AP9810 I/O Module & Network Card 2 Firmware

[Anonymous user]

I am using the Dry Contact module, AP9810, with the Network Card 2, AP9631, in a Smart UPS SMT750. I installed the latest firmware v5.1.3, but I could not
get the Relay Output to work. I found somewhere in this forum another person had this problem and the response from APC was that firmware v5.1.3 did not work with the relay output and you had to install an older version 5.1.1. I tried that and it did indeed make the relay function.
So my question is, when will an update to Version 5.1.3 be available to address this problem?

Also, in the Dry Contact I/O literature, AP9810, it mentions another Network Management Card 2, the AP9635 that only has one I/O port. Which is all I need and should be less expensive than the ridiculously priced AP9631, which has two ports. When will this card be available???

And, does APC offer a good way to mount this Dry Contact module, AP9810? There are no mounting holes or brackets of any kind for the unit. Our UPS's go into industrial machinery and I need a professional way of securely mounting this module. Anyone have any good ideas?

I think APC really blew it when they made the single Smart Card, Relay I/O Module, AP9610, not backwards compatible with the new SMT models. Now I have to buy a Network card AND an I/O module to do the same thing, and it doubles the cost of the total UPS!!!

[Anonymous user]

Ah, that is good news about the AP9631 being compatible with the SUA models since we have hundreds of the SUA750 models out in the field.

We purchase your UPS and accessories from multiple vendors, but most seem to use your same part number:

Global Computer Supplies: SUA750I APC: SUA750I
Computer 1: SUA750I APC: SUA750I
CDW: 650335 (UNSPSC: 39121011) APC: SUA750I

We pay about $290 for the unit. Would there be a better price break buying directly from you, or any other products? We bought approx. 120 last year.

[BillP]

i dont know on the pricing but i honestly doubt it if you arent already an APC partner with an APC sales rep, etc

let me see what i can find out about the availability of the SMT international units in the US .

[BillP]

sorry if I confused you. the AP9630 and AP9631 are backwards compatible with all SU and SUA models and any other UPSs that the original AP9617, AP9618, and AP9618 network management cards supported. They don't really fall into the same category as the AP9610 and other accessories that only work with link language based UPSs.

Thus, AP9630 is backwards compatible with every AP9617 application, except the larger 3 phase silcon UPS. The AP9617 does not support any of the newer UPSs.

I believe SUA750I will be replaced with SMT750I as you found out and the SKUs will match up so you can just swap SUA with SMT on all models you buy.

if you don't mind me asking, do you purchase through distribution or APC direct? I am not sure how the purchasing works since network management cards and the smart slot accessories are the things i focus on but i can find out.

once i know where you want to buy and what skus you are looking at, i can try to find out when to expect them and where they are available.

thanks.

[BillP]

hi.

to begin with, there is a known bug with 5.1.3 and the output relay. please [check this out|http://nam-en.apc.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/11048].

a fix will probably be available in the next month (august) but for now, you can use version 5.1.1 to get it to work, as you did indeed find out by downgrading.

AP9635 is a special NMC2 that is only used in a larger three phase UPS called the symmetra PX 250/500kva. it will never be able to be utilized in a single phase UPS as of now and it is not available for sale since it only ships with the UPS i mentioned.

i don't know of any way of mounting this device except zip tieing it to a rack or something similar.

there will be an AP9610 replacement due out early next year that will be compatible with the new unit. the problem is that the older UPSs and these older smart slot accessories utilized a different communication language than the new UPSs. I agree that it probably should have been available when the new UPSs were though.

hope this helps. let me know if you need anything else.

[Anonymous user]

Hi, thanks for the reply.

You answered many of my questions, I appreciate it. Though it does bring up a couple more questions if I may.

If I understand your explanation, the new network card, AP9631, will not work with the old 'SUA' models because of comm language incompatibility, yes?
It's confusing because your literature on the website says: Compatibility - "Works with All APC SmartSlot UPS's, including Smart-UPS and Symmetra units."

We also use the SUA750I, 230VAC UPS, which does still use the old AP9610. But I was told this model will also be obsoleted in the near future. Do you know the
exact date of when this will happen? Perhaps at the same time the newer version of the AP9610 will come out? Not knowing obsoleting dates puts us in a bind
because we don't know how many to buy or when to stop buying the old AP9610 units.

Also, it would be nice to be able to see the international voltage UPS's on the USA site, they don't come up when I do a search, I have to search on one of your
international sites that aren't in English. On the German site I see that the SMT750I model is already available. Is it available for USA purchase now also?
Perhaps it's waiting for US approvals?

Thanks again,

Dave

[Anonymous user]

No, we hadn't tried to order them yet because the SUA750I (230V) was still available from our vendors. When we tried to order the SUA750 (120V), our vendors told us this part
was Obsoleted by APC and was no longer available but said the SMT750 was replacing it. Only later we found out that the relay module, AP9610, wouldn't work with the new SMT750.
So I called APC tech support and found out we needed to order the AP9631 & AP9810 to get the same functionality we had with the AP9610, and he mentioned that the SUA750I would
also be obsoleted at some point, probably before the end of the year. So we'll probably keep buying the SUA750I as long as we can because we have about 25 of the AP9610 cards in
our stock.

What would really help is to know when the replacement card for the AP9610, that is compatible with the new "SMT" models, is coming out? And are you going to obsolete the AP9610?

Thanks again for all your help.

[BillP]

i will have to check when AP9610 is going to get replaced. i believe the AP9610 replacement is due out around March of 2011 but that could change. if anything, the replacement will be backwards compatible or they will keep both the AP9610 and the replacement available for customers.

[Anonymous user]

I am using the Dry Contact module, AP9810, with the Network Card 2, AP9631, in a Smart UPS SMT750. I installed the latest firmware v5.1.3, but I could not
get the Relay Output to work. I found somewhere in this forum another person had this problem and the response from APC was that firmware v5.1.3 did not work with the relay output and you had to install an older version 5.1.1. I tried that and it did indeed make the relay function.
So my question is, when will an update to Version 5.1.3 be available to address this problem?

Also, in the Dry Contact I/O literature, AP9810, it mentions another Network Management Card 2, the AP9635 that only has one I/O port. Which is all I need and should be less expensive than the ridiculously priced AP9631, which has two ports. When will this card be available???

And, does APC offer a good way to mount this Dry Contact module, AP9810? There are no mounting holes or brackets of any kind for the unit. Our UPS's go into industrial machinery and I need a professional way of securely mounting this module. Anyone have any good ideas?

I think APC really blew it when they made the single Smart Card, Relay I/O Module, AP9610, not backwards compatible with the new SMT models. Now I have to buy a Network card AND an I/O module to do the same thing, and it doubles the cost of the total UPS!!!

[BillP · Accepted solution]

FYI, as of today, the last I heard was Early Q1 2012. 😞