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ShouldyouMeasureBatteryConductanceor
ResistancetoMonitorBatteryHealth?
InterviewconductedbyJakeWilkinson Dec222016
Theresistanceandconductanceofabatteryaretwoparametersthatcanbeusedto
determinethehealthofbatterystringsandidentifyfailedcells.Asthetwodifferentvalues
haveasuchacloserelationshiptoeachothermanybatteryusersbelievethatthechoice
betweenmeasuringeitherconductanceorresistancemakeslittledifferencehowever,this
isnotthecase.
AZoMspoketoWayneEaton,ofStorageBatterySystems(SBS),abouttheadvantagesof
measuringresistance,ratherthanconductance,andthebenefitsofusingSBSequipment
forresistancemeasurement.
Letsstartwiththebasics,whatisabatterysinternalresistanceand
conductance?Whatisthedifferencebetweenthetwo?
Internalresistanceisthebatterysoppositiontocurrentflow.Conductanceisabatterys
allowanceofcurrentflow.BothareOhmicmeasurementstaken,recordedandusedto
diagnoseordeterminebatterystateofhealth.
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Should you Measure Battery Conductance or Resistance to Monitor Battery Health?
Abatteriesinternalresistanceandconductanceareinverselyproportionaltooneanother
asonerisestheotherfalls.Shutterstock|Mrs_ya
Aretheretargetrangesforabatteryinternalresistanceandconductance?
Batterymanufacturershavedocumentedreferencevaluesfortheirproductlinesinternal
resistancevalues.Somemanufacturerspublishtheseincataloguesorcutsheets,while
othersprovideuponrequest.Toidentifyabaselineforaparticularstring,Irecommend
testinginternalresistanceorconductanceimmediatelyafterpurchasingthebatteries.
Howdoestheinternalresistanceandconductancechangeoverthecourse
ofabatteryslifetime?
Overthelifeofabattery,internalresistancewillincreaseasthepositiveplatesage,
undergogridcorrosionandloseactivematerial.Conversely,asabatteryages,
conductancevaluesdecreaseasthebatterybecomesmoreresistivetocurrentflow.
Therearemanyfactorsthataffectabatterysinternalresistanceorconductance.These
include:stateofcharge,temperature,sulfationofplates,dryoutofcellelectrolyte,etc.
Ohmicmeasurementscanindicatethesechanges,butcannotidentifyspecificallywhich
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Should you Measure Battery Conductance or Resistance to Monitor Battery Health?
changesareoccurring.
Whatmeasures,ifany,canbetakentohelppreventtheseprocessesfrom
occurring?
Maintainingthemostcriticalparametersofabattery,includingoptimalchargeand
temperaturecontrol,canhelpmaximizetheservicelife.
Mostearlybatteryfailurescanbeeliminatedbythepropercontrolofthesefactors,in
conjunctionwithaconsistentandthoroughmaintenanceprogram.
Shutterstock|optimarc
Howdointernalresistanceandconductancereadingshelpidentifyabad
cell?Whatelsecanthesereadingsidentify?
Asignificantchangefromnormalreadingsorthemanufacturersreferencevalueindicates
anabnormalitywiththebatteryandadditionalinvestigationisrequired.While
manufacturersdopublishreferencevalues,trendingactualreadingswillhelpdecipher
whatisnormalforabatteryandbatterystring.
Internalresistancereadingscanalsohelpidentifyproblemswithintercellconnections,
corrosionofterminalsandlooseconnectionhardware.
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Should you Measure Battery Conductance or Resistance to Monitor Battery Health?
Whydoyoubelievethatmeasuringinternalresistance,ratherthan
conductance,isamoreeffectivewayofmonitoringbatteryhealth?
Internalresistanceisanincreasingcharacteristicanditsagecurvemovestowardsan
infinitevalue.Conductanceisadecreasingcharacteristicanditsagecurvemovestowards
aplateauofzero,becauseconductancereadingscanneverbenegative.Conductance
readingswithnearzerobaselineshavelittleroomfortrending.
Somebatterieshaveconductancemeasurementssolowthatreadingsmaybeimpossible
totakeordifferentiate.Aninternalresistancespikeisalwaysidentifiable,buta
conductancedropisnot.
Arethereanyregulationsthatrequirebatteryuserstotakeandreport
internalresistancereadingsandvalues?
IEEE450,IEEE1106,IEEE1188,aswellasNERCandFERCrequirementsallprovide
guidanceonOhmictestingandreportretentionaspartoftheirmaintenanceactivity
recommendationsorrequirements.
Shutterstock|optimarc
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Should you Measure Battery Conductance or Resistance to Monitor Battery Health?
Howoftendoyourecommendtestingtheinternalresistanceofabattery
string?
Personally,Isuggesttestingmuchmorefrequentlythanmostregulationsminimum
requirements.Abatterycanfailatanytime.Abatterythattestednormaltodayoraweek
agocouldfailwithoutwarningifplacedunderaheavyload.
