OT:UPS batteries

[Huge]

Can anyone recommend a good source of UPS batteries?

It's an APC SmartUPS 2200 - Model # SU2200INET - does that use four RBC11s? And why do APC have about 5000 model numbers?

[Gordon Henderson]

I've used MDS in the past:

However I've also used my local farm supplies shop, so if you have one near you then it might be worth a visit - look in the electric fence department...

Gordon

[Mike Tomlinson]

En el artículo , Huge escribió:

Universal Networks, Ken Waterhouse, 01488 685800 Tell him I sent you.

APC webshite says 1 x RBC11. The packs come with the necessary cables - you don't have to transfer them from the old ones.

=RBC11

Christ knows.

[Huge]

Me too.

Hmmm. Interesting idea, although all the 'leccy fences I've ever seen have been powered by shagged car batteries. :o)

[Bob Eager]

+1. Used them lots of times.

[Dave Liquorice]

Last few sets of batteries I bought have come from Value Power Systems:

£30 quid cheaper... Both this and the MDS are "compatible" rather than OEM. I've always found VPS to be the cheapest, either for their packs or individual batteries.

To confuse so you give up trying to work out the voltage/capacity/SLA type of the batteries they have in the "packs" so you buy their battery packs at inflated prices.

Have you checked the charge voltage once the batteries are at 100%? APC have a habit of having it too high according to the battery makers data sheets, thus cooking the batteries. I think the SU220INET has a tweaky pot inside, GIYF.

[Nick]

Perhaps I'll try them again - the staff may have changed. I used them once some years ago and my (unique) email addy was spammed for some months. The other 'arf used them 18 months later and her card was used for several train and 'plane flights. It put us off a tad.

[tony sayer]

In article , Gordon Henderson scribeth thus

Yes used them too, they supply the CSB original fit ones which are around the best of the bunch.

Sometimes cheaper to buy just 2 or 4 batteries and replace them in the holder tray with more double sided tape...

[Huge]

Thanks for that. I guess I'll swallow hard & go with them.

No, but I really aught to, given how quickly it cooked the previous set.

[Capitol]

IME 36 months is the limit for UPS batteries. They just seem to lose capacity and go high internal resistance. Usually at the most inconvenient moment. I'm just about to try some cheap 12v 7ah from Amazon, as the last lot of Yuasa didn't last long at all.

[Andy Burns]

I've got four Tayna Powerline batteries sitting downstairs awaiting tuits to swap the fuses and connectors over ...

Can't comment comment on their longevity vs CSB or Yuasa, obviously.

[Mike Tomlinson]

En el artículo , Capitol escribió:

The trouble with cheap/third party ones intended for applications like burglar alarms is that they have smaller spade terminals which can't handle the current draw when the UPS is running on battery. I think it's something like 1/8" vs 1/2".

If you get the proper replacement packs from APC the batteries come with the larger spade terminals which can handle the current draw.

[Andy Burns]

Tuits found and batteries fitted.

I thought I'd take the time to use the "PROG" mode and calibrate the battery voltage, from what I read, AGM batteries should be floated at

2.25 to 2.3V per cell

After the initial charge, the "B" command read 54.55V and "C" read 32.6°C

I was expecting the actual battery voltage measured by multimeter to be higher (leading to the legendary UPS battery cooking) but the multimeter reads between 53.9V and 54.0V, which seems bang on?

I knocked the gain setting down a notch, so the "B" command now reads

54.05V, not that I expect it'll make much difference.

I've let it run on battery for a bit and now re-charging, will see what the float voltage is when full again.

I'll let you know in a few years.

[Dave Liquorice]

About that when being cooked by APC. ...

You mean when the power goes off the UPS switches to battery which then dies in 5 mins instead of the expected hour on minimal load. The periodic "on battery" test ought to pick up a failing battery but I'm not convinced that the repeated small discharge coupled with the over voltage charging doesn't knacker the batteries even quicker.

Yuasa have at least three different spec SLA batteries and I've never got through the marketing hype to find out what the real diferences are.

How cheap are your Amazon cheapies?

[Bob Eager]

I run a test once a week. Batteries in the 'hot' (literally) UPS last about 3 years. Batteries in a couple of floor standing ones last about 5 years.

The test itself doesn't always pick up a failing battery. But what I do is read out the battery charge level 5 minutes after the test and see if it has recovered full charge. A battery on its way out - doesn't. The results are emailed to me for action.

[Mike Barnes]

About five years here (one APC unit: January 2005, September 2010, June

2015).

That "five years" is until self-tests start failing. Actually five minutes on-load autonomy would be more than enough for my purposes, and I've experienced much more than that recently.

[tony sayer]

I've had a rackmounted APC UPS here now for quite some time thus far after replacing the batteries with the original type its behaved itself and the batteries haven't bloated at all..

Perhaps newer ones don't cook them like earlier ones did?..

[tony sayer]

How did or do you do that?. And which APC unit was it?..

;!....

[Dave Liquorice]

JFGI. B-)

Attach a dumb terminal to the serial port and send a given chracter at a certain spacing. Get it right and it responds with PROG and then single (case sensitive IIRC) characters sent can get the value of various settings and adjust them.

[Bob Eager]