Well, the lights just flicked off in the house and so did my computer so I
guess the batteries in my APC Back UPS are dead. Looks like there are a
couple of places that sell replacement batteries but my electronics question
is this. I've heard that the surge protection is done by capacitors and
that these lose their ability to do the job over time. Should I just
replace the entire UPS or will replacing the batteries get this back to 100%
functionality.

Thanks.
Steve.

Ignoramus2605 wrote:

On Tue, 08 Mar 2005 15:14:31 GMT, SteveF wrote:

Well, the lights just flicked off in the house and so did my computer so I
guess the batteries in my APC Back UPS are dead. Looks like there are a
couple of places that sell replacement batteries but my electronics question
is this. I've heard that the surge protection is done by capacitors and
that these lose their ability to do the job over time. Should I just
replace the entire UPS or will replacing the batteries get this back to 100%
functionality.


I would replace just batteries. I once bought a few pallets of APC
1400VA UPSes, old and with DEAD batterries, replaced batteries in all
of them and sold most (and kept some). They were all good after
putting in new batteries.


Done that too. Yes, MOVs only absorb energy once and after that they don't
offer any protection but don't hurt anything. My suggestion is to replace
your batteries (shop around, probably cheapest at DigiKey or other like that)
and power your whole UPS via a cheap new powerstrip which you replace whenever
you start to worry about it. The powerstrip's MOVs will protect you from spikes
and the UPS will protect you from dropouts.

GWE

I have an APC 650 VA UPS that intermittently shuts down the computer for
half a second or so, about once a week. Just enough time to lose everything
I was working on. I've confirmed that this problem is in the UPS, because
it goes away completely if I use the computer without it. Of course now I
have no backup protection. The battery was replaced a year ago, and seemed
to work fine once it was replaced. This problem appeared a few months
later. Is it worth getting APC to fix it? Will they be able to fix it,
given that it is a relatively rare intermittent problem? Thoughts?

--
Bob (Chief Pilot, White Knuckle Airways)

Bob Chilcoat wrote:

I have an APC 650 VA UPS that intermittently shuts down the computer for
half a second or so, about once a week. Just enough time to lose everything
I was working on. I've confirmed that this problem is in the UPS, because
it goes away completely if I use the computer without it. Of course now I
have no backup protection. The battery was replaced a year ago, and seemed
to work fine once it was replaced. This problem appeared a few months
later. Is it worth getting APC to fix it? Will they be able to fix it,
given that it is a relatively rare intermittent problem? Thoughts?

No, APC won't fix it. A little UPS like that is regarded like a transistor
radio. Use it and discard it when it breaks. I'm sorry, but it's the way a
lot of things are these days. - GWE

Throw away! You can usually replace with loss-leader from box store cheaper
than replacing batteries and checking out the unit.

"SteveF" wrote in message
. ..
Well, the lights just flicked off in the house and so did my computer so I
guess the batteries in my APC Back UPS are dead. Looks like there are a
couple of places that sell replacement batteries but my electronics
question is this. I've heard that the surge protection is done by
capacitors and that these lose their ability to do the job over time.
Should I just replace the entire UPS or will replacing the batteries get
this back to 100% functionality.

Thanks.
Steve.

Me also, Save exact one. Thought I was loosing my mind, when a couple
of times a week my firewall wouldn't respond. I had just replaced the
batteries.

Curses....

Rod

Bob Chilcoat wrote:
I have an APC 650 VA UPS that intermittently shuts down the computer for
half a second or so, about once a week. Just enough time to lose everything
I was working on. I've confirmed that this problem is in the UPS, because
it goes away completely if I use the computer without it. Of course now I
have no backup protection. The battery was replaced a year ago, and seemed
to work fine once it was replaced. This problem appeared a few months
later. Is it worth getting APC to fix it? Will they be able to fix it,
given that it is a relatively rare intermittent problem? Thoughts?

--
Bob (Chief Pilot, White Knuckle Airways)

SteveF wrote:
Well, the lights just flicked off in the house and so did my computer so I
guess the batteries in my APC Back UPS are dead. Looks like there are a
couple of places that sell replacement batteries but my electronics question
is this. I've heard that the surge protection is done by capacitors and
that these lose their ability to do the job over time. Should I just
replace the entire UPS or will replacing the batteries get this back to 100%
functionality.

