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Electronics Repair (sci.electronics.repair) Discussion of repairing electronic equipment. Topics include requests for assistance, where to obtain servicing information and parts, techniques for diagnosis and repair, and annecdotes about success, failures and problems. |
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#1
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APC SmartUPS smoked with new batteries
I have seen users change their own batteries and put them in reverse
polarity. This blows the main board every time! This type of procedure makes for the repairs to be very expensive. APC does not sell the parts, or service manuals to non-APC servicers. You will have to send back the UPS for an estimate. In the end, you will most likely find that it may be cheaper to buy a new one! I have no idea if they will take back the batteries. Usually, batteries are a non returnable item. -- Greetings, Jerry Greenberg GLG Technologies GLG ========================================= WebPage http://www.zoom-one.com Electronics http://www.zoom-one.com/electron.htm ========================================= "Brian" wrote in message om... My SmartUPS 700 gave me a warning about a week ago that I needed to replace batteries. Sounds good, they were two years old. Well, while I was waiting for the 2 12v 7.2Ah in series to come in, my UPS suddenly turned off and would not turn back on. I was away from the computer at the time, so I have no idea how long the UPS was in this state. Depression of the on button would cause the UPS to emit a dying whine from the small alarm speaker. At this point, i figured it was because of the dead batteries, and needed good ones to power up. Removal of the batteries revealed battery 1 appeared fine and registerd 12.54vdc. Battery 2, however, has a overheated, bulging cell and registered 10.36vdc. Voltage readings of the two batteries in circuit while UPS plugged in (but still cant turn on) showed 7vdc?!? Batt 1, in circuit, read 12v, but batt 2 read -4v? wtf? Problem solved. Replaced batteries with UPS unplugged and got a surprise arc. Status LED's on front came on for a second, and heard relays click on and off. Plugged UPS in thinking all was well, and heard speaker beep, then some crackling sounds and finally the dreaded smoke. I immediately unplugged UPS from live power and battery power. Smoke appears to have originated from some square caps near the regulator ICs. Any ideas on why the new batteries coudl cause this? they were direct from APC. |
#2
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APC SmartUPS smoked with new batteries
Well, last time i checked, I am not colorblind, and know the difference
between black and red! I assure you polarity was correct. Jerry G. wrote: I have seen users change their own batteries and put them in reverse polarity. This blows the main board every time! This type of procedure makes for the repairs to be very expensive. APC does not sell the parts, or service manuals to non-APC servicers. You will have to send back the UPS for an estimate. In the end, you will most likely find that it may be cheaper to buy a new one! I have no idea if they will take back the batteries. Usually, batteries are a non returnable item. |
#3
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APC SmartUPS smoked with new batteries
The second cause of blowing UPS's is people replace them with the UPS switch
still turned on and many times the computer devices still plugged into the UPS and/OR the UPS still plugged into the AC outlet. Either scenario will cause quite a large arc and blowing of the board. The batteries should only be replaced with the unit unplugged from ac power, the power switch in the off position, and all devices unplugged from the outlets on the unit as an added precaution (not to mention the extra ease in turning it upside down without the extra cables hanging off it). David Brian Friedl wrote in message news:1BTwb.9198$o9.7937@fed1read07... Well, last time i checked, I am not colorblind, and know the difference between black and red! I assure you polarity was correct. Jerry G. wrote: I have seen users change their own batteries and put them in reverse polarity. This blows the main board every time! This type of procedure makes for the repairs to be very expensive. APC does not sell the parts, or service manuals to non-APC servicers. You will have to send back the UPS for an estimate. In the end, you will most likely find that it may be cheaper to buy a new one! I have no idea if they will take back the batteries. Usually, batteries are a non returnable item. |
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APC SmartUPS smoked with new batteries
"Brian Friedl" wrote in message news:1BTwb.9198$o9.7937@fed1read07... Well, last time i checked, I am not colorblind, and know the difference between black and red! I assure you polarity was correct. I think people are overlooking a fairly obvious possibility, the UPS failed on it's own with the dead batteries still installed. Installing new batteries gave it a fresh source of internal power to cause further damage due to the fault. It's probably fixable, but some troubleshooting knowledge will be needed. Worst case you could buy a new UPS that uses the same sort of batteries and keep the new ones you bought as spares. |
#5
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APC SmartUPS smoked with new batteries
The batteries should only be replaced with the unit unplugged from ac power,
the power switch in the off position, and all devices unplugged from the outlets on the unit as an added precaution (not to mention the extra ease in turning it upside down without the extra cables hanging off it). I could see this being true, except there was no load, and the ups is hot swappable. (Also, on SmartUPS, the batteries slide out the front of the unit.) There was no load at the time, because I was having problems with it turning off at random times because it would go on a self-test and die because of the dead batteries. All that was plugged in was a monitor, and I unplugged that too because I couldnt see the screen! So back to my question. Should I pay $80 for APC to send me new batteries and a warranty or just go out and buy a all new unit for double that cost? Perhaps this is fixable, as I have knowledge in SMPS repair and design, however I have heard that APC refuses to provide prints for their units. |
#6
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APC SmartUPS smoked with new batteries
"DaveC" wrote in message al.net... On Tue, 25 Nov 2003 21:04:12 -0800, James Sweet wrote (in message gvWwb.232169$275.873864@attbi_s53): Worst case you could buy a new UPS that uses the same sort of batteries and keep the new ones you bought as spares. Except for the fact that lead-acid batteries don't store well without a trickle charge on them. -- Trickle charge isn't hard though, just use an old 12v wall wart with a small automotive lightbulb in series. |
#7
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APC SmartUPS smoked with new batteries
True, but i suppose I could swap out batteries every 3 months? Would
that work? or perhaps hook up the two batteries in parallel? (I think the latter would require modifying the charging circuit?) DaveC wrote: On Tue, 25 Nov 2003 21:04:12 -0800, James Sweet wrote (in message gvWwb.232169$275.873864@attbi_s53): Worst case you could buy a new UPS that uses the same sort of batteries and keep the new ones you bought as spares. Except for the fact that lead-acid batteries don't store well without a trickle charge on them. |
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