Sudden Backup battery Fail;ure ?

[n2ize]

Just a few moments ago my computer and monitor shut down suddenly and my APC backup started beeping continuously and flashing a red LED. So I shut it down, unplugged everything from it, turned it back on and it just beeped and provided no output. So I pulled it out, pulled the battery and , h=just for the heck of it, stuck in an old battery that I had laying around. Now it powers up fine, runs through the self-test and seems to work, I didn't connect the system back up to it because I should have a "fresh battery" laying around here somewhere that I'd like to put in and charge for a day or so before I reconnect it.

Question I have, is, do these sealed lead-acid batteries often fail abruptly like that ? Usually failure is more gradual, each time a self-test is run the battery gradually shows shorted and shorter run times indicating that the battery is coming to the end of life. But this battery was showing good health all along right until the moment when it failed abruptly and without warning. Often the UPS software will start leaving messages in syslog or even emailing the administrator that the batter needs attention. But no warnings this time. Just sudden and abrupt failure out of nowhere.

My best guess is that it either detected a momentary power anomaly (or went into self-test mode) switched to battery and the battery just wasn't able to supply any juice so it shut down and went into alarm.

The purpose of the UPS is to prevent the system from shutting down abruptly should the power go out. It is quite disheartening when the UPS actually causes what it is supposed to prevent. Has anyone experienced a suden battery failure like that , out of nowehere with absolutely no warning whatsoever..

P.S. I have another battery backup running a server and router down in the cellar. I guess I might as well replace that battery as well. It is going on it's third year now.

[W1GUH]

I think so, John. I've had two and that's just what they did. The first one was of questionable quality, so I chalked that one up. The the latest one was from a reputable place & was very good until it just went belly-up. Dunno what caused.


;) Laptops come with a built-in UPS. Never any worries about losing power! :stickpoke:

[W4GPL]

Yeah, this has been my experience with UPS units..

Make sure you replace it pretty quick.. the batteries will literally explode and expand in their shell -- getting stuck in the UPS forever.

[N2RJ]

The cheaper APCs just keep using the battery until its not good anymore. Make sure you don't overload the unit either.

My preference these days is for refurbed liebert upses.

[n2ize]

Okay, so basically what should be done is the battery should be replaced once every year or, at the very least once every two years. Once the battery is older than that it's a crapshoot. and it can die suddenly and with no warning. So, it looks like I'll be placing an order with "Battery mart" soon. I need to replace this battery and the one downstairs as well.

[n2ize]

The cheaper APCs just keep using the battery until its not good anymore. Make sure you don't overload the unit either.

My preference these days is for refurbed liebert upses.

Do you know a good place to get them refurbished ? I was checking prices. Some of the more basic Liebert supplies are as little as $220 new for basic needs.. They are supposed to be top quality. I think they also make hospital grade supplies for maintaining the operation of medical equipment.

For general purpose / hoome computing / networking the APC power supplies are not bad. However they can be temperamental and problematic at times. And, in my case here, it is obvious the APC unit does a minimal job in monitoring battery health.

[NQ6U]

At least it wasn't the battery on your pacemaker.

[n2ize]

At least it wasn't the battery on your pacemaker.

True.

[KG4NEL]

Okay, so basically what should be done is the battery should be replaced once every year or, at the very least once every two years. Once the battery is older than that it's a crapshoot. and it can die suddenly and with no warning. So, it looks like I'll be placing an order with "Battery mart" soon. I need to replace this battery and the one downstairs as well.

Exactly why there are so many surplus "pulls" of SLAs from commercial/industrial settings. They have a service contract to have them swapped every few years, to avoid any issues - regardless of the current state of the cells :)

[N2RJ]

Do you know a good place to get them refurbished ?

www.refurbups.com is my go to place. I bought new batteries for all my UPSes from there. I have a 1500VA backing the DVR.

[n2ize]

I've got the UPS reconnected with a yet unused battery. However, I don;t know how good this battery will be since, although never used it has been on the shelf for a while. In any event it's charged to about 63% capacity right now and I'll see if it eventually pumps up the battery to 100%. before I run any tests or re-calibration.

[n2ize]

www.refurbups.com (http://www.refurbups.com) is my go to place. I bought new batteries for all my UPSes from there. I have a 1500VA backing the DVR.

Thanks. I'm also going to need to buy a few new UPS's to cover a few other systems that were recently installed. Plus I want to upgrade everything to higher capacity UPS's that will yield considerably longer run times..

[N2RJ]

The refurb lieberts they have are pretty good. Also, they are online UPSes which means the inverter is always in circuit.

[W1GUH]

Thanks. I'm also going to need to buy a few new UPS's to cover a few other systems that were recently installed. Plus I want to upgrade everything to higher capacity UPS's that will yield considerably longer run times..

Wow! You live on a raid farm? As in "few other systems?

[N2RJ]

I have like five UPSes in the house, for computers, TVs and my network equipment in the basement (switches/PoE, firewall/router etc)

[n2ize]

Wow! You live on a raid farm? As in "few other systems?

Well, I have this system that I am using now.(an old Dell 32 bit pentium iv). I have a new system in the next room (state of the art 64 bit multicore processor). I have a system in the basement which can be used as a workstation (direclly or via vnc)) but I use it mostly as a router and a server for mail, web, ftp, nameserver, and lots more. I also have a laptop downstairs, two wireless network printers, a wired printer, and whatever mobile devices float on and off the network (like when I have guests over or my neices are staying over). Plus there is also a dedicated Verizon router and a VOIP telephone adapter. Bear in mind my folks live downstairs and I live upstairs so the network serves the needs of everybody, including guests... computing, email, phone, etc.. Plus a couple of systems I am adding on for experimenting with stuff, etc. I like to have UPS'es on all equipment that runss off the AC lines. I have found that momentary power interruptions, surges, spikes, lightning, and other issues can realy wreak havoc with the systems and even cause permanent damage costing time and money. Having the equipment connected to backups has saved the day many a time. matter of fact I don;t feel comfortable running without one.

[n2ize]

I have like five UPSes in the house, for computers, TVs and my network equipment in the basement (switches/PoE, firewall/router etc)

How are the Liebert power supplies with support for Linux in as far as network monitoring software goes ? I heard that APC has come up with a new protocol that doesn't play ball with a lot of the non-Windows monitoring software that a lot of Linux/*nix users use. How about the Eaton brand supplies ? I checked their website and they appear to have Linux support.

If APC isn't providing support for non-Windows software then I'll gladly dump APC and go with the other brands who do.

[N2RJ]

Haven't tried. I don't know.