Jun. 17, 2024
All emergency lights and lighted emergency exit signs use a battery for powering the lamps. In order to insure continuous readiness and operation of the emergency light, these batteries are rechargeable. Circuitry within the emergency light both charges the battery and insures that it stays charged.
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There are two types of batteries that are used for emergency lights; they are:
Sealed lead-acid batteries are the oldest rechargeable technology available. They are called lead-acid because they contain lead alloy plates, immersed in acid. The acid breaks down the plates, producing the charged electrons which are electricity. More recently, technology of lead-acid batteries has improved, allowing for fully sealed units, that don&#;t require the addition of water to maintain the acid level.
EMERGENCY LIGHT BATTERIES
Nickel-cadmium batteries were the first ever &#;dry&#; (no acid required) rechargeable batteries. Since then, other technologies have been developed, but they are generally more costly. In a nickel-cadmium battery, the two metals are separated by a dielectric (non-conductive) layer, causing the metals to magnetically react with each other, producing the charged electrons that form electricity.
There are advantages and disadvantages of both types of rechargeable batteries used in emergency lighting fixtures.
Advantages of lead-acid batteries:
Disadvantages of lead-acid batteries:
Advantages of nickel-cadmium batteries:
Disadvantages of nickel-cadmium batteries:
Typically, lead-acid batteries are used in steel enclosure emergency lights and nickel-cadmium batteries are used in thermoplastic housing emergency lights.
It is important to note that in the case of battery replacement, the same type of battery must be used as the unit originally contained. Changing battery types also requires changing the circuit board, as the charging circuit is contained on the circuit board.
Batteries used in emergency lights also come in a variety of voltages, from 6 VDC to 24 VDC. Higher voltages allow for brighter lamps to be connected to the emergency lights. They also work better where a remote lamp-head needs to be attached to an emergency light unit, as there will be less voltage loss over the line distance. Finally, higher voltage batteries also allow for higher wattage bulbs, adding another increase in light intensity.
In the case of battery replacement in an emergency light, it is important to insure that the same battery voltage, as well as the same battery type is installed. Too high a voltage will blow the lamps, while too low a voltage will cause the lamps to be dim. Additionally, if the battery voltage and circuit card voltage are not the same, the battery will not charge properly.
BATTERIES ARE JUST ABOUT THE MOST IMPORTANT COMPONENT OF AN EMERGENCY LIGHT FIXTURE BESIDES THE LIGHT ITSELF. SAFELY SECURED INSIDE THE UNIT, IT IS THE POWER SOURCE FOR THE EMERGENCY LIGHT WHEN HOUSE POWER IS CUT OFF, GIVING OCCUPANTS SUFFICIENT ILLUMINATION TO FIND THEIR WAY TO THE CLOSEST EXIT POINTS.
Before replacing the battery of an emergency light, make sure to first note the type, voltage and amperage of the old battery. The standard internal power source for most lights is sealed lead acid and Nickel Cadmium, with very few exceptions. Sealed lead acid batteries have been in use for the past 30 years, though Nickel Cadmium batteries are fast replacing lead because of their longer lifespan and compact size.
Emergency Light Batteries come in a variety of shapes and sizes. The 6 volt 4.5 amp sealed lead acid battery is one of the most common models found in emergency light fixtures. It is affordably priced and can ship today.
We carry all different shapes, sizes, and models of emergency light batteries and are happy to answer any related questions you might have. Call us today to place an order or to learn more about our battery selection. You can also our battery specialists for information and to request a quote or invoice.
Without the right battery installed, emergency lights will not function correctly in a dangerous situation like a fire, earthquake or other scenarios when building AC power is lost. OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) guidelines require scheduled preventative maintenance to insure the units will work during a power outage.
Battery test buttons come standard on all emergency lights. By pressing the test button, the emergency light unit switches from AC power to emergency battery power, allowing you to clearly see the remaining charge.
A fully charged battery in good condition should power an emergency light for at least 90 minutes as mandated by UL (Underwriters Laboratories). If the battery cannot last for 90 minutes, it must be replaced. The UL 924 Listing is only featured on batteries that meet or exceed UL's rigorous testing procedures.
Many of today's emergency light fixtures come with a self-testing option that allows the unit to run monthly and yearly checks automatically, reducing the need for maintenance and improving the efficiency of a buildings emergency lighting system.
Replacing them is also a very important thing to know how to do...
Per OSHA guidelines emergency light owners should perform regular scheduled maintenance at monthly and annual intervals. If either the 90-second or 90-minute emergency readiness tests prove unsatisfactory (i.e. the lamps don't light up) replacing your emergency light batteries may be required.
Luckily the maintenance involved is actually very quick and simple, as most modern luminaries have a push-to-test switch that gives you an accurate battery reading. Pressing this test button activates the device's cutoff circuits (simulating a loss in AC electrical power) and should trip the battery. If the battery is dead, the lamps do not come on. It's really that simple.
