On 2/4/23 23:15, Darren Wright wrote:
Hi all.
My understanding is FTTC cabinets “should” last 4-6 hours as the front
doors have batteries in, however speaking to a lot of Openreach
engineers over the years the batteries are mostly poorly maintained, I
have seen them only last mins before during a power cut.
Most power backup systems, especially old ones, are based on Lead Acid
batteries.
Even with minimal use, they degrade quite acutely for the level of
investment, not to mention the fact that they are only really reliable
over time if not discharged below 50% (which is often breached in favour
of uptime).
If these batteries are being cycled regularly, they won't do more than
1.5 to 2 years, on average. They are a relatively inexpensive technology
to deploy, but quite operationally intensive to maintain, even with
infrequent mains outages.
Li-Ion costs you a fair bit in initial outlay, but you get far more
consistent capacity and linear cycle count out of it, over a typical 8 -
12 year period, other factors notwithstanding.
Mark.
