UPS Batteries

[Huge]

Thanks!

[Dave Liquorice]

Agreed, the "self test" significantly shortens battery life. But I think the charge rate is also a bit on the high side, presumably so that the recovery time after a low battery shutdown is sensible. Trouble is the chargers only appear to have one rate so most of the time the batteries are being float charged at too high a voltage...

No of course not. B-)

[Gordon Henderson]

if near a ruralish sort of place and the UPS takes more or less standard SLA batteries, it might be worth while checking the local farners supplies shop (e.g. Mole Valley Farners in Devon) as they stock them for the electric fences and are usually the same price, but you're not paying for postage...

Gordon

[Bob Eager]

I've used MDS Battery too, and have been happy with their stuff. For the bigger one used by two of my UPS units (the RBC7) Amazon have, on occasion, been cheap...with free carriage!

[tony sayer]

Thats watt our experience of them has been;(...

We just use cheaper Yuasa batts and they get cooked too...

[Huge]

Ooh, now that's a good idea, thanks!

[The Other Mike]

If they have lasted that long then either

a) it can't be an APC UPS

or

b) if it is then it can't be charging as per APC's specification because it would have cooked the batteries in about 2 years.

APC 'we know SFA about battery chemisty'

[John Rumm]

My two biger APC UPSs (BackuUPS Pro 1kVA) typically get 5 years out of a set of bats. I also have a small 440VA one in the comms cupboard, and that has done 4 years so far ;-)

[Bob Eager]

I have two 1400VA SamrtUPS units, and the batteries last 3-4 years on each of those. The 700VA SmartUPS in the rack gets hotter, and the batteries usually last two years.

[Grimly Curmudgeon]

I'm still on my original set of APC Smart-UPS 1000 batteries. Bought in umm...2002/3 or thereabouts.

[tony sayer]

Do they still work;?...

[dennis]

The APC ups sitting here ATM has a charge time of 16 hours, its not going to cook muck IMO.

[The Other Mike]

Correct it doesn't cook muck, it cooks batteries.

As APC's tag line (should) say

APC 'we know SFA about battery chemisty'

[Dave Liquorice]

He he, beat me to it. Bung the thing on load at it's rated output and see how long it lasts.

That caught me earlier in the year, power cut, UPS comes online, lasted no more than a couple of minutes when it should do well over 10 at the load it has on it.

[Dave Liquorice]

The 16 hour charge rate is too high for just float charging a SLA battery. All the duff batteries I have taken out of APC UPS's have been swollen. One rack mount UPS would have needed serious metal surgery to get the batteries out, they had swollen so much.

[Grimly Curmudgeon]

I do test them every few months, they're not just forgotten about - well, some of the time they are then I remember I should do it. The capacity has declined from new, obviously; but they're still capable of running what's now attached to them. When new, 2 x PCs, 19" CRT Monitor and LAN switch PSU, also added ISDN box. Ran that lot for 20 minutes and more, easily.

Now, all it's got is 1 PC, LAN, 22" LCD monitor and quite happily runs this for 15 minutes or more (I never flatten them, as that's bad news to old batteries).

I don't expect them to last much longer but when they do peg out I'll just bung some Yuasa or Ritak ones in.

[Mike Tomlinson]

En el artículo , Dave Liquorice escribió:

Like this one which got so hot I had to take it outside and leave it in the car park to cool down. Although it was in warranty, APC refused a claim.

's the add-on external battery pack for a Smart-UPS 2000 or 2200, I forget which.

[tony sayer]

Yes there's a radio station I know of where the battery is out the front of the UPS as we can't get it back in as the framework is so distorted. We need to take it all out but to do that would mean serious disruption so it stays there with a box over it.

Seeing the amount of gubbins in the unit you'd expect they'd have been able to get this charging right but like Inkjet printer makers that moneys made in replacement units;!.

Cynical moi;?...

nb: We have a few EATON units now they seem to be much better all round except that the very useful IP based network card is rather pricey...

[docholliday93]

Bigger supplies do seem to get a bit more life out of the battery. In aroun= d 12 years our 60kVA UPS has had one complete new battery set (when it was = being moved, so the whole lot had to be removed anyway) and a few of the in= dividual batteries have been replaced at odd times.

[The Other Mike]

That APC refused a warranty claim doesn't surprise me. The first APC UPS I came across was around 20 years ago and it was clear then that they were routinely float charging at too high a voltage for the batteries they were using. They also appeared to lack any temperature compensation, not that this would have done any good when the base charge voltage was incorrect.

Maybe because of an entrenched 'we've always done it like that' culture nothing will ever change. I certainly wouldn't buy *anything* made by APC. Even a Trabant is better engineered :)