It is very important to consider the right battery for any application and the way it is installed within the correct environment and operating conditions. Factors effecting the battery’s actual service life include:
- Incorrect application of a specific battery range.
For example, using a 102AH semi-sealed automotive battery in a UPS application or a telecommunications 200 AH GEL battery in a solar application for cycling.
- Incorrect battery sizing.
For example, a cyclic load battery for 4 hours backup on a UPS needs to be much larger than a 4-hour float application battery. This is why many people blame the battery for being faulty when there are rolling blackouts, meanwhile the battery was not sized for that application, rather, it was only sized for a 4-hour discharge say, once a month.
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- The battery charger is of inferior quality, subjecting the battery to lots of electrical noise, and high ripple charge voltage and current which damages it internally.
- Incorrectly sized battery cables that are too small will cause a high voltage drop between the battery and the inverter which will severely hamper the discharge-time achieved.
- Incorrect servicing and maintenance; or none at all.
- The battery is stored for longer than the manufacturers recommended storage time before being recharged resulting in sulphation within the battery which causes loss of capacity.
- Battery charge and discharge characteristics are not setup on the battery charger properly, resulting in over or under charging and/or over or under recharge at an incorrect recharge current.
- Battery charge temperature compensation is not practised outside of 25 degree C operational ambient.
- Battery terminal bolts are not torqued correctly. Under-tightening results in high volt drops and under charging, and over-tightened results in cracked battery terminal posts and internal group bars causing higher internal resistance, lower performance and shorter service life.
