Bino,
I will give you a "cook's tour" of my personal UPS tour. You decide what
to do with your sandbox.
Way back in 1997 I bought 4 APC BP1100 (?Back-Ups Pro) UPS's. I did this
after many threads on this List about ?some? need to do this. I really
did not really get it completely at that time. But I did it.
Roll forward to 2006. All 4 for my UPS's started acting odd. Read "odd"
as "why are you NOT invisible?" Well, stuff happens....... :)
Now it is 2009 and my 4 old UPS's are now going through their 3rd
battery replacement! There is nothing wrong with the original UPS logic.
These 4 old horses just need new batteries;.....BECAUSE I cheaped out.
I did NOT buy the APC branded battery replacements.
What I did was:
3 of my UPS's got pairs of PowerSonic PS-12120F2 (Gel Cell).
1 of my UPS's got a pair of Yuasa "Genesis" NP12-12 (AGM).
The 3 units with PowerSonic Gel-Cells are now DEAD! I need 6 new
batteries to bring them back to full use!
The 1 unit with the pair of Yuasa AGM batteries is still ticking, taking
a licking, and feeding power to my Router and ADSL Modem! ......
Yes, I will replace these batteries soon, but, ATM, all is very well here!
I am thinking of now buying 3 pair of the "old" Yuasa AGM batteries.
(I sure hope they are still available?) They are still cheaper than the
APC suggested replacements.
In the bad old days, APC would never divulge "whose" batteries they
bought to produce THEIR very expensive replacement battery packs. Now,
it is 2009. APC now shares who they get batteries from. Still they DO
NOT tell me WHOSE batteries might be in the expensive battery
replacement I might buy. OK. But, at least they are trying to hold on to
their Consumer/Prosumer customers..... :)
From my read of the APC forums, UPS batteries (in APC UPS's) seem to
have a "Life" of about 3-5 years. 3 years seems to be about average. Odd
to me that I got damn near 9 years out of my first set of APC batteries.
[I do so want a set of 1997 batteries!] But, there was a whole lot of
stuff that took place during that time period. I got really lucky!
So, you wish to go 3rd party? OK. Been there and already done this.
If you choose to do this you need to know 3 critical things:
a) physical battery size
b) the battery Amp/Hour rating
c) I'll leave this on blank; because I am sure there will be discussion!
I am also of the belief that these UPS batteries are now "commodity"
objects.
Home/ProSumer folks are a very small part of this pie.
Commercial/Industrial customers really drive the technology in this
space. Besides, any same-kind battery you buy today is most likely
"better" than what arrived in your UPS 2-3 years ago.
NO. You do not need a NEW UPS. Unless, now, you have a bigger load for
the UPS you now have.
Bottom Line: UPS Batteries really last 2-5 years. Plan accordingly.
Save for the future! Your UPS batteries WILL DIE at some time in the
future! It is the nature of the current technology!
They are not finite............. :)
Sorry to be so verbose!
Best,
Duncan
Bino Gopal wrote:
Actually this is a topic I was wondering about...how often do you really
have to replace your batteries and is there a best way to do it? I.e. only
buy APC replacement batteries or can u 3rd party ones for cheaper, etc, or
should u just buy a new UPS? :P
The 900VA one I have (Back-UPS RS900 from 2004 or so) has a dead battery and
I haven't gotten around to replacing it, so yes, despite my post to Steve
it's not providing battery backup, but it connects all the peripherals
(cable and dsl modems, extra monitors, printers, random stuff, etc) so I
don't necessarily need the battery on it, while the RS1500 still has a
working battery (for now).
I'm just annoyed at how quickly the batteries die, but that's to be expected
I guess... :P
BINO
-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected]
[mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Christopher Fisk
Sent: Tuesday, June 30, 2009 1:04 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [H] Sometimes they're just out to get you
On Tue, 30 Jun 2009, Robert Martin Jr. wrote:
No UPS's for those boxes? Bummer. I had a similar problem in the past
causing me grief, and also had power go out half way through flashing a
new bios. Since then I gradually added 7 UPS's in the house. No major
surprises since.
I have an APC 1500AV on my computer and another on my Entertainment
center. I've had the same UPS's for almost 4 years, but have replaced the
batteries in each twice.
Wife dislikes the UPS's taking up space, but it is one thing I get to
overrule her on.
Christopher Fisk
