My UPS keeps screwing up

[check]

Update: Found out that hese APS UPS's are no good. (Problem with the charging system.) APS used to be the gold standard, until Schneider bought the company, and then they went downhill. Another cottage close by has the same as mine that bit the dust.

May switch to Cyberpower instead. Or maybe nothing, as I have other options for when the power goes out.

 

[Oaktree]

The newer large (1000-1500VA) have batteries that come pre-joined and insert into the UPS like a cartridge. Expensive too at about $110. Third party batteries are available for about $56.

I, for one have not had good experiences with 3rd party UPS battery packs. 6 months and they fail.
You can save some money getting the individual batteries and replacing the ones in the cartridge.

Update: Found out that hese APS UPS's are no good. (Problem with the charging system.) APS used to be the gold standard, until Schneider bought the company, and then they went downhill. Another cottage close by has the same as mine that bit the dust.

I've heard that from others, but haven't experienced it myself. Maybe just certain models are problematic?

 

[ultrarunner]

yea, its 2, 12v 7ah-10ah flipped upside down with a bracket in the middle, they can be taken apart and replaced

So far so good with sine wave APC UPS used at work…

During pandemic went 4 years between battery exchange.

 

[John0829]

May switch to Cyberpower instead. Or maybe nothing, as I have other options for when the power goes out.

I switched to CyberPower several years ago hoping for better service than I was getting from the APC's. They are better but still 3 years is about average life for the UPS. I tried replacing the batteries but found the replacements did not last as long or even half as long as the OEM batteries so now I just replace the complete unit.

 

[LittleBill21]

i have started using Lifep04 in my units, actually converted 5 so far, there are concerns doing it but its working well for the last 2 years I have been doing it

 

[rontaki]

i have started using Lifep04 in my units, actually converted 5 so far, there are concerns doing it but its working well for the last 2 years I have been doing it

Isn't charging the LiFeP04 batteries an issue, since the inboard charger is designed for lead-acid batteries?

 

[LittleBill21]

Isn't charging the LiFeP04 batteries an issue, since the inboard charger is designed for lead-acid batteries?

No, the charge profiles are very similar, equalization has to be disabled on chargers that have it if above 14.6 otherwise most UPS's don't use that mode anyway

 

[brianc19707]

Hello, I have a Schneider UPS That I bought last June and it has now taken to screwing up at in opportune times.

We had a power outage at the cottage when I was not there, and I could tell it was not working because I could not access my thermostat via the UPS. So, I had someone go in and check, and the UPS was screaming with a loud tone, which is unsure some sort of alarm, and of course, the wifi which was connected to it was not functioning.

There is a reset button on the front that my friend held down until the tone stopped, and then everything was functioning fine.

Now it is not working again, and there's no Power Outage, so that could not be the cause.

Any ideas?

Thanks,
James.

Many UPS do not have a feature called auto start. If your battery discharges or is end of life, all is good until power outage. Most UPS will not come back on if battery voltage is below a certain voltage.

Auto start will come back on a try to charge battery regardless. That’s why you had to hit reset.

Bottom line - change ups battery about every two to three years. Plus - test it. Unplug simulating a power outage. It should keep running stuff for a period of time (depending on the load). More load=less time.

Remember UPS are not designed to be a replacement for a generator or emergency power source. They are there to bridge power between commercial power and emergency power transition.

If you want a long term (days) solution, get a large li-ion battery and put in place of ups battery. Be sure you have a way to trickle charge that li-ion battery.

This way, the inverter has plenty of battery to run low load devices on UPS for days. When commercial power is restored, your trickle charge will recharge your storage battery.

But your issue sounds like ups does not have the auto start feature, and your battery sounds like its end of life. Seen this many times on remote sites.

 

[alylea]

I do IT for a living and can tell you that it's most likely the batteries. Chances are they are 12v 7AH alarm style batteries. You can find them cheap enough on Amazon. No need to buy the APC OEM batteries as they are a rip off. I have swapped out literally hundreds of them over the years and the Amazon ones work just fine. Just make sure you get the right terminal type, they're either F1 or f2 and you can figure that out by looking at the battery and comparing it to the one on Amazon. Note which one is positive and which one is negative.

