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Battery Storage, Care & Maintenance
The Storage or shelf life of a VRLA battery is
usually between 12 and 18 months at 20 degree
starting From a charged condition.
Warning ¨C Never store in a discharged or partially
discharged state.
Always store in a dry, clean, cool environment
in a fully packaged condition.
If storage of 12 months or longer is required
supplementary charging will be required.
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Design
Life |
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Float |
Each
battery type will be have a prescribed float
design life. Please be aware of this life
expectancy and replace the battery as End-of-life
approaches. Keep a reference or lable the
battery to show its date of installation
to facilitate replacement at the correct
time. Factors other than time may affect
the life of the battery and this will be
indicated by a reduction in capacity. The
battery should be required duty. This may
be well in advance of its design life if,
for example, the ambient temperature is
considerably above 20 degree ie 30 degree
or more. |
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Cyclic |
Each
battery suited to cyclic use will reach
End-of-life after a prescribed number of
cycles. This number is dependant upon the
depth of discharge of each cycle. The deeper
the discharge, the less number of cycles
to End-of-life. Depth of discharge is expressed
as the percentage of the battery capacity
required per duty cycle. |
Battery Care
Each CCB VRLA battery is supplied I a charged
condition having passed stringent quality checks.To
ensure optimum battery performance and life, it
helps to take care of your battery by observing
the following:
Sulphation/Undercharge
Warning ¨C Never leave a VRLA Battery in
a discharged state.
If a battery has an open-circuit voltage lower
than its rated value, then sulphation may well
be the cause.
When a battery is left a discharged state or for
prolonged periods of storage, lead sulphate crystals
begin to form acting as a barrier to recharge
and will prevent normal battery operation.
Depending on the degree of sulphation, battery
may be recovered from this condition by constant
current charging at a higher voltage with the
current limited to one tenth of the battery capacity
for a maximum of 12 hours.
Note: The applied voltage will exceed the normal
recommendation and so the battery must be monitored
(not left unattended) and removed from charge
if excess heat is dissipated. The voltage required
to ¡ãforce¡± this maximum current into the
battery will reduce as the battery recovers until
normal charging can take place.
In extreme circumstances a battery may never fully
recover from sulphation and must therefore be
replaced.
Overcharge
As mentioned in Section 4 optimum charging
relies mainly on voltage, current and temperature
factors which are interrelated and all of which
can cause overcharge.
Excessive charge voltages will force a high overcharge
current into the battery, which will dissipate
as heat, and may cause gas emission through the
safety valve. Within a short period of time this
will corrode the positive plate material and accelerate
the battery towards end-of-life.
Under these conditions the heat produced inside
the battery can lead to thermal runaway due to
the increased electrochemical reaction within
the battery. The battery may swell before failing
and will be irrecoverable from this state. This
situation is potentially dangerous.
Temperature
Warning - Heat Kills Batteries.
The recommended normal operating temperature is
20¡æ.
HIGH TEMPERATURE will reduce battery service life
often quite dramatically (see figure 2 and 3).In
extreme cases this can cause Thermal Runaway,
resulting in high oxygen/hydrogen gas production
and battery swelling. Batteries are irrecoverable
from this condition and should be replaced.
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What is a Battery