The action needed in response to a battery-monitoring system alert can vary from adjusting the float voltage to replacing a jar. You need to determine responses ahead of time. Just as you have your battery system maintenance planned with specific actions to be performed at specific times, you also need your monitoring system alert responses planned with specific actions to be performed for specific alerts.
To get this right, establish three matrices:
- Response(s) required for a give alert. To map this out correctly, you must know what a given alert means. For example, what could be going on in a battery string for which there's a high temperature alert? A battery monitoring consulting firm is an excellent resource for this type of planning.
- Personnel qualified to perform specific actions. Just "sending a tech" increases the risk of actions that are incorrect or unsafe. Once you create your response matrix, determine who is qualified to perform each response, and consider having specific alerts go directly to a specific qualified person.
- Resources needed for specific response actions. Plan the job, including tools, PPE, cleanup materials, ventilation, and instrumentation.