STEP 1 - Take a screwdriver and open up the housing. Most emergency lights will take a philips head head, though some hazardous location of vandal proof luminaire's will use a special hex driver bit. Hopefully you or your maintenance department kept the included bit when the device was purchased.
STEP 2 - Now that you have removed the plate you will be presented with lots of wires (don't worry its normal). Some of these red, black, blue or white electrical wires will lead from the AC electrical conduit to a voltage transfomer that leads to the switching circuits. One, two or several wires connect the circuit board to the battery.
STEP 3 - Depending on you emergency light, the battery will either be a sealed lead acid (SLA) or Nickel Cadmium (NiCd) battery type. SLA's tend to look like baby car batteries, while NiCd usually resemble normal household AAA batteries, sealed in a protective plastic shrink wrap.
Most batteries will slide out of the unit once the leads have been removed from the + and - contact points. Some cells will be housed in a harness, which you must also remove.
Remove the harness and battery from the housing. The first thing to note is the voltage which is typically 6v or 12v. Never try to use a 12V cell in a 6V emergency light, or vice-versa.
"REPLACE WITH JIMING TYPE: JM-6M10.0AC"
A quick Google search should tell you this is a battery manufactured by NingBo Jiming Electric Appliance Company. They likely have several US distributors around North America that you can readily purchase from. Simply place an order and the battery is at your door in two weeks. However, if no discernible battery type is specified, or if you wish to cross over to an American brand, call a certified distributor like Emergency Lights Co.
Before making the call, be sure to to identify your dead battery's voltage (6V or 12V), dimensions (Length x Width x Height in inches) and terminal type to source a new battery. But wait, you say, what the heck is a terminal type?
Faston Tabs(pictured) are the most common terminal for this battery. Your luminaire will be supplied with a red, black and white blade connectors which slip over these tabs to close the circuit.
L terminals are found on some larger batteries. They have an L-shaped post with a bolt hole on the vertical side. These most resemble car battery terminals, so they are incredibly rare unless they are heavy duty types rated for extended emergency runtimes.
Female-to-Male battery leads are easy snap-in bullet connectors that make wiring multiple NiCd cells quick and simple. Since each battery in the pack has its own positive and negative terminals, multiple cells are combined into one easy to connect lead.
Most emergency Exit Signs are powered by a building's AC power which keeps the battery backup system fully charged. During a power failure the battery will need to light the sign for at least 90 minutes. But did you know Exit Signs use more than one type of battery? This article we will delve further into the types of batteries used in these life-saving signs.
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EXIT SIGN BATTERIES
Some Exit Signs on the market do not require power, however, they are often confused with our electric LED models. Such non-electric fixtures include Photoluminescent (glow in the dark) and Self-Luminous signs, which are naturally illuminated by a glowing hydrogen gas called tritium. Such battery-free units are perfect for remote locations where a building's electricity is not readily available and have a 20-year operational life; far longer than the 90 minutes provided by electrical units.
Long ago, Exit Signs were not even considered emergency fixtures, expiring the second a power loss occurred. Later, buildings began installing battery units on each floor to power a string of remote Exit Signs. While a major advance from the prior generation, these early emergency units suffered from an overloaded power-source that would drain to quickly after a power failure.
Today laws and technology have advanced considerably. The incandescent bulbs of the last century, which might last two years, have been phased out by LED technology that lasts a decade and uses a fraction of the wattage. Modern Exit Signs also have smaller batteries that fit within the unit. These combined advantages lead to a more efficient, longer lasting sign.
Nickel Cadmium (NiCad) emergency light batteries are popular for their compact size and powerful capacities. It is affordably priced and can ship today.
Only three types of battery cells are used in modern Exit Signs: nickel cadmium (NiCad), nickel metal hydride (NiMH) and sealed lead-acid. Nickel cadmium batteries can last up to ten years and come in various sizes and capacities to fit different requirements. They resemble small black bricks with contact points on the front and sides.
Nickel hydride cells appear to be the same as nickel cadmium batteries, only smaller. That is because the only major difference in NiMH design are its negative contact points, made of a hydrogen-absorbing allow rather than cadmium.
Sealed lead-acid batteries are found in most pre-LED exit technologies and current Exit Sign Combo units. Despite their age, sealed lead-acid can carry a heavier electric load than NiCad or NiMH, making them ideal for Combo units which include powerful dual headlamps on top of the standard LED exit design.
Knowing a little bit about battery requirements for the various emergency exit signs will make purchasing replacements much easier in the future.
Replacing your own batteries may sound like a job for the electrician or maintenance man. But as you see it is actually pretty simple stuff! It requires ZERO knowledge of electricity or wiring and does not require a certified electrician to install.
If you still have questions, give us a call at 800.480..
By law it is required that emergency lighting installations must have routine tests carried out, these tests should be documented with the results including maintenance and rectification works all held in an appropriate logbook. Recommendations for the mini-mum test schedules are provided in BS and EN. NRG self-test luminaires are certified to the applicable standards and can be inspected by a competent person: i.e., anyone who can look at an indicator LED! They do not need to be an electrician or specialist.
