On Thu, 6 Aug 2020 11:46:37 +0100, Andy Burns wrote:

I'd look very hard at other makes before getting another APC. They
have (had?) a habit of cooking the batteries.

I think that reputation is not particularly deserved, ...

They don't seem to have quite the same problem these days. Mine is
Smart-UPS 700 manufactured 11/03/98 (it says) and been in constant
use since l bought it in the first half of '99. So reliabilty of the
unit isn't an issue.

If in the market for a UPS i'd be looking to see if APC and cooked
batteries was still a topic for dicussion on the 'net.

... yes if left in poorly ventilated places they get hot (and I've seen
the resulting distorted batteries and short life) ...

When the last lot of batteries almost went into meltdown, the UPS was
sat on top of a small tower PC under table in a living room, So
plenty of ventilation and 20 C.

... but mine runs at ~30C ...

Before being "got at" mine would be running at 40 C plus in the
living room, ie a good 25 C above ambient. It's now in the "services
cupboard" along with the thermal store, it's warm in there, 25 to 30+
C a lot of the time. Currently the cupboard is at 30 C but the UPS is
only 37 C.

... and the float voltage as measured by a multimeter is is bang-on 54V
which is Yuasa's recommendation, allowing for -3mV compensation per
degree above 20C.

Before being got at the voltage on mine was two or three volts above
the recommended level, over 12 cells (2 x 12 V batteries).

My last two sets have made 5 years (or rather 4 years 11 months for the
last set,

I lied earlier the batteries currently in the UPS were installed when
I modified it in Mar 14, 6 1/2 years... I guess I really ought to
give it a run-time test.

I don't allow it to do the regular self-test).

Niether do I, that's a sure way to shorten battery life.

I've had 6-8 hour runs from mine (router, switch, DECT phone, a lowish
powered PC that records TV)

I've got a 2.5 kVA (I think) APC Smart UPS stored. Needs batteries
but 4 x 17 AHr SLAs don't come cheap. I might get a tuit for 4 x
leisure batteries for it at some point. The Smart-UPS 700 does it's
job without eating batteries now, so getting the 2.5 up and runningh
is a long way down the list.

--
Cheers
Dave.