Em/ Battery backup lights not working

[Alwayslearningelec]

I had to attend an inspection yesterday for my company last minute and one of the issue was that the em lights were not coming on when we flipped the breaker. When all the lights are on we can see that the red indicating/charging light is on but then when all power is lost the em lights don't come on.

The one guy from the SCA says he remember these EM lights working for sure. Does anyone know what this might be or what can be checked.

Thanks.

 

[mcclary's electrical]

I had to attend an inspection yesterday for my company last minute and one of the issue was that the em lights were not coming on when we flipped the breaker. When all the lights are on we can see that the red indicating/charging light is on but then when all power is lost the em lights don't come on.

The one guy from the SCA says he remember these EM lights working for sure. Does anyone know what this might be or what can be checked.

Thanks.

Are the batteries charged? If these are brand new, I'd be willing ot bet the installer never plugged in the battery

 

[Alwayslearningelec]

But the charging light was on. Does that mean the battery is plugged in?

 

[sgunsel]

The charging light means very little. The charging light does not know that the battery has the electrical capacity of a brick, only that a small charge is being supplied to it. I have seen many failures of emergency lighting to operate due to dead, or almost dead, batteries. Batteries do not have infinite life.

If new, perhaps they were not properly installed. If not new, all units with similar age probably need new batteries as they will not operate the required length of time. Most emergency light batteries are sized to barely meet performance requirements when brand new. As they age, performance continues to deteriorate until they do not operate at all.

 

[Alwayslearningelec]

This school was just finished being built in August. THe installtion is about 11 months old

 

[Dennis Alwon]

If they are all not working my bet is the battery was not hooked up. The units generally leave one wire loose from the battery so that the lights are not on during shipping.

 

[yucan2]

Just completed a service call to a newly completed school that failed an occupancy inspection because of non-working em lights.

Called us because we were closer than installing contractor and passing inspection immediately was paramount.

Replaced numerous bad batteries. Passed inspection.

Original batteries couldn't have been more than a year old.

 

[satcom]

But the charging light was on. Does that mean the battery is plugged in?

What type of inspection was it? an electrical inspection with new EM lights, or was it a fire inspection for inspecting the operation of existing lights?

Did you check the incoming power at the light first? then a battery test, also the switch circuit usually requires a full charge to operate, on some jobs we allow the guy we send for a fire inspection to check the lights, 2O minutes per light plus or minus, and if they are all above 12 feet we allow more time.

 

[Alwayslearningelec]

Ok, how do the batteries get plugges in so I can maybe have the custodian check this instead making the trip all the way back? Is it as it sounds....a simple plug in from battery pack to what?????? Thanks very much.

 

[growler]

I had to attend an inspection yesterday for my company last minute and one of the issue was that the em lights were not coming on when we flipped the breaker. When all the lights are on we can see that the red indicating/charging light is on but then when all power is lost the em lights don't come on.

The one guy from the SCA says he remember these EM lights working for sure. Does anyone know what this might be or what can be checked.

But the charging light was on. Does that mean the battery is plugged in?

First off, how many lights are not working? If you have say 100 lights it's not uncommon for a couple not to work that's why the job foreman or whomever would check these out before a fire inspection.

If you have some that are not working them you send an electrician to figure out why. It could be a batttery not plugged in but that normally wouldn't happen to all of them. You can even get a bad batch of lights or batteries or chargers. When the electrician checks it out he will find what the problems are.

On every big job that I have ever been on there is always a puch-out list of things that need to be checked and possibly corrected. I have spent days on a fire alarm systems that was installed trying to locate and get all the bugs out.

 

[480sparky]

Ok, how do the batteries get plugges in so I can maybe have the custodian check this instead making the trip all the way back? Is it as it sounds....a simple plug in from battery pack to what?????? Thanks very much.

Take the cover off, and there will be a small wire dangling next to the battery. Or a small nylon connection near an electronics board.

 

[jmellc]

Method of installing is also very important with these lights. The battery should never be connected until power is applied. The batteries are often shipped uncharged to begin with. If hooked up days or weeks ahead of power, the battery is straining to power the light and loses much of it's charging ability from the very start. Premature death.

 

[480sparky]

Method of installing is also very important with these lights. The battery should never be connected until power is applied. The batteries are often shipped uncharged to begin with. If hooked up days or weeks ahead of power, the battery is straining to power the light and loses much of it's charging ability from the very start. Premature death.

Every exit & emergency light I've installed in the past 10 years have a built-in 'sacrifice circuit' to prevent this. Plug the battery in, and it will do nothing. Once power is first applied to the unit, it will start charging the battery, and will allow the battery to supply the lights upon loss of power.

 

[Alwayslearningelec]

First off, how many lights are not working? If you have say 100 lights it's not uncommon for a couple not to work that's why the job foreman or whomever would check these out before a fire inspection.

If you have some that are not working them you send an electrician to figure out why. It could be a batttery not plugged in but that normally wouldn't happen to all of them. You can even get a bad batch of lights or batteries or chargers. When the electrician checks it out he will find what the problems are.

On every big job that I have ever been on there is always a puch-out list of things that need to be checked and possibly corrected. I have spent days on a fire alarm systems that was installed trying to locate and get all the bugs out.

We checked the multipurpose room(about 10 em lights) and the corridor outside there(about 8 em lights) and none worked.

 

[Alwayslearningelec]

Take the cover off, and there will be a small wire dangling next to the battery. Or a small nylon connection near an electronics board.

Sparky, and that wire is coming from the battery or somewhere else and gets plugged into the battery? Thanks.

 

[satcom]

Ok, how do the batteries get plugges in so I can maybe have the custodian check this instead making the trip all the way back? Is it as it sounds....a simple plug in from battery pack to what?????? Thanks very much.

Wow, have the custodian work on a life safety device? It sounds like you may not have the proper insurance coverage with E&O and limited liability contracts to work on life safety equipment, some electrical contractors coverages do not cover work on emergency lights, you may want to check, are you a licensed contractor?

 

[LarryFine]

Sparky, and that wire is coming from the battery or somewhere else and gets plugged into the battery?

Typically, one of the two wires to the battery terminals is left off. If the battery has fixed wires, there should be a mating 2-wire plug on a wire or directly on the circuit board. It should be obvious if you look for a black and red pair.

 

[Alwayslearningelec]

Typically, one of the two wires to the battery terminals is left off. If the battery has fixed wires, there should be a mating 2-wire plug on a wire or directly on the circuit board. It should be obvious if you look for a black and red pair.

Thank you very much

 

[brian john]

If these have been installed over 6 months don't bother, they most likely will not meet the required load duration. Replace battery, connect conductor as noted.

 

[don_resqcapt19]

Did the charge indication light go off when you flipped the breaker? While the code requires the unit equipment power to come from the same circuit that supplies the area lighting, sometimes the EM lights are connected to another circuit,