APC UPS units - troubleshooting

[brianl703]

Re: APC UPS units - troubleshooting

now its getting interesting. who else has a smartups where the batteries failed this way.

I have a couple of SmartUPS where the batteries were bulging. I got them that way (they were freebies). At least I was able to get the batteries out without metal work.

[brianl703]

Re: APC UPS units - troubleshooting

the constant voltage charger will happily dump current up to its preset limit into the batts even as cells short.
the remaining good cells hit thermal runaway and melt due to the overcharge.

Is this why the alternator on my old car died? I long suspected that the car battery with the shorted cell killed the alternator. The battery was replaced and the alternator died a couple of weeks later.

[kc8adu]

Re: APC UPS units - troubleshooting

that can happen.could have just been its time to go.

[willawake]

Re: APC UPS units - troubleshooting

we have already talked about using batteries with a larger capacity in ups units. but is it ok to use with a smaller capacity. say if the smart-ups is using 12ah. is it ok to use 7ah instead?

[i4004]

Re: APC UPS units - troubleshooting

should be ok.
it'll just won't last long while being powered from them...

ups doesn't have brains to figure out what battery is in(unless you do a fully drain/recharge cycle and ups has cpu that monitors it..then it knows) the main problem with too big batteries is if charger is smart, and if circuit itself can take such big currents abuse...

both things are just fine if you have ups that was mentioned here(better(more expensive) models from apc etc.)

to that extent smaller battery will make the charging load smaller(if nothing else shorter charging=smaller load on components), so no worries there...

[Toasty]

Re: APC UPS units - troubleshooting

You really need to stop making those generalizations about the APC UPS units. MANY of them DO have the brains to figure out what is inside because they load test at least once a week if not more.

Yes, you can go smaller in ampere-hours, but the APC units will probably put up a yellow light warning of a weak battery.

If you can only get 7Ah batteries, I would run 2 in parallel for each normally used battery in the circuit. Some units are 24v using 2 - 12v in series.

Toast

[willawake]

Re: APC UPS units - troubleshooting

well i will see what happens. its not that i cant get 12ah but i got a few 7ah which are probably ok for a while.

[i4004]

Re: APC UPS units - troubleshooting

>You really need to stop making those generalizations about the APC UPS units.

what generalizations?
where are they?

i just said that small units won't be too good for usage with bigger batteries...because EVEN if they had some brains they can't produce such current for so long...they're just not ment for such loads...

>MANY of them DO have the brains to figure out what is inside because they load test at least once a week if not more.

yes, i said which ones have brains...bigger and more expensive units...
it's not they're break-bank more expensive, but they surely are not cheapest models around...
if it's MANY or NOT SO MANY depends on how much better units apc sells, and i dunno the number...do you?
as for load test it can tell the psu capacity of the battery?
how long does the load test last?

but it's kinda moot anyway as willa probably has the 'good' type...

otoh i have backups 500 that's probably more than 10 years old, and i won't be putting bigger batterie in it anytime soon...

so it's not a generalization but something to carry home when it comes to picking ups to work with bigger batteries...

[Pyrotech]

Re: APC UPS units - troubleshooting

HI, read this whole thread, and here is my advice and warnings:

1. Do not use a vented lead acid auto battery. They can leak sulfuric acid which removes skin and flesh and the battery gives off hydrogen, which is very explosive especially if you smoke.... Thats why indoor lead acid batteries are sealed and bubble out when shorted. Better to bubble out than explode or leak...

2. Its ok to replace 12V 7-7.5AH batteries with 9AH ones of the same size. You can't go up to much or the battery gets bigger in size.

Happy fixing

[willawake]

Re: APC UPS units - troubleshooting



heres a house battery bank on a cruising boat. i was interested to see these cos i heard about this brand which is hand made in greece. this company unusually makes 2v batteries. so thats a 24v bank. said to be 350ah

[willawake]

Re: APC UPS units - troubleshooting



i think these are the biggest single batteries i have seen on a small boat. you can compare size to standard tool briefcase next to them.

[bassbindevil]

Re: APC UPS units - troubleshooting

All the UPSes at the office were APC, and I kept a log of when batteries were replaced and any failures. The only thing that ever went wrong with them was the batteries. The worst battery life span was the little 250VA units that used single 12V 7AH batteries.

Anyway, maybe it was because of the clueless IT manager that ignored the warning beeps, but the only bulging batteries I encountered were on SmartUPS units at a different office location. Changing them out required large screwdrivers and other persuasion. I wonder if the automatic self-tests put extra wear on the batteries. Maybe there's a way to disable that "feature".

By the way, the upsclub schematics are still on line.
http://www.upsclub.org/schem/

[Toasty]

Re: APC UPS units - troubleshooting

There was mention of a method to disable or change the program on certain APC units. Try Googling: reprogram smart-ups apc

Something about using hyperterminal and a special cable. I can not find the article that I read less than 2 weeks ago, but the writer did have some of the commands listed. One of which was changing the testing frequency.

[Toasty]

Re: APC UPS units - troubleshooting

Found some of them:

http://www.jjoseph.org/notes/apc_sma..._float_voltage

http://osdir.com/ml/monitoring.nut.u.../msg00120.html

Not responding: http://www.networkupstools.org/protocols/apcsmart.html

[dark84]

Re: APC UPS units - troubleshooting

Hi!
Sorry for my bad english!
My UPS do same thing that on the video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htykTLWTsH4

Anyone has an idea what is the problem?

Thanks!

[Behemot]

Re: APC UPS units - troubleshooting

Seems like the batteries are bad, you have a multimeter?

[smile]

Re: APC UPS units - troubleshooting

I have ACP BACKUPS 650MI , how do I change charge voltage to lower value?
The VR1 does not adjust it, I set it back to where it was default.

Any ideas?

[Behemot]

Re: APC UPS units - troubleshooting

Just use Panasonic batteries and you won't need any crazy adjustments. I suggest LC-RA1215P1.

[smile]

Re: APC UPS units - troubleshooting

I found pcb schematic, the battery is charged by LM78M15, 0.5A max.
The schematic shows 2 diodes (D18 and D2) that are connected to OUT pin one after another. This lowers voltage as diodes have voltage drop.

I added third diode (in a row to them) and now I have steady 13.00 - 13.09 Volts varies with AC voltage.
So now my batteries will no longer dry out !

[smile]

Re: APC UPS units - troubleshooting

Just use Panasonic batteries and you won't need any crazy adjustments. I suggest LC-RA1215P1.

I had better luck with YUASA NP1212 and the price is right. The Panasonic is not available locally in my country !

What I wonder is why England has CSB EVH12150 red, made in VIETNAM.


While the rest of the Europe has EVH12150 BLUE made in CHINA.