Battery Charge LED blinking

[Anonymous user]

Hi guys, any one can help me what happend to our ups, SURT 5000XLI, the battery charge LED blinking, but the unit is still running, our vendor just change the battery last week., my question is after the battery was change why the battery charge LED keep on blinking and also if there's a power failure what happend to the ups? Thanks in advance

[Anonymous user]

Hi

I have the same problem with a Smart-UPS RT 8000 XL

Can you send me the procedure via PM?

Thanks

Alex

[BillP]

This indicator does not always need a fix.

1. Are the batteries new?
2. What is your low battery duration set to? (available via the management card interface)
3. What is the reported runtime? (available via the management card interface)

A runtime calibration can also be tried if the batteries are new.

[Anonymous user]

Hi Angela,

1. yes the batteies are new

2. low batterie duration is set to 2 min

3. the reportet runtime is also 2 min

A runtime calibration doesn't change this 😞

[BillP]

OK well we are not allowed to give out this procedure anymore due to some recent issues. You actually performed the runtime calibration already? How long did the UPS run for during the calibration?

[Anonymous user]

The calibration takes up to a few hours, so we bypass the UPS and switched it off for a night. After turning the UPS on again, it was all fine and the batteries showed 100% and the runtime was 25 min as expected. So the problem was solved but not as expected by only replacing the batteries.

If there is another solution, I would appreciate to know it for the next time.

Thanks for your help

Alex

[Anonymous user]

Hi guys, any one can help me what happend to our ups, SURT 5000XLI, the battery charge LED blinking, but the unit is still running, our vendor just change the battery last week., my question is after the battery was change why the battery charge LED keep on blinking and also if there's a power failure what happend to the ups? Thanks in advance

[BillP]

ok well to reitterate what Erasmus asked for, here is my take on your questions 😉

can you please provide the serial number of the UPS? also, what is the model on the white sticker on the UPS? - SURTD5000XLI or SURT5000XLI?

[you can reference this article on what this issue actually means|http://nam-en.apc.com/cgi-bin/nam_en.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=1497]

can you please provide the following info?

-load percentage
-low battery signaling time (also worded as low battery duration) from the network management card/software

if you can confirm the model number above, we can decide on the best way to remedy this issue.

by the way, as long as the UPS isnt overloaded and the batteries are new, the UPS should go to battery and recalculate its correct runtime and operate normally. this is really just a cosmetic thing and as long as nothing else is happening, you should be fine.

[Erasmus_apc]

Sometimes when you change the batteries on a UPS, the unit needs to "recalibrate" itself to the newly installed battery. What the blinking battery charge LED means is that your unit's currently estimated runtime is within two minutes of the "Low Battery Signal Time" set on the UPS. It's a way for the UPS to alert you to a situation that may result in a load drop due to low battery or issues with shutting down gracefully due to what the UPS thinks is a low battery issue. This runtime calculation can also be thrown off by an extremely high load %.

Can you provide some information for us?

Via your network management card or PowerChute software, can you tell us what the estimated runtime on the UPS is, as well as your "Low Battery Signal Time"? Also, what is the current load % on the UPS?

The next step will depend on the information requested above.

[Anonymous user · Accepted solution]

at the time our vendor replaced the batteries, very thing is ok, test and also simulate power failure the unit is ok, its just the other day the battery start blinking at full battery, and unit was blinking for 2 days already, the load is a mininal only, 4 units of 3com switch,
The unit is SURT5000XLI, YS0425220907
No powerchute software was installed, but there's a NMC card but not configured, i got the log event from the NMC, date and time just dont mind because the card is not configure yet.

Attach file is the log event,

Thanks

[BillP]

ok, you can try one of two things - issue a runtime calibration (which wont affect the load) through the network management card to try and update the runtime so the flashing starts or wait till tuesday when i can get you some instructions on some settings to do through hyperterminal.

[Anonymous user]

but is their any posiblility that will affect the load if ever i'll perform the runtime calibration? because we can't afford to have a down time.
How to update the runtime?

[BillP]

right. a runtime calibration won't drop the load unless the battery is totally toast which i dont believe it is.

a runtime calibration drops the battery down to ~10-20% charge and then charges back up.

[Anonymous user]

Hi IPaw

thanks a lot, i manage to stop the blinking...:-)

[Anonymous user]

if im going to use the hyperterminal do you have any procedure on how to do it? thanks in advance

[Anonymous user]

Hi IPaW

Any update on how to use the hyperteminal?