Thanks.
Steve.

What you heard is not exactly correct.
Most cheap surge protectors rely on components called varisistors to
control over voltages. These are disks about the size of a quarter in
most surge protectors. They're not capacitors, but they definitely are
sacrificial. After they've taken enough energy, either in one big jolt
or a lot of little jolts, they quit working.

In fact varisistors can split open and if the surge protector isn't
properly designed the pieces stay in contact, producing a short and
quite possibly a fire.

Home UPS may or may not use varisistors. They certainly wouldn't be the
first line of protection. So if you've got a good UPS you don't have to
worry about that.

--RC

On Tue, 8 Mar 2005 10:38:08 -0500, "Bob Chilcoat"
wrote:

I have an APC 650 VA UPS that intermittently shuts down the computer for
half a second or so, about once a week. Just enough time to lose everything
I was working on. I've confirmed that this problem is in the UPS, because
it goes away completely if I use the computer without it. Of course now I
have no backup protection. The battery was replaced a year ago, and seemed
to work fine once it was replaced. This problem appeared a few months
later. Is it worth getting APC to fix it? Will they be able to fix it,
given that it is a relatively rare intermittent problem? Thoughts?


I've found APC is generally not worth fixing, unless you can fix it
yourself. Look for bad solder joints, particularly on the heavy
current carrying wires.

You open up the bottom compartment and replace the battery. They typically
are 12volt 7amp/hr or thereabouts. I had one with 2 6v batteries in series
and I replaced it with a 12v. You can get the batteries from Radio Shack, or
other electronic supply house.

Tony


"SteveF" wrote in message
. ..
Well, the lights just flicked off in the house and so did my computer so I
guess the batteries in my APC Back UPS are dead. Looks like there are a
couple of places that sell replacement batteries but my electronics
question
is this. I've heard that the surge protection is done by capacitors and
that these lose their ability to do the job over time. Should I just
replace the entire UPS or will replacing the batteries get this back to
100%
functionality.

Thanks.
Steve.

One thing I have done with older UPSs that I want to keep ( the good
big ones cost substantial money) is to bring the battery leads out to
the outside of the case. You can then attach larger batteries to the
UPS and have a much longer runtime than the smaller batteries give you.

TMT

Bob Chilcoat wrote:

I have an APC 650 VA UPS that intermittently shuts down the computer for
half a second or so, about once a week. Just enough time to lose everything
I was working on. I've confirmed that this problem is in the UPS, because
it goes away completely if I use the computer without it. Of course now I
have no backup protection. The battery was replaced a year ago, and seemed
to work fine once it was replaced. This problem appeared a few months
later. Is it worth getting APC to fix it? Will they be able to fix it,
given that it is a relatively rare intermittent problem? Thoughts?

--
Bob (Chief Pilot, White Knuckle Airways)


Bob -

My 650 battery went a year or so. I bought a 1000 (tall and thin type) comes
charged for the most part - you attach a special cable on the front...

USB to the computer...

My 650 is now a 7 or 8 - the battery (store) had same form/fit battery of higher
density. The older density wasn't there. I put it in and I just have a longer
time. I use it as a backup for clocks, telephones and if I need another battery charger...

The two 1000's I have power the two main computers here. The 2000 I just got will go
into the shop on that server after my move.

So I'd upgrade and also replace. The smaller UPS can be active for short times on heavy
users - protects for sags as well as spikes. Maybe the VCR or DVD-R during summer storms.

I have one over loaded and is shorter time - I think a printer is on the battery. But my
DSL modem and Router are all needed on that one as well.

Martin

--
Martin Eastburn, Barbara Eastburn
@ home at Lion's Lair with our computer
NRA LOH, NRA Life
NRA Second Amendment Task Force Charter Founder

Correct...no one gets something for nothing.

Commercial UPSs have self limiting circuitry to prevent just such an
event from occuring.

