Testing emergency light inverter

[BillyTheSparks]

Hi all,

Would anyone know how I can test the emergency light inverter in a fitting as the batteries in the fittings are not charging. The fittings are about 5yrs old, but as per usual, the installer never put the installation date on the battery pack.

I'm not too sure if my thinking of testing would be correct. It's probably this straight forward, but I don't want to cause more harm than good.

I'm planning on just testing the output to the battery across the + and - terminals. Without the battery connected.

Many thanks
Billy

 

[telectrix]

with the meter on V dc, measure the voltage on the batt. output without and with battery pack connected. if there is a significant drop on load, replace batteries.

 

[tazz]

As Tele has stated, is the only way to really test. But the voltage is not important on Nicad batteries its the current. So if you are getting 12v or more out without batteries connected, and the invertor is using a 3.6v battery, this is quite normal.
With battery connected, you should see the voltage slowly dropping as the battery charges. More likely the nicads need replacing.