 

[Chris616]

I had someone go in and check, and the UPS was screaming with a loud tone, which is unsure some sort of alarm,

I've just been looking through the manual for your UPS, which is a more capable/expensive unit than I have to back up a router. I would do some more diagnostic work before replacing the batteries on a UPS that is less than a year old (the SLA batteries in my UPS last 3-4 years). There is a screen that gives diagnostics codes about what the problem is. In addition, if what you've written above is accurate the sound that was reported indicates a problem with the devices that are plugged into the UPS.

 

[Rebeldad1]

maybe you should try a solar generator? they are compact and have great life span. battery life on the new ones are up to 10 years with LiFeP04 batteries. safer as well. Got tired of having to reset everything on power outages and now it's not an issue. If your remote they even can be charged with solar panels.

 

[JayJay99]

Battery dead. I have not had good luck with APC UPS's lasting long

Unfortunately that major brand seems to be one that I had problems with also. Switched to Cyberpower and had very good lasting results. Because of the lasting ability of that brand, I purchased another one for my shop and it's been working great also. There might be other good brands, but once you find one that works good I thought I should stick with it.

 

[jigs_n_fixtures]

There are videos on YouTube on how to convert a UPS from the 12V, 7-AmpHour batteries to large 12-volt deep cycle batteries. I have a couple I have done that with. Just took the battery leads from the UPS out to an RV battery setting nearby in a plastic case. The built in chargers are just looking for a 12V battery to charge to around 14V. Battery charges and they shut off. Battery discharges to wherever their threshold is set, and they start charging.

Most home/consumer UPS units are also surge protection so you need to check the ladder fuse to make sure it is still 70 to 80% intact.

And, most of the home/consumer units also contain a full sine wave inverter, to provide clean AC to digital devices. So, even if you have a generator backup for power, you still need feed things with digital electronics through a good UPS.

I used to install, UPS units downstream from the inverter on off grid solar systems to assure clean 60Hz, sine wave power to satellite internet and computer systems.

 

[rontaki]

There are videos on YouTube on how to convert a UPS from the 12V, 7-AmpHour batteries to large 12-volt deep cycle batteries. I have a couple I have done that with. Just took the battery leads from the UPS out to an RV battery setting nearby in a plastic case. The built in chargers are just looking for a 12V battery to charge to around 14V. Battery charges and they shut off. Battery discharges to wherever their threshold is set, and they start charging.

Most home/consumer UPS units are also surge protection so you need to check the ladder fuse to make sure it is still 70 to 80% intact.

And, most of the home/consumer units also contain a full sine wave inverter, to provide clean AC to digital devices. So, even if you have a generator backup for power, you still need feed things with digital electronics through a good UPS.

I used to install, UPS units downstream from the inverter on off grid solar systems to assure clean 60Hz, sine wave power to satellite internet and computer systems.

Generators with clean output are easily available these days. For instance, Champion makes some decently powerful open-frame inverter gennies. I have one and it never caused problems with my internet equipment or TV running directly off it.

 

[Oaktree]

And, most of the home/consumer units also contain a full sine wave inverter, to provide clean AC to digital devices. So, even if you have a generator backup for power, you still need feed things with digital electronics through a good UPS.

Speaking of UPSs and generators, some of them don't play nicely together, especially some of those box store Generacs. Apparently, the power those generators produce isn't as clean or frequency-accurate as some UPSs want to see, so they'll switch back & forth between line and battery power. Some UPSs have a sensitivity adjustment than can help with this.
Learned the hard way...

 

[check]

I've just been looking through the manual for your UPS, which is a more capable/expensive unit than I have to back up a router. I would do some more diagnostic work before replacing the batteries on a UPS that is less than a year old (the SLA batteries in my UPS last 3-4 years). There is a screen that gives diagnostics codes about what the problem is. In addition, if what you've written above is accurate the sound that was reported indicates a problem with the devices that are plugged into the UPS.

View attachment 5293391

Wow / thanks for that! We'll check it out.

 

[Mahindra26XL]

I have APC and Cyberpower UPSs. I just replaced 196 batteries in an APC UPS. I have UPSs 5-20+ years old. I just stick new batteries in them. Almost always are good with new batteries.

But what if the new battery in an APC UPS still doesn’t light a light bulb when the AC plug is unplugged? I take it to mean that the UPS is somehow malfunctioning and defective. I have no idea how to test the inner circuitry to fix that. I’m assuming that the UPS is no good and I should just buy a new one and throw the old unit away.

 

[Oaktree]

Yeah, if replacing the battery doesn't fix it it's time for a new one. Without a schematic (good luck finding one!) you'd just be throwing parts at it.