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Reserve Your Seat TodayDuring a recent web chat, our technical writer Alexandra assisted a prospective client who needed a solution to monitor battery temperature within an existing system. This chat transcript includes important lessons for anyone dealing with power monitoring in their network, especially those managing remote sites.
Let's talk about the key takeaways from this interaction and explore how to address similar monitoring challenges in your own work.
The conversation began with the client requesting a battery temperature monitoring sensor. Battery health is critical for any reliable power system. Without proper monitoring, sudden temperature changes or performance issues can lead to unexpected failures. That disrupts operations and causes costly downtime.
Alexandra asked:
"Are you interested in monitoring voltage as well, or just temperature?"
The client responded:
"I have already designed a circuit to monitor the voltage. So for this time, the temperature measuring is enough."
While the client only needed temperature monitoring at this time, other sensors can track additional critical parameters like voltage and internal resistance.
This scenario is common. Many clients have parts of their systems in place but are missing a critical piece to complete their monitoring. Temperature fluctuations can indicate underlying issues in batteries, such as overheating or degradation. Without a way to monitor temperature in real time, you're vulnerable to potential failures.
Many monitoring systems don't provide adequate visibility into power system health because they don't track the most critical parameters or send real-time alerts.
You might rely on manual in-person inspections or periodic checks. These can lead to missed issues. Without automated, real-time monitoring, your battery problems might go unnoticed until it's too late.
Traditional monitoring solutions often lack scalability. Many systems are designed to handle one specific function like voltage monitoring. Many times, these systems can't easily expand to track other factors like temperature or internal resistance. This spreads critical data across multiple systems, which creates needless risk.
In this client's case, they already had voltage monitoring but lacked temperature tracking. Without monitoring all key parameters, they weren't getting the full picture of their battery health.
This just another example of a familiar situation. It's not uncommon to start with one monitoring need, then realize later that additional factors need to be tracked.
The ideal solution for this client - and anyone else managing backup power systems - combines flexibility with full monitoring capabilities. Battery health encompasses many values like temperature, voltage, and internal resistance. A system that monitors these parameters and triggers real-time alerts when issues arise is essential to avoid downtime and reduce the risk of failures.
The solution must be scalable and modular, allowing you to start small and add capabilities as needed.
For example, a simple setup might include temperature monitoring today but offer the option to add voltage and internal resistance monitoring in the future. This flexibility is important for organizations with evolving needs, enabling you to expand your monitoring systems without replacing existing infrastructure.
Real-time alerts allow you to make quick responses to potential problems. With instant notifications, your team can act before small issues escalate. That might be through on-site intervention or remote management.
If you're facing a similar challenge, we can help you find solutions that address these problems. As a manufacturer, we offer modular monitoring systems designed to scale with your needs, providing comprehensive monitoring of battery health - including temperature, voltage, and internal resistance.
An effective tool for battery monitoring is the BVM sensor, which gives you real-time tracking of critical battery parameters. These sensors can trigger alarms automatically when batteries deviate from your ideal thresholds due to temperature spikes, voltage drops, or increasing internal resistance.
Automated alarms triggered by a BVM sensor help your technicians detect and resolve issues early (before they cause widespread problems!).
As Alexandra mentioned, BVM sensors monitor more than just simple voltage:
"The BVM sensors are able to monitor battery temperature."
Battery monitoring sensors - like the BVM sensors or D-Wire sensors - can be integrated into larger monitoring RTUs, such as the BVM G3 or the NetGuardian 216 G6, which support various additional sensors and parameters. This scalability allows you to start with temperature monitoring and expand into a full suite of power system monitoring, covering voltage, internal resistance, and environmental factors like humidity and airflow.
When managing remote sites, these systems can send alarms via multiple channels. That includes email, SMS, or SNMP traps (ensuring your team receives alerts in real time regardless of location). This helps you minimize downtime by allowing technicians to act quickly, either by dispatching someone to the site or managing the issue remotely.
In addition to real-time alerts, remote management is key to effectively monitoring multiple locations. Dependable remote monitoring systems, including the NetGuardian G6 series, provide secure remote access through an intuitive web interface.
Your technicians can monitor battery performance, review alarms, and take corrective actions from anywhere - without needing to visit the site physically.
At the head end, a T/Mon alarm monitoring system consolidates data from multiple sites, providing a centralized view of your entire network. That allows you to keep track of all remote alarms and system statuses, ensuring nothing is missed, even across geographically dispersed sites.
Our approach to monitoring centers on flexibility and security. Our solutions integrate with existing systems while offering the ability to expand as your network grows. For instance, NetGuardian G6 RTUs allow you to daisy-chain additional sensors for monitoring more batteries or tracking additional environmental factors.
For organizations concerned with security, our systems support SNMPv3 for encrypted communication, protecting your network from unauthorized access. This feature is especially important in industries where data privacy and security are essential.
With built-in support for secure protocols and a modular design, our monitoring solutions adapt to your operational environment, whether you're managing a single site or an extensive network of remote locations. The real benefit is the peace of mind from having a system capable of growing with your needs while providing the flexibility to adapt to changing circumstances.
Whether you're looking to add battery temperature monitoring to an existing system or need a comprehensive solution that includes voltage and internal resistance tracking, we have the right tools to help.
Our BVM sensors, NetGuardian RTUs, and T/Mon systems give you the flexibility and control you need to manage your power systems effectively.
Take the next step in protecting your network from unexpected downtime. Contact DPS today at 1-800-693-0351 or email sales@dpstele.com to discuss how we can help you create a customized monitoring solution that fits your exact needs.
Andrew Erickson
Andrew Erickson is an Application Engineer at DPS Telecom, a manufacturer of semi-custom remote alarm monitoring systems based in Fresno, California. Andrew brings more than 17 years of experience building site monitoring solutions, developing intuitive user interfaces and documentation, and opt...
