Hi,
Some time ago, I took the advice of many here and installed an Eterna non-maintained 8w fluorescent lamp above my CU. It is under the stairs and there is no window, so it allows me to see to reset the RCD if it trips.
When similar lighting was installed at work. We were told to test them by running off the battery for one hour once each month. Once every six months, we were supposed to run them for three hours.
Looking at the Eterna booklet, it says the three hour test should be annual, not six monthly. It says every six months to test for one hour and every month to test for no longer then 45 minutes. What does "no longer than 45 minutes" really mean: does it mean 45 minutes or something less? We were told at work that switching them on and off again was not a sufficient test of the batteries, hence the requirement to run them for so long. The Eterna instructions seem to contradict that. Perhaps different manufacturers have different recommendations?
I must confess I have never done routine tests on the one at home. Does anyone else?
The reason I ask is that mine appears to have failed. The other day we had a power cut and the light came on. I was outside, so it did not bother me too much and I never paid attention to the time. Some (unknown) time later, I noticed the light had gone out but the power was not back on. At the time, I just thought the battery had run flat but now I think back, I am not sure that three hours had passed.
There is an LED that shines when the unit is powered and I thought I was imagining it but when the power came back on, at night when the house was dark, it seemed brighter than before. SWMBO agreed. The next day, so at least 24 hours later, I switched off the MCB to make the light come on. It did not. I have checked the fuses and they are fine. So does this mean the battery has died?
The battery pack says April 2010 and says to replace in 2014, so we are not there yet and I would not say it has had heavy use. It is an Eterna brand, I was hoping a known name might have been more reliable than a no name brand.
Is the LED a red herring or is it brighter because of an increased voltage or current, possibly due to the battery no longer charging?
TIA