Firealarm.com is proud to announce that all batteries we sell are charged & load tested before shipping to ensure that we provide the best possible result!
Sealed Lead Acid Batteries – 101 in Laymen’s terms.
- Lead Acid Batteries were invented in 1859 and continue to be the cost-effective means for commercial use.
- The basic make up is combined battery cells with both positive and negative plates surrounded by electrolyte fluid (water & sulfuric acid).
- Sealed Lead Acid or SLA batteries were developed in the mid 1970s and are continued to be utilized in Fire Alarm & Life Safety Systems today as Back Up (Secondary Power) to Line Voltage Power.
Sealed Lead Acid Batteries – Requirements for Performance and Longevity
- Battery monitoring is essential.
- It is essential and imperative to ensure that the following circumstances are continually met:
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- Each SLA Battery provides only 200 to 300 discharge/charge cycles
• This must be monitored and counted - Low Battery Float Charge (Trickle Charge)
- Proper adjusted charge rate (Low, Medium, High Rates)
- Ambient Temperature (Optimum is 77 degrees Fahrenheit)
- Each SLA Battery provides only 200 to 300 discharge/charge cycles
Things to avoid a Sealed Lead Acid Battery from
- High Temperatures – reduces battery service life)
- Prolonged High Charging Rates – (Overheating)
- Overcharging
- Discharging past 50% of capacity
- Full discharge strain and damage (Shortening or eliminating service life)
Battery Life and Performance Overview:
Average battery life has become shorter as energy requirements have increased. Two phrases heard most often are “my battery won’t take a charge,” and “my battery won’t hold a charge.” Only 30% of batteries sold today reach the 48-month mark. In fact 80% of all battery failure is related to sulfation build up. This build-up occurs when the sulfur molecules in the electrolyte (battery acid) become so deeply discharged that they begin to coat the battery’s lead plates. Before long the plates become so coated that the battery dies.
The causes of sulfation are numerous:
- Batteries sit too long between charges. As little as 24 hours in hot weather and several days in cooler weather.
- Battery is stored without some type of energy input.
- “Deep cycling” Remember batteries can’t stand deep discharge.
- Undercharging of a battery to only 90% of capacity will allow sulfation of the battery using the 10% of battery chemistry not reactivated by the incomplete charging cycle.
- Heat of over 100°F increases internal discharge. As temperatures increase so does internal discharge. A new fully charged battery left sitting 24 hours a day at 110°F for 30 days would most likely no longer operate.
- Low electrolyte level. Battery plates exposed to air will immediately sulfate.
- Incorrect charging levels and settings. Most inexpensive battery chargers can do more harm than good.
- Cold weather is also hard on the battery. The chemistry does not make the same amount of energy as a warm battery. A deeply discharged battery can freeze solid in subzero weather.