Emergency Exit Lights Not Working

A brief guide of what to check when your emergency exit lights are not working

Sometimes the first time that you realise that there is a problem with your emergency lighting is when they do not work during a power cut or when they fail the three hour duration test. Once you do know you have a problem, what are the first things to check for when your emergency exit lights are not working?

Check the obvious items first
I know this question sounds dumb, but are all the cords connected properly?

Is the mains wire terminated appropriately and going to the right inputs?
Are the positive and negative battery connections connected properly?
Is the LED strip or light properly attached to the PCB?
Exist any indications of damage?
Does the emergency light include water?

Did the lights at the exits operate at all?
A light came on when the power was interrupted, right? If there was light, even for a moment, the battery and bulb must be connected properly. In this instance, the battery is possibly at blame since it either wasn't charged properly or can't retain a charge. Another approach to check this is to see if the green charge LED indication is lit up when the power is normal.

The battery itself has to be changed first. Batteries are intended to last for four years, however high and low temperature extremes as well as infrequent testing shorten their life. Before doing another test after switching to a new battery, you must fully charge it for 24 hours. Even then, some batteries need to go through multiple cycles of charging and discharging before they can last for three hours.

The PCB control gear is the next likely cause if, despite changing the battery, the issue persists or the green charge indication is not lighted. The battery is charged while the control equipment keeps track of the main incoming electricity. Although replacing this would be a little trickier, it should still be achievable because most emergency lights are made to be changed out in this manner.

Absolutely no light!
The first thing to check is the lamp or LEDs if there was no light when the power went out. I would advise replacing the emergency light, if it is still a fluorescent lamp, with an LED one. For many years, LED emergency lighting has been widely used. The culprit would most likely be an outdated fluorescent light, especially if the ends are black. Replace the light and give it another shot if an upgrade to LED is not possible.

If the light source is an LED, it may typically be changed without any difficulty. If you do notice some light during testing, you might then need to examine the battery or PCB as described above.

Please get in touch with us if you need help troubleshooting your emergency lights; I'm confident we can assist.