APC UPS 3000 RM - Battery Module wont come out

[Anonymous user]

Anyone have any problems with removing the battery module for an APC 3000RM series UPS. I removed the three screws, but the module can only be shimmied left/right and up/down a bit. Anyone experience this before? Cant imagine what's locking it up. I even removed the top case cover and I'm stuck.

[Anonymous user]

I've dealt with this situation numerous times. The first thing to try is unplug the battery string completely and try using a large straight blade screwdriver to pry on the battery casing from the left and right sides - lever the screwdriver against the metal ups chassis casing to the left and right of the battery opening alternately to wiggle it out. If the screwdriver tip is sharp enough it will bite into the plastic of the battery and get extra grip. Don't worry if you crack the case of the battery it will not cause a problem (re leaks or shorts) as the batteries are toast anyway. If that doesn't work your only choice is to unplug the battery, power down the ups, remove it from the rack, let the UPS sit for a couple of days to drain any charge on the capacitors and then take the top off the UPS and get the batteries out one by one possibly removing some interior screws to losen the battery compartment walls. Some are riveted though!

Good luck,

Dave

[BillP]

Sounds like the battery has become "swollen" for any of a variety of issues including an extended overcharge condition, etc. It's going to take sheer physical force to pry the battery out.

[BillP]

what i would suggest if you haven't done it already is allow the battery to cool off and make sure it is not continuing to charge. you should power down the UPS completely (which means your attached load too needs to be off) and then disconnect the battery. a fan also might be helpful on the battery to cool it down and maybe shrink it a bit enough to wiggle it out of there.

before i say all that actually - is the battery even warm? how old is it?

[Anonymous user]

Thanks guys for the ideas thus far. The battery is quite old (3 years). I have not disconnected it for more than 15 minutes at a time, since doing so leads to it chirping every few seconds, which is annoying. Is there a way to turn this off, or to disable the 1 minute chirping every 5 hour cycle until I get this resolved?

It doesn't feel swollen so much as though something is blocking it. As I mentioned, I can shimmy it an eighth of an inch left/right and up/down at the front, but it has only about an eighth of an inch pull before it locks, and I've pulled the thing pretty dang hard. I'm thinking of shutting down the servers its powering and pulling it out of the rack, but that's a lot of inconvienience, headache and work that I'm trying to avoid.

Classic case of a 10 minute job turning into something else entirely 😞

[Anonymous user · Accepted solution]

Thanks for the advice. The flat blade screwdriver worked well getting the two batteries out of the frame. Swapped connectors, reinstalled, and back in business.

[SteveSJ]

I can confirm that the flat blade screwdriver works.  I started out side to side but also used it on the bottom.  Takes A LOT of patience.  If it doesn't work at first, take a break and come back to it later.