batteries age, its impedance increases until it reaches a level deemed critical by the battery manufacturer. A lower internal resistance generally indicates a higher capacity. Increased impedance indicates declining battery capacity or degradation.
Why Choose SIEL Energy Systems?
During the impedance test, SIEL Engineers test the impedance of each battery individually, rather than the string itself. The test results are compared with values from previous impedance tests to identify any faulty parts before they cause a problem.
The duration of the battery impedance test depends on the size of the infrastructure but typically takes between 2-3 hours. A fully qualified UPS engineer is required to carry out the test due to the high voltages and delicate components in the system.
Following the battery impedance test, the SIEL engineer will provide a full service report on the battery status with recommendations including which batteries, if any, will need to be replaced.