Setting the Record Straight on Battery Monitoring

In this episode, the Battery Blarney Duo is back in action to discuss the important topic of battery monitoring for different types of stationary battery applications. What all does a BMS monitor and what doesn't it? They'll discuss IEEE 1491, which they've have both chaired committees on, and review all that's included in this vital standard while dispelling any myths in the process. For anyone who wants crucial insights on the history of battery monitoring, as well as some ideas as to where it's headed, tune in and get the facts from George and Allen.

Episode Highlights

9:35 – IEEE came up with the term omic resistance to cover all three methods of checking the omic path through a battery.

16:59 – If we talk about true battery monitoring where you actually are going to monitor the battery on a 24/7 basis then it starts to become a lot more interesting because as you said, and I will totally reinforce there is no single parameter within that data collected by the monitor that indicates failure or loss of capacity.

20:50 – As you get into the larger vented lead acid batteries which have a extremely small resistance of the metallic path. You have to be conscious of the fact that you’re going to have to pull a lot of current, or push a lot of current, push, a lot of signal through that battery to make it meaningful.

35:35 – Besides the visual things you talk about George, that you can’t look at or see, a good battery monitor will be able to measure ripple, current, ripple voltage.

44:58 – So if you have a battery in a cabinet, you need to be measuring the temperature of a battery unit that is surrounded by others where you’re gonna find the biggest contact temperature. How much temperature rise. So the other thing that I’m looking at here are some of the interpretations of battery monitoring with respect to 1491, and that’s the measurement of ground fault.