APC 3000 RM XL - Fan noise & firmware upgrade (SUA3000RMXLI3U)

[Anonymous user]

Hi all,

A couple of days ago I installed a SUA3000RMXLI3U PSU in a rack together with a 9619 card.

The thing's fan is always on and produces way too much noise for the location the rack is placed in (1 room away from a bedroom).

It seams to me that the fan being always on is more a disadvantage than a gain in my case.

Then I would like to know if the situation could be changed via a firmware upgrade (of the PSU, not of the 9619 card): anyone?

In any case, could someone point me to the procedure to perform a firmware upgrade to the SUA3000RMXLI3U PSU? (apparently I was not able to find it..)
Thank you

Roberto

[BillP]

Depending on the age of your UPS, the fan may always be on.  Below are the reasons it would be on high or on(in earlier models).  Unfortunately, there is no way to upgrade the firmware of the UPS itself.

1. The UPS is on battery.
2. The UPS is charging the battery.
3. The UPS has a load greater than 75%.
4. The internal temperature of the UPS has reached greater than 104 degrees F (40 degrees C).

[BillP]

Hi Roberto,

The SmartUPS that you have utilizes a fan that has 2 speeds.  On these units the fan will always be on in low speed mode, and will switch to high speed mode should one of the following events occur:

1. The UPS is on battery.
2. The UPS is charging the battery.
3. The UPS has a load greater than 75%.
4. The internal temperature of the UPS has reached greater than 104 degrees F (40 degrees C).

With regards to the firmware upgrade, only the network management card (AP9619) can be upgraded and not the UPS itself.  For the guide on how to perform a firmware upgrade on a network management card, please search for FA156047 from our  FAQ

[Anonymous user]

Actually, an SUA3000 ups has three fans...there is a large main 4" one which has two speeds and directly cools the Inverter/Charging circuit heat sinks - it's the most critical one. Then there are secondary ~3" ones that cool the battery compartment and the other side of the main board. The 4" fan and the second of the two 3" fans I mentioned also work together to pull cool air in across the transformer pair that is right behind the LED front panel display. You would not want to (nor can you with firmware or other non-intrusive means) defeat the purpose of any of these fans by shutting them down.

[BillP]

Can these fans be replaced with silent running standard PC/Server build fans?

[Brad_C · Accepted solution]

Yes you can replace them. No you can't replace them with standard PC fans. These fans are 24V. Additionally they are fairly carefully specced for airflow, so any replacements are going to be pretty much as loud unless you compromise on cooling capacity.

If you want a silent UPS, you should be looking for a previous generation SU unit, although they all hum relatively loudly (the SUA do too, you probably don't hear it above the fan noise).