January 14, 2004

By: Adalie Schnider
Website: http://www.1st-in-batteries.com

American Power Conversion delivers battery management system for cable TV, outside plant powering

American Power Conversion (APC) today announced a Battery Management System that will individually monitor and automatically charge single battery jars. This product provides precise, as needed, individual battery charging, thereby eliminating the need for equalize charging of the entire string, reducing the negative effects of higher float voltage charging and increasing battery life.

"Two substantial advantages to the cable operator that benefit capital and operational expenditures are the ability of the cable TV operator to mix and match old and new batteries without replacing the entire string, and the increased life from individual charging," said Rob Johnson, vice president and general manager of APC's Availability Enhancement Group. "The impact is a reduction in replacement costs, time and labor. It also increases customer peace of mind with the continuous ability to obtain the status of an individual jar in a battery string."

The APC Battery Management System is completely integrated with APC's TSP™ (Total System Power) Outside Plant uninterruptible power supply (UPS), providing 60 to 90 VAC to the cable operator, and is compatible with current status monitoring systems. The Battery Management System communicates with the TSP to provide a lowered float voltage when necessary to increase the service life of the battery, preventing negative conditions such as thermal runaway. It also allows the integration of individual replacement batteries into an older battery string. The monitoring capabilities enable the user to obtain the status of each individual battery, including the temperature, charge state, and resistance and can even monitor poor connections between battery terminals. The Battery Management System has an integrated microprocessor that allows various amounts of trending data back to the head end via status monitoring.

About The Author:

Adalie Schnider is a successful author and regular contributor to http://www.1st-in-batteries.com.  A great resource for batteries of all kinds including camcorder, laptop, cell phone and more.