Brand new UPS says "replace internal RBC"

[RobertLewis]

UPS for our new building was connected today, screen reads "replace internal RBC". It's brand new. What gives?

[Teken]

This message indicates the batteries are below the standby voltage and failed