1. Total the real wattage

   Add up the watt draw of everything that will plug into the battery-backed outlets. Use the nameplate rating on each device, or a plug-in meter if you have one. Do not count monitors or printers unless you genuinely need them during an outage — a laser printer alone can exceed a 900 W unit on warm-up.

2. Add a growth margin

   Multiply by 1.3 to 1.5. A rack that is full today will be fuller in eighteen months, and a UPS running at 95% of rating has no runtime worth having.

3. Check the watt rating, not the VA rating

   A 1500 VA / 900 W unit is a 900 W unit. VA is apparent power; watts is what the load actually consumes. The gap between them is the unit’s assumed power factor — usually 0.6 on entry chassis, 0.9 or better on sine-wave and on-line units.

4. Decide how long you need to stay up

   Most sites only need enough runtime for a clean shutdown or for a generator to pick up: five to ten minutes. If you need thirty or more, you are looking at an extended-runtime chassis with an external battery pack, not a bigger internal battery.

Worked example

Answer: a 1500 VA / 1000 W pure sine-wave unit such as the SMT1500C or CP1500PFCLCD, not a 1500 VA / 900 W stepped-wave unit — the workstation’s active-PFC supply settles it.

Indicative runtime at load

Indicative only, for a healthy battery at room temperature. Actual runtime depends on battery age, ambient temperature and load profile, and falls measurably once a battery passes three years. Ask us for the manufacturer’s published runtime curve for any specific model.

1. Tell us what you have

   Chemistry, rough count, approximate total weight, and where it is sitting. A photo of the pallet answers most of this faster than a spreadsheet.

2. We quote a rate and a window

   A per-pound rate indexed to the scrap market on collection day, plus the collection date and any freight offset. You see the number before anything moves.

3. Prepare the load

   Upright, terminals taped, chemistries separated, on a pallet if you have one. We send containment for anything damaged. There is a short checklist further down this page.

4. Collection and weigh-in

   Collected on the agreed date and weighed on certified scales. You get the weigh ticket, not just a total.

5. Settlement

   Paid as a credit against your Valcresta account or remitted directly, whichever you prefer. Settlement follows the weigh ticket, and the rate is the one you were quoted.

6. Documentation

   Certificate of recycling and chain-of-custody record issued for the consignment, referencing the weigh ticket so your compliance file reconciles.

• Non-spillableThe VRLA and AGM cells we ship are sealed and non-spillable, and move under the applicable non-spillable battery provisions when packaged, marked and documented correctly.
• Short-circuit protectionTerminals are individually protected and cells are immobilised inside the carton. A loose cell rolling against a terminal is the single most common cause of a rejected battery shipment.
• MarkingCartons carry the required non-spillable battery marking and handling text. Mixed shipments are segregated and marked per package, not per order.
• Air freightAvailable where the carrier and lane permit, with the additional documentation prepared in advance. Some remote lanes are ground-only for batteries — we will tell you before you order, not after.
• Cross-borderUS–Canada shipments are prepared with commercial invoice, country of origin and HS classification complete. Duty and tax treatment is confirmed on the quote.
• Weight & freight classBattery orders get heavy fast — a pallet of 9 Ah cells is deceptively dense. Freight class and shipping cost appear on the quote up front rather than as a surprise at checkout.

1. Source qualification

   Suppliers are qualified before a first order: channel legitimacy, product authenticity, warranty support and the ability to state a manufacture date. Open-market purchases without traceable origin are declined.

2. Goods-in inspection

   Every battery receipt is checked for physical damage, case integrity, terminal condition, correct terminal format and correct labelling. Damaged or mismarked stock is quarantined, not shelved.

3. Date code verification

   Manufacture date recorded per batch against our six-month rule. Lots outside it are either rejected or clearly sold as clearance, never listed as new.

4. Open-circuit voltage check

   Sampled per batch. A healthy 12 V VRLA cell sits comfortably above 12.6 V at rest; anything notably low indicates age or a self-discharge problem and the batch is held.

5. Load test on built cartridges

   Cartridges we assemble are load tested before dispatch, not just voltage checked. A cell can read correct at rest and collapse under load, which is precisely the failure mode you cannot afford.

6. Match and pair

   Cells in a series string come from the same batch and are matched on resting voltage. Mixing batches in a string shortens the life of the whole string.

7. Pack and mark

   Terminals protected, cells immobilised, carton marked, date code and part number recorded on the packing list so goods-in can verify without unpacking.