APC UPS troubleshooting

[gitco]

I have a problem with an APC Back-UP 500 LS UPS.
The ups started by beeping with the "replace battery" led on. The beeping and lit led were not constant.
I replaced the battery with a new one but the beeping did not stop.

Then I installed the Powerchute software to silence the alarm but instead I discovered that the reason for the beeping was the UPS sometimes thinks the battery is disconnected. The software keeps showing "battery disconnected" and "battery connected" messages in a cyclic way.
When the UPS detects the battery, the monitor shows battery charge is OK.

Does anybody have a similar problem and know how to solve or any hints where to look?

Thanks in advance.

[starfury1]

Re: APC UPS troubleshooting

Hi welcome
No direct answer for you, but if it is an electronics fault and your got some electronics training (in the mean time too)

You may want to have a squizz through this thread UPS and inverter questions

You may get an answer from someone here familiar with these.
I don't know much about them.
With a bit of luck it might be a common type thing that happens.

HTH

Cheers

[andrew77]

Re: APC UPS troubleshooting

Welcome gitco,

You've come to a good place for asking people about all things electric.

I'm no expert, but I've been playing with these devices for the past month and I've run across lots of information on them.

It sounds to me like the charger isn't charging the battery all the time. If you have a volt meter you could check the volts on the battery. Usually they have 12 volt batteries, sometimes like in my case, there are two 12 volt batteries connected in series. You should see 13 volts if it's a 12 volt battery and it's been charging.

Looking up your unit on google, I see yours uses the same batteries as mine, but just a single battery.

If you see less than 12.5 volts, it's probably not charging completely. If it's a whole lot lower than that, the charger is probably not working at all. I'm not so sure I could walk you through what you'd have to fix if the charger is totally dead, you'll have to wait for the people that really know how those things work to be online.

Sorry couldn't help you more, but at least it's a start.

Andrew

[kc8adu]

Re: APC UPS troubleshooting

did you get a new fresh battery?
the replace battery detection depends on the fact that a worn out battery will draw little current at float.
it monitors this along with watching voltage under a test load.
i load test ups batts with a car battery load tester to be sure.

[PCBONEZ]

Re: APC UPS troubleshooting

You also may simply have a bad connection, bad wire, or loose wire in a connector.