Is my battery going bad? Corrision?

[johngalt]

I was checking on something else in my alarm panel and I noticed a white dusty coating near my battery terminal.
 
Some of the bigger "dust" particles appear to be sheet rock dust from some work trying to add something.  But I am worried about the "cloudy" looking white section near the positive terminal.
 
The battery is about two years old.  Anything to worry about? 

 

[RAL]

To me, it just looks like dust that has fallen on the battery, not something that has formed from a chemical reaction, like you see on a car battery.  These batteries are sealed, so no chemicals should escape unless the battery has a crack in the case.  I would clean it up and see if anything new forms.  At 2 years old, the battery should still be good for another couple of years.   Check the voltage to see if you get a reading of about 13.5V while the M1 is powered on. 

 

[Teken]

You should be load testing the battery every month to insure its fully operational and offers the stated runtime you need. Don’t rely on the alarm panels battery detection to affirm the same.

A live system tests is mandatory to validate the BUB offers enough current to provide the 20 hours. This doesn’t mean just killing the 120 VAC and calling it good. This requires that you trip the alarm so it’s in the full alarm state!

99.9% of all systems are never tested and simply wait for system to declare a battery fault - too late!

Anyone serious will complete the same monthly tests and inspections of the following: AFCI / GFCI breakers, GFCI outlets, smoke / CO , sump, and GDO.

I can count on two fingers how many people I know that does this.

 

[ano]

You should be load testing the battery every month to insure its fully operational and offers the stated runtime you need. Don’t rely on the alarm panels battery detection to affirm the same. A live system tests is mandatory to validate the BUB offers enough current to provide the 20 hours. This doesn’t mean just killing the 120 VAC and calling it good. This requires that you trip the alarm so it’s in the full alarm state! 99.9% of all systems are never tested and simply wait for system to declare a battery fault - too late! Anyone serious will complete the same monthly tests and inspections of the following: AFCI / GFCI breakers, GFCI outlets, smoke / CO , sump, and GDO. I can count on two fingers how many people I know that does this.

I bet you floss 15 minutes a day, check your tire pressure twice a week, vacuum your drapes once a month, load test all your circuit breakers once a month.... Oh, if we only had the time.

 

[Teken]

Only floss twice a day, don’t need to check tire pressure as it’s displayed on the dash. I do however check the torque on each lug nut after the change over at the 100 KM mark!

All loads (energy-power-voltage-current-PF-VA) are monitored at the point of use and branch circuit and any faults are called out verbally via Julie U.S., email / SMS sent, and displayed on the Reader Board.

The vast majority of people simply guess or wait for something to happen. Anyone who has worked in any serious field lives and breathes test, validate, test again. Doesn’t matter if you come from oil & gas, welding, science, military, etc.

Testing and validation is the only thing that insures when an emergency or disaster is present things work!

Anyone ever go camping?!?

Guess those guys that check everything on the trailer to hitch are simply going overboard?? Guess that guy who’s going to be on the roof doing shingles isn’t going to check his safety harness / fall protection is fully operational to protect his life??

The mechanic that puts the car on Jack stands isn’t going to do a push and sway test before going under??

Yup, how silly for anyone to actually perform a task (load test) that’s actually required to validate that so called security system will operate with enough run time!! ‍

How silly of me and all the professionals or serious industries that do monthly checks!

 

[LarrylLix]

Shinglers around here do NOT wear fall-arrest devices. Bad example! :rockon:

Mechanics do NOT crawl under any vehicle on jacks! They have no locking devices to prevent collapses.

 

[Teken]

You got be kidding me that absolutely can’t be true unless every one is working on a flat roof?!?

Fall arrest protection is mandated by every health and safety organization never mind OSHA.

Jacks, no lock?!? It’s a lever that’s existed on every Jack for decades! The creeper that allows a mechanic to crawl / slide under a vehicle was created for what?!? ‍

Regardless, every person that has any common sense always does a push & sway test to insure the vehicle is firmly positioned and seated on a Jack stand prior to going under.

 

[pete_c]

Yes here put my stored automobile on jacks last winter (winter of 2020).  It was a PITA to do this using a floor jack in the center rear and center front jack points.
 
It was positioning the jacks to be flush to the cement floor in the garage that was a bit of a PITA.
 
This was done to replace the rotors / pads and check out suspension.  I got as far as crawling underneath the vehicle and removing skid plates and checking out suspension.  I checked it and that was that.  It was way too difficult to work under there. 
 
Purchased a 2nd floor jack after this.
 
I took it off the jack stands and did the brakes one wheel at a time.  I then changed the rear coils using two floor jacks and one scissors jack on one wheel.  Very easy one person job.
 
I used the the second floor jack to raise the wheel up and remove the lower strut mount.  Then used the scissors jack to separate the wheel from the chassis and reached in and removed the loose rear coil by hand.
 
10 years ago had no issues climbing my second story home pitched roof to work on my satellite / weather station et al.  I would stand behind the chimney and slide down the roof to the gutter and climb down the ladder.   One afternoon stayed up there until after dark and did not like climbing down the ladder in the dark.
 
Nowadays would not do that. 
 
My neighbor would climb his pitched roof and hang his Christmas lights kneeling in front of his gutter.  Second year seeing him do this I told him he was crazy and he never did it again.

 

[Teken]

People will always take the easy route if available that’s just human nature. As you noted experience whether good or bad mostly changes what people do later on in life.

Regardless, my reply was to affirm the importance of doing regular load testing as this is the only way to determine a system and it’s components are fully operational.

Every facility I ever managed that had say a elevator was tested during a fire test. During those monthly tests every smoke sensor was smoked to validate their operational status and showed up on the reader board zones.

As it relates to testing all of the hardware I listed out from smoke, CO, AFCI, GFCI, Sump, GDO etc. This testing process clearly called out by each of them as these are health & safety devices.

I can guarantee no one here has since tested their GDO for pressure reversal. Everyone believes just because the beam sensor works all is good?!?

It’s not and the five other tests that encompasses the GDO must be tested and validated to operate as expected. Not a soul here has completed the unsprung position test since the door was probably installed!

It’s only the largest and heaviest door in the home! Every year people are literally electrocuted or die from micro arching. Yet people won’t take ten seconds to press the test button on a breaker / outlet?!?

Everyone has seen and heard the famous roll back - roll forward as it relates to DST. This is when the public are reminded to test and change the batteries in the smoke / CO detectors that offer the same. Yet it’s guaranteed 99% of the population won’t even do that while adjusting their clocks!

Because these are the same people who fail to realize and understand every smoke / CO has a operational shelf life from 5-10 years. But none of these people will change them out never mind test the only thing that’s going to potentially save your life. More people die from smoke inhalation than fire ever touches their feet.

Members on this forum have spent small to large sums of money on security alarm systems. Makes no sense to not validate it actually works when the grid is down.