22 Years' Battery Customization
Sep 09, 2020 Pageview：714
Emergency lights are a special kind of lights which could be both portable and installed, usually LED’s, that are used in cases where electricity is out and you need to man oeuvre around in your house or workplace. They work on batteries. In this article we shall discuss the details of the batteries used in a typical emergency light.
Technically, there are two types of batteries used in an emergency light system. They are as such:
1.Sealed lead-acid batteries. These ones are typically used in cars too and are usually very cheap. However, they are large and heavy, and may damage as a result of deep cycling, a process in which batteries are discharged.
2.Nickel-Cadmium batteries. Not only are they smaller in size and lighter, these batteries are also long lasting. That being said, they are usually expensive, and if they are not fully charged initially, they cannot be fully charged ever. In other words, the initial charge present in them becomes their maximum charge. This can be a problem when it comes to manufacturing.
Sealed lead-acid batteries contain alloy plates immersed in acid. Those plates mainly contain the metal lead. The plates are broken in the process, that produces free electrons in times of emergency. This is a process more commonly known as electrolysis.
On the contrary, Nickel-Cadmium batteries are dry batteries that do not require acid to function. In this case, a dielectric separate both the metals (Nickel and Cadmium) to generate electricity.?
In all honesty, the life of an emergency light battery cannot be predicted accurately. There are so many manufacturing differences, and giving a certain value with confidence would be gross injustice. That being said, batteries do undergo a periodic test (annually) to check its status and if it needs to be recharged. Using that some predictions have been made, we shall discuss them.
Minimum Lifetime of A Battery
According to manufacturers, these batteries are designed to run for at least four years. If they work any less than that, it means your battery was not up to the mark. In some cases, you may even get a refund, if there is a warranty on your battery.
However, that being said, one should not just go for a recharge every four years. To know when you need to change the batteries, you should try to understand how long your battery actually works, as in some cases batteries last way longer than the minimum threshold.
As it has been mentioned before, people get the voltage of their batteries checked annually, or depending on their schedules and grade of battery. You should do it too. However, there is another way to simply test it.
Your battery has a running time that can be determined when you initially test it. After that, the running time may decrease or increase (sometimes). However, eventually the running time will start to decrease considerably. This is when you are sure you need to recharge or change the batteries. You can get it evaluated by an electrician too.
Changing batteries is a considerably easy task, so you do not need to worry much. However, there may be some variations in the procedure depending on the type of light and (or) battery. The general procedure is as such:
Locate the compartment
Locate the small compartment on the back side of the emergency light. It holds the battery in it.
Open the compartment
Next, you will have to open the compartment. Now remember this: some compartments can be opened by such a flick, since they are not bound by anything. However, the compartments on others may be screwed up. So, unscrew before opening. Negligence of this can lead to the breakdown of your emergency light.
Unplug the battery
The battery may have a wire harness or may be simply embedded between wedges. In either case, take the battery out in an appropriate way, in order to prevent your compartment from breaking.
Replace the battery
Replace it with the new battery. Test it by turning on the emergency light or by simply pressing the test button (if it is available). It will tell you if the battery is working or not.
The next most fundamental thing is understanding the working of emergency light batteries.
Voltage types
It is worth noting that emergency light batteries may come in different voltages, that range from about 6 VDC to 24 VDC. What kind of voltage. What kind of battery needs to be installed depends on the scope of usage and the frequency of the main power going out. For example, some countries or states have more power shortages as compared to others.
Working Principle
The working of an emergency light battery is like that of any typical battery. There are two terminals, the negative and the positive. There is a potential difference that exists between the both. However, the current would not flow (as it is obvious) as long as there is no connect.
When the connection exists, in case of a power shortage, current will flow from the negative terminal to the positive terminal, turning on all the emergency lights in the facility. Portable emergency lights have a similar principle, except that you have to manually turn on the emergency light when needed.
Emergency light is a good measure especially for offices and facilities that do need light at all times, but unfortunately exist in places with power shortages. Having an emergency light system can ensure that whenever the power is cut, you have a secondary source available that will light up instantaneously.
Similarly, in small facilities, like a home, you do not need to install such a large scale emergency light system, except if you really need it for a particular purpose. Portable emergency light will suffice in normal cases.
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