[Anonymous user]

Hi
Please I have the same problem on SURT and SUA

Can you send me the procedure?

my email is : telisee@yahoo.fr

[BillP]

Hi Waleed,

For SmartUPS units, PowerChute Personal Edition will not work.  One of the recommended software for SmartUPS unit that you have is PowerChute Business Edition.  You can check the compatible operating systems from this link > http://www.apcmedia.com/salestools/ASTE-6Z5QEV/ASTE-6Z5QEV_R52_EN.pdf?sdirect=true.

If you would like to download the application, you can use this link > http://www.apc.com/products/resource/include/techspec_index.cfm?base_sku=SFPCBE911&xtmc=SFPCBE911%25...

[Anonymous user]

The fact that the battery LEDs show 100% and the runtime in the management card or software app shows a reasonable amount does not guarantee the problem is fixed.

This is a very common problem with SmartUPS 3rd-gen/4th-gen units: downgrading their runtime calibration due to old/bad batteries, and then not properly adjusting when a new set of batteries is installed, even after a runtime calibration attempt. And it's particularly pernicious because it will appear that everything is fine, until you have a short power-interruption, whereupon the battery may just immediately drop the load, depending on settings. (Which is worse than having no UPS installed at all.)

You can fix this (as well as another common problem of excessive float-charge voltage that prematurely kills batteries) if you have the right information, but APC won't give that out any more.

Luckily I think the 5th-generation units have improved some of these things. (And actually, I have not seen this nearly so much on the SURT/SURTA series that you have.)

[shbang]

I am seeing this problem on a sua750rmi2u manufactured 05/07/09 with firmware 668.18.I and a NMC AP9631. I replaced the batteries Nov 2022 and I definitely did set the field "

Last Battery Replacement" in the NMC. So the batteries a just a little over 1y old.  Now even with a load of less than 35% I see the battery charge LEDs blinking and the NMC reporting "The battery power is too low to support the load; if power fails, the UPS will be shut down immediately."
The battery test reports success.
The runtime calibration completes after 5 minutes under a load of 22%Watts which indicated bad batteries to me. However, the batteries shouldn't be worn down after just 1y - this is would usually happen if the UPS is not using them properly.
Is this possible even though I have set the replacement date and I ran a runtime calibration right after the replacement?
How may this be avoided?

[Teken]

For the benefit of others who may run into the same problem. You may try the following to see if it resolves the issue at hand.

Brain Dead: Generally speaking this procedure will reset the main processor in case there is an internal fault. Power down and disconnect the loads. Remove AC Mains from the outlet. Disconnect the battery from the unit. Press and hold the power button until you hear a click / beep. This completes the brain dead procedure and should clear any random processor errors in the unit.

Battery Calibration: Instead of using the NMC / Power Chute to initiate the battery calibration - do so manually. Ensure there is at least 30% connected load on the output. Remove AC Mains from the wall and let the unit shut down as expected. While this is happening record how long the unit operates for to have a baseline to compare to the APC runtime calculator.

If the APC Runtime calculator indicates a 30% (defined wattage) should provide say 60 minutes of runtime but you only see 5 minutes. The battery is toast and needs to be replaced ASAP. If on the other hand you see 30 minutes it’s time to set aside finances to replace the battery in the near future.

Once the manual battery calibration is complete. Reconnect the AC Mains, power on the UPS if required, and let the unit recharge the battery to 100% SOC.

Initiate a manual Self Test . . . 

If everything goes well the battery indicator should be reflective of the state of charge (SOC). If the self test fails the battery is end of life and needs to be replaced. 

NOTE: Battery calibration is extremely tough on the cells and reduces its service life. As such should only be done on a yearly basis to validate the cells are still fine. A much better and accurate method is to use a conductance meter that allows you to measure the internal resistance of the battery cell(s). This will inform you with high confidence the health of the cells when compared to the manufacture data sheet.

If the data sheet indicates an internal resistance of 20 mOhms (milliohms) and you measure 1-6.XX Ohms. The cell is toast and needs to be replaced. If the meter measures say 40 mOhms which is double the internal resistance more often than not this is reflected in 50% drop in runtime capacity.

NOTE: The runtime capacity is highly affected by the type of battery chemistry, design, and quality of materials used. Thus a person can’t compare two different brands of cells to one another. You can only compare like cells to one another and reference the makers data sheet as to what a brand new cell should have in terms of internal resistance. 

Let us know how this turns out and mark this as a solution if it solves your current problem.