Extending the service life of UPS batteries requires scientific operations from multiple aspects such as usage environment, charge and discharge management, and daily maintenance. The following are specific methods and precautions:
1、 Optimize the usage environment
Control Temperature
Optimal temperature: The suitable working temperature for the battery is 20-25 ℃. For every 10 ℃ increase in temperature, the battery life is reduced by about half (for example, 3 years at 25 ℃ and only 1.5 years at 35 ℃).
Cooling measures: The room where UPS is installed should be equipped with air conditioning or fans, avoiding direct sunlight on the battery and keeping away from heating devices such as routers and cabinet heat sources.
Keep dry and clean
Avoid humid environments (humidity ≤ 60% is recommended) to prevent rusting of the battery casing or internal short circuits; Regularly wipe the dust on the surface of the battery with a dry cloth to prevent dust accumulation from causing poor heat dissipation or short circuits.
2、 Standardize charge and discharge management
Avoid deep discharge
UPS batteries are usually lead-acid batteries, and excessive discharge (such as when the battery level is below 20%) can accelerate plate vulcanization and shorten their lifespan.
Suggestion: When UPS prompts low battery, promptly turn off non essential devices or connect to mains power for charging as soon as possible; In non emergency situations, avoid discharging the battery until it automatically shuts down.
Regular charging and discharging maintenance
Floating charging mode: When UPS is connected to mains power for a long time, the battery is in a "floating charging" state (maintaining full charge), but not discharging for a long time will lead to a decrease in activity.
Suggested operation: Perform a "charge discharge cycle" every 3-6 months - disconnect the mains power, discharge the battery to 50% -60% of its capacity, and then connect it to the mains power to fully charge it, in order to activate battery activity.
Avoid overcharging
Excessive float voltage (such as exceeding 2.35V/cell) can cause the battery to lose water, heat up, and accelerate aging.
Suggestion: When purchasing UPS, choose a model with "intelligent charging management" function to automatically adjust the float charging voltage (the standard float charging voltage is generally around 2.25V/unit).
3、 Reasonable load and configuration
Control load power
A high UPS load rate (such as exceeding 80% of rated power) can cause excessive battery discharge current and accelerate losses.
Suggestion: Choose UPS based on the total power of the equipment and reserve 20% -30% capacity (for example, if the equipment power is 1000W, choose UPS with 1500VA or above).
Correctly parallel connect batteries
To expand battery capacity, it is necessary to ensure that the parallel connected battery models and batches are consistent, in order to avoid overcharging/overdischarging of some batteries due to differences in internal resistance.
4、 Daily monitoring and maintenance
Regularly check the status
Observe the appearance of the battery: If there are bulges, leaks, rusted terminals, etc., replace them immediately to avoid affecting other batteries.
Measure voltage: Use a multimeter to measure the voltage of a single battery (standard voltage is about 12V). If the voltage is below 10.5V, it may be damaged.
Record usage data
Record the installation date, number of charging and discharging cycles, fault prompts, etc. of the battery to estimate its lifespan (lead-acid batteries have a normal cycle of about 300-500 times and a lifespan of 2-3 years), and replace them in advance before expiration.
5、 Other precautions
Long term idle handling: If the UPS needs to be shut down for a long time (more than 3 months), it should be fully charged and disconnected from the mains power supply. It should be charged every 1-2 months to prevent battery self discharge and power loss.
summarize
The lifespan of UPS batteries is closely related to usage habits. By controlling the ambient temperature, avoiding overcharging and overdischarging, and regular maintenance, the lifespan can be extended to 3-5 years. If the battery performance is significantly reduced (such as shortening the power supply time by more than 50%), it should be replaced as a whole in a timely manner to avoid affecting the normal operation of the UPS.