ICEL and The LIA (Lighting Industry Association) have emphasised that automatic testing is far more effective and more reliable than manual testing. So, what are the real benefits of self-testing emergency lighting?
Building owners and responsible persons such as facilities managers must be able to prove that their emergency lighting systems are consistently working correctly and must maintain them in full working order. To ensure this, they would usually have to test each individual unit, keeping specific records of when it was tested. This is a time-consuming and costly task which is often over-looked leaving responsible persons open to prosecution.
Installing a self-testing emergency lighting system is easy and one of the best and most cost-effective ways to meet safety regula-tions effectively. These systems remove the need to manually test and record every emergency light within a building &#; or across an entire estate, saving significant time and money; By reducing labour costs and maintenance time, self-test emergency lighting provides a very short payback period, making them an option that should be considered when starting your project.
Self-test units use an internal clock programmed to carry out tests at set intervals:
1) Short functional test every month
2) Full test duration once every 12 months with the first taking place within 4 weeks of installation
The remote control (REM10) user guide outlines the features of the remote control which can be used in conjunction with most NRG emergency luminaires. One of the unique features is the ability to &#;pre-commission&#; the luminaires. Not only can the remote control be used to manually carry out functional and duration tests, but also, after a luminaire has been installed and is in the initial charging mode (indicator flashing green), the remote can be used to initiate the first commissioning test before the battery is fully charged. The luminaire will acknowledge the test request and will start the initial duration test once charging is complete. This can save a lot of time when installing and negates the need for a second visit by the installer and means that they don&#;t need to wait around for 3hrs for the test to finish.
It is still possible to run a manual test on the self-test emergency lighting units.
Furthermore, the latest battery and charging technology provides significant energy-saving benefits. Thanks to the low self-dis-charge characteristics of our lithium batteries, they are in charge mode for less than 5% of the time which equates to approx. 95% energy saving compared to conventional battery technology.
The units carry out automatic, regular testing without disruption to normal use of the building. If failures are indicated when con-ducting the tests, personnel are notified via a visual indication at the luminaire. This not only saves maintenance and facilities per-sonnel from having to test every individual fitting, it means they are only required to attend to units with reported faults. Such faults are reported almost as they occur, whereas manual inspections are only required once a month.
These days building owners and responsible persons must be able to prove that their emergency lighting systems work correctly and are maintained in full working order, with every system luminaire subjected to daily, monthly, and annual testing.
Whilst testing individual emergency luminaires isn&#;t difficult, inspecting an entire installation for operation and duration performance can be extremely labour intensive and expensive.
Self-test emergency products can reduce the burden of testing emergency lighting installations as these perform all mandatory testing automatically, removing the need for the user or building owner to perform manual testing.
Monthly functional tests and annual full duration tests are automatically initiated with results shown via an LED indicator on the luminaire &#; the responsible person need only check the status of the LED indicator and record the results in the logbook.
Not only is this a far less time-consuming and lower-cost operation than with manual testing, but it also ensures that maintenance personnel are only required to attend to lights with reported faults.
Where a fault is identified the LED indicator will report what is at fault and continue to report this until the fault has been rectified.
Purchasing self-test emergency lighting units can bring many benefits, including reducing labour costs and time. The initial costs may be higher but overall, they provide a very short payback period, making them an option that should be considered when start-ing your project.
Each self-test product is fitted with an automatic, self-test function that will commission and test itself in accordance with the re-quirements of the British Standards. Regular functional, and annual duration tests will be automatically completed as well as checks for things such as battery charge condition.
All NRG self-test products have been 3rd party tested and certified to ensure compliance with the latest standards.
Standards dictate that emergency lighting systems require routine inspections and tests to be done. The results of these tests must be maintained. If automatic testing is used, the results of a monthly short duration test and an annual full-rated duration test should be recorded.
EN : &#; Automatic Test Systems for Battery Powered Emergency Escape Lighting covers self-contained stand-alone lumi-naires.
A function test is a brief test that simulates a mains failure and checks the operation of the emergency light source from the battery supply.
The local indicator LED flashes green whilst the function test is in progress.
If there is a failure during a function test the local indicator LED either changes to a permanent or flashing red.
A duration test simulates a mains failure for the rated duration (3-hours). It also checks the operation of the emergency light source from the battery supply for the rated duration of the module.
The local indicator LED flashes green whilst the duration test is in progress.
If there is a failure during a duration test the local indicator LED either changes to a permanent or flashing red.
The battery is required to be fully charged before a duration test can be started.
By law it is required that emergency lighting installations must have routine tests carried out, these tests should all be documented with the results including maintenance and rectification results all held on file. Recommendations for the minimum test schedules are provided in BS and EN.
Testing emergency lighting does not take much effort but inspecting every luminaire for correct operation and duration can be la-bour intensive and therefore expensive. It also requires that every installation will require &#;key switches&#; to be positioned so each luminaire can be seen as each test is carried out &#; this can increase the costs of the initial installation and may detract from the aesthetics of the property.
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