Subscribe to
Posts
Comments
NSLog(); Header Image

Trying CyberPower for UPS, Replacing a Battery in the APC

The APC Back-UPS RS 1500VA LCD that I got in July, 2008 (product page) has served me well. It's an 865 Watt, 1500 VA unit that gives me around 18 minutes or so of battery powered backup when it's new.

A few weeks ago we lost power, and my computer didn't last very long. When power came back I noticed the battery was behaving poorly, and due to its age, I bought a replacement from ATBatt.com.

I left the batteries to charge for over 16 hours (per the manual), and booted the computer to find this:

APC 1APC 2
nnIn other words, either my UPS somehow went bad OR the batteries I received are bad. I think it's likely the latter, and initiated an advance replacement with ATBatt.com ((To their credit this has been a hassle-free endeavor thus far.)) as they agreed it's likely a bad cell. ((It's also unlikely that if the APC unit itself was screwy that it would report any battery time, let alone a time that's constantly shifting from 0 to 1 to 2 minutes depending on tiny fluctuations in load.))

I have another APC UPS (it's either this model or this one) downstairs hooked up to our TV. It draws 300 amps when it's running, roughly 35%, and has a runtime STILL (several years later) of 15 to 18 minutes.

The current model sells for $189.60 at Amazon, but I took a chance on a CyberPower unit that should be roughly the same: the CyberPower CP1500AVRLCD Intelligent LCD 1500VA 900W with AVR Tower UPS. The reviews are pretty solid, and the unit should be almost identical to the one on my TV at $40 less.

My APC? I'll probably probably take it downtown to use at Golf Evolution. We could always use another plug or two down there, and the battery back up will be a nice bonus over the surge protection we have now.

2 Responses to "Trying CyberPower for UPS, Replacing a Battery in the APC"

  1. After replacing the batteries did you do a run time calibration?

    1. [quote comment="73644"]After replacing the batteries did you do a run time calibration?[/quote]
      No, I hadn't. I found these steps:

      http://excessups.com/blog/manual-runtime-calibration-apc-ups/

      1. Battery must be at 100% capacity when the Runtime Calibration is initiated/started. (charge the UPS for 24hours prior)
      2. The UPS must have 30-34% load on it during the calibration (Constant load, try: lamps, computers, monitors. Measure load % by PowerChute)
      3. Disconnect the serial/USB comm cable from the UPS (you donโ€™t want PowerChute to shut down equipment)
      4. The battery must be discharged completely (unplug UPS from wall outlet, let the UPS to shut off completely due to a discharged battery).
      5. Remove the attached load (ie โ€“ lights, computers)
      6. Let the UPS charge for 8 hours while OFF (plug back into utility power, press OFF button when UPS turns ON)
      7. Turn on UPS (run time should now be accurate)

      I've just started the test and had 31% load of 270w with a halogen lamp. It said the run time was 0 minutes but it's been running since before I started typing this comment so it's at least three minutes. ๐Ÿ™‚

      Last night I took the entire UPS apart (and put it back together) to try to find a loose wire or something that might be causing this. Thanks for your comment - I just wish you'd posted it about 12 hours earlier!

      I'll alert the ATBatt people, too, as their first battery was probably just fine. Now I feel like a bad consumer (though in my defense they did not suggest I manually calibrate the time either).

      Update: With 265-275w load (about 31% according to the display - no PCs here so no PowerChute), the battery lasted from before the comment (about 9:58am) until finally giving out at 10:13am. That's 15 minutes at almost 33%. Still not awesome, but not the 1-2 minutes it was predicting.