Asanabsoluteminimum,eachbatteryorcellshouldbetestedonaquarterlybasis.
Anythingbeyondthatisputtingabatterysystemsloadatrisk.
WhatmeasurementscantheSBS6500BatteryAnalysertaketomonitor
batteryhealth?Howarethesemeasurementsprocessed?
TheSBS6500InternalResistancetesterisdesignedtoincorporatetheentirehistoryof
multiplebatterystringsinternalresistance,voltageandtemperaturereadings.
Thisincludesacompletehistoricalvaluelistwithgraphsforcomparisonandtrendingof
everybatteryineverybatterysystem.TheinformationisstoredontheSBS6500,atthe
fingertipsoftheoperatingtechnician.APCordiagnosticsoftwareisntnecessarytoview
it.
WhattypeofbatteriescantheSBS6500beusedwith?
TheSBS6500canbeusedonanybatterytypeofanychemistryortechnology.Witha
rangefrom56000amphours,theSBS6500isaveryuserfriendlyplatformand
maintenancetoolinanybatteryrelatedindustry.
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Should you Measure Battery Conductance or Resistance to Monitor Battery Health?
TheSBS6500batteryanalyzerfromStorageBatterySystems
Whatcanbatterytemperaturereadingsindicate?
Batterytemperaturemeasurementsarealsousedtoanalysehealthandperformance.
Internalheatingofthemetalliccomponentsandhightemperaturereadingscanindicate
problemssuchascellfailures,lowacidlevelsandsedimentcollection.
HowdoestheSBS6500ssoftwareassistyourusersforbattery
management?WhatotherfunctionalitiesdoestheSBS6500Battery
Analyserprovide?
TheSBS6500SoftwareSuite(SBSBatteryLink)issimpleandeasytonavigate.Setupof
referencevaluesandstringscanbeenteredviathesoftwarepriortousingtheunit.
Builtinreportgenerationandtrendinggraphsassistwithanalysingdata.TheExclusing
livemonitoringfeatureallowsuserstocaptureandchartrealtimedatawhileabatteryor
cellisunderload.
ThesoftwareprovidedwiththeSBS6500allowshealthtrendsinbatteriestobeidentified
andmanaged.
Wherecanourreadersfindoutmoreaboutbatterytesting,theSBS6500
BatteryAnalyserandStorageBatterySystems?
TolearnmorevisitusatStorageBatterySystemswebsite,attendoneofourupcoming,
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Should you Measure Battery Conductance or Resistance to Monitor Battery Health?
free,Webinarsoremailusdirectlyattechsupport@sbsbattery.com.
DownloadtheBrochureforMoreInformation
AboutWayneEaton
WayneEatonistheTechnicalSalesEngineerwithStorageBatterySystems,LLC.Since
1981hehasworkedinthepowergeneration,powerdistributionanddatacenter
environments,withaspecializedfocusonDCpoweredequipment,installation,
maintenance,testingandtraining.
WithanearlystartasaFirstClassElectricianaboardUSNavynuclearsubmarinesand
throughvariousjobswithOEMsandEquipmentsuppliers,Wayneadvancedtoapplication
engineeringandcustomertrainingacrossallofthecriticalpowersegments.
Hisdiversebackgroundandwiderangingtechnicalexpertiseplaysakeyrolein
development,testinganddocumentationofqualityDCpowerproductscomingtomarket
Disclaimer:Theviewsexpressedherearethoseoftheintervieweeanddonot
necessarilyrepresenttheviewsofAZoM.comLimitedT/AAZoNetworktheownerand
operatorofthiswebsite.ThisdisclaimerformspartoftheTermsandconditionsofuse
ofthiswebsite.
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Should you Measure Battery Conductance or Resistance to Monitor Battery Health?
StorageBatterySystems(SBS)LLC
Address
N56W16665RidgewoodDr.
MenomoneeFalls
WI,530515686
UnitedStates
Phone:1(262)7035800
Fax:1(262)7033073
Email:te@sbsbattery.com
VisitWebsite
Establishedin1915,StorageBatterySystemsLLC.,hasbecomerenownedforproviding
DCpowersolutionsforstationary&motiveapplicationsincludingStateoftheartTest
Equipmentproductlines.
StorageBatterySystems,LLChasbecomerenownedforprovidingqualityFlooded,VRLA
andNICadBatteriestotheUtilityandTelecommunicationsindustrymarkets.SBScan
supplyanyscenarioofservicesuchasBatteryChargers,Racks,SpillContainment
Systems,EnclosuresandstateoftheartBatteryTestingEquipment.IncludingourDigital
Hydrometers,Internalresistancetesters,loadbanks&more!
SBSapplicationareasinclude:
TestEquipment
Stationary
Utility
Chargers
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Should you Measure Battery Conductance or Resistance to Monitor Battery Health?
MonitoringandSensorSolutions
PrimaryActivity
ProviderofDCpowersolutionsforstationary&motiveapplicationsincludingstateof
theartTestEquipmentproductlines.
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