The month/year of manufacture for VRLA batteries must be visually inspected how often?

• A. Semiannually
• B. Annually
• C. Quarterly
• D. Monthly

Answer: (A)

A key factor in maintaining VRLA batteries is tracking their age. The month and year of manufacture tell you how old the battery is, and age directly affects reliability and performance in standby power systems. Because of this, the date on the battery label should be checked during routine maintenance, and it’s prescribed to do this visually at least twice a year. This semiannual check helps ensure you can plan replacements before aging batteries lose capacity or fail, without imposing an excessive inspection burden.

If the date is illegible or the battery is approaching or past its expected life, you take action to replace or re-evaluate the bank. Checking every month would be unnecessarily frequent for this purpose, while checking only annually or quarterly could allow aging units to go unnoticed.