Forecasting Replacement of Telephone Stationary Batteries

This paper reviews Newfoundland Telephone´s program for determining the condition and remaining service lives of telephone stationary batteries. Results of tests performed on stationary batteries in service in a telecommunications environment are presented and analyzed. Methods used to obtain these data combine conventional test techniques with a new method for measuring the extent of positive plate growth within a cell. This method has been presented previously as a laboratory technique and the full scale field application of the method within this company is considered unique. Emphasis of the testing program has focused on those cells which are near to yielding the manufacturer´s rated service lives, but whose favourable operating conditions point to further years of service. The paper further describes the establishment of a data base on which the service characteristics of telephone stationary cells can be compared and predicted.