Emergency Light Battery Testing Procedures

An emergency light battery provides the illumination power to lamp heads on emergency light fixtures during power outages, earthquakes, fires, and other situations where AC electrical power is lost. When properly charged, emergency light batteries provide at least 90 minutes of illumination power, ample time to escape a building or facility. The lamp heads on emergency lights are positioned to provide at least one foot candle of light along a building's path of egress.

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  6 Volt 4.5 Amp Replacement Emergency Light Battery
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  4.8 Volt 700mah Nickel Cadmium Emergency Light Battery Pack
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Properly maintaining emergency lights and their internal batteries is important to the safety of building occupants. Emergency light batteries and the battery backup systems which they are a part of are required to be tested every month and every year. The monthly test requires the test button on the emergency light to be pressed and held in for 90 seconds. The annual test requires the unit to be tested for a full 90 minutes. All emergency lights feature simple push buttons for emergency light battery testing.

Browse Our Most Popular Emergency Light Batteries

All emergency lights feature a simple push button for easy testing of the battery backup system. OSHA requries monthly and yearly tests.

Testing emergency light batteries is required by OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) as well as local, state, and federal building code regulations. Without proper testing, building occupants can be at risk of being confused, disoriented, and unsure of the egress path during an emergency where power is lost. Testing emergency light battery backup systems is important and test results should be recorded.

If emergency light batteries fail the monthly tests they will need to be replaced. Replacement emergency light batteries are affordable and easy to install. To remove your emergency light battery first remove the housing, either plastic or steel, to expose the circuit board, transformer, and battery backup system contained within the unit.

Steps to Changing Emergency Light Batteries

Make sure the AC power is turned off so that there is no risk of electrical shock, Next, disconnect the wires that connect the emergency light battery to the circuit board. For Sealed Lead Acid batteries, there will be two tabs that have wires which will slide off. For emergency light fixtures with nickel cadmium batteries, their will be "male" and "female" connectors, usually at the end of a red and black set of wires coming from the battery. Disconnect the wires and then gently remove the battery

Emergency Light Battery Voltage and Amperage

Next, try and figure out the voltage and amperage of your emergency light battery. The most popular sealed lead acid battery is the 6v 4.5amp model, featured in a wide variety of emergency lights throughout the industry for the last 20 years. Nickel cadmium batteries, which look like AA, C, or D cell alkaline batteries are popular for higher end emergency lights, they typically have a longer lifespan and more efficient recharge cycle than sealed lead acid model.

Testing Emergency Light Batteries

Testing emergency light batteries is important on a monthly and yearly basis. Required by OSHA, you are required to test your emergency lights for 90 seconds per month and 90 minutes once per year. The test can be accomplished by holding in the test button, which all emergency lights come with, or by shutting off the circuit to which the emergency lights are connected to. By doing the latter method, you can test your emergency light batteries all at once and eliminate the hassle of having to manually hold the test button in.

If you are testing emergency light batteries a few things can happen. The best outcome, of course, is that all of the lights last for 90 minutes and the testing is successful. If some or all of the lights do not last the 90 minutes, consider replacing the batteries within the unit or purchasing a new emergency light, which begin at less than $20 per unit. If any of the lights that you are testing do not come on at all, and the unit is a few years old, it makes sense to purchase new emergency lights which come complete with a five year warranty. To learn more about testing emergency light batteries give us a call at 800-480-0707 and we can answer any question you might have.

If you cannot decipher what type of emergency light battery you have, take a picture and email the production team the image. We will figure out exactly what type of battery you need and help you purchase it. Browse our selection of emergency light batteries today and call or email for more information, to request an invoice/quote, or to place an order.

By Jonathan Carter