Many of the cheaper current UPSs are designed with no protection of the
charger so the manufacturer saves a few pennies. Because the battery
life is supposely a known period of time, the components (or lack of
them) are designed for this. You may also want to realize that as the
battery slowly dies or develops an internal short, the possibility of
the charging circuit self destructing increases. Have you noticed the
number of recalls on wall warts over the years? Same theme. More house
fires than one would realize are caused by selfdestructing UPSs. You
also may want to consider that the UL label is frequently counterfeited
so do not assume that just because your UPS has it means it has had any
type of safety testing done.

If I were going to buy a new UPS, I would not buy the cheapest one I
could find.

TMT

Ahhh, connecting a larger battery with more amp/hhours is one thing,
connecting it to your alternator of your truck is something else,,, geee a
few amps from a gell cell battery vs. 60~125 amps from a alternator, wonder
why the UPS it didn't last???


"Ignoramus2605" wrote in message
...
On 8 Mar 2005 21:34:55 -0800, Too_Many_Tools
wrote:
One thing I have done with older UPSs that I want to keep ( the good
big ones cost substantial money) is to bring the battery leads out to
the outside of the case. You can then attach larger batteries to the
UPS and have a much longer runtime than the smaller batteries give you.

Chargers in some UPSes would blow up if you try a nonstandard
battery. I found a nice 1400VA ferrups UPS on a curb somewhere. I
picked it up because it was 12V based, and I wanted to have a nice
power source that I could feed from my truck's alternator. After
trying abigger battery, the charger promptly blew up. Fortunately,
the inverter stayed. It is now a part of my backup power plan. It can
provide emergency AC when everything else fails.

i

Be careful what you connect to those leads. Too large a battery and it will
blow the internal power supply. One of my early claims to fame at Motorola
was solving a battery problem in fire stations in the city of San Antonio.
The city had bought all new consollete desk-top base stations with battery
back up. I did say fire stations didn't I? The individaul fires stations
soon connected large fire truck batteries to the leads running to the small
backup batteries. If the "new" batteries were even slightly discharged the
huge current drain would open up fusible resistors in the power supply. I
pondered the problem and decided a ballast resistor was needed in the
battery leads to limit charging current and save the power supplies. It
turned out a 100 W, 12 volt incandescent lamp was just the right amount of
ballast. That's right - a 12 volt light bulb. They were fairly commonly
used in the cabooses of RR's that had 12 volt systems to run their radios.

Bob (been there, done some) Swinney
"Too_Many_Tools" wrote in message
oups.com...
One thing I have done with older UPSs that I want to keep ( the good
big ones cost substantial money) is to bring the battery leads out to
the outside of the case. You can then attach larger batteries to the
UPS and have a much longer runtime than the smaller batteries give you.

TMT

Bob Chilcoat wrote:

I have an APC 650 VA UPS that intermittently shuts down the computer for
half a second or so, about once a week. Just enough time to lose everything
I was working on. I've confirmed that this problem is in the UPS, because
it goes away completely if I use the computer without it. Of course now I
have no backup protection. The battery was replaced a year ago, and seemed
to work fine once it was replaced. This problem appeared a few months
later. Is it worth getting APC to fix it? Will they be able to fix it,
given that it is a relatively rare intermittent problem? Thoughts?

ditch it. buy a 1000VA or more ups my personal preference
is the APC SMART-UPS 1000/1400. and make sure it is HEAVY
the lighter the ups the weenier the ups.

most consumer ups (ie comp-usa, APC-BACKUPS, Beldin,.....) are
**** and will self destruct right after the warrenty ends. think
bridgeport vs harbor frieght.

Basically a ups is all about the battery so the heavier ups the
bigger the battery, the bigger the battery the longer the run time,
the bigger the battery=less load on the battery=longer battery
life=longer ups shelf life. Also only load a ups to 1/2 the VA it
is capable of running, or less.

Also try UPS vendors in your area and see what they will sell you
a 're-furb' unit for, where they add new batterys to the UPS. Alot of
companies will trade in a UPS the first time it 'fails'. there is
generally nothing wrong with these units just the batteries got
overwelmed and croaked. they cost about $250 in colorado with 1 year
warrenty and new batterys for a APC-SMARTUPS 1400.


laz
who has 2 1400VA, 2 2000VA, and a generator for home.
1 of the 2000VA is over 8 years old on original batterys but it
is never loaded over 20% (yes it does need new batterys because
runtime is down to 30 minutes, but it i am lazy and it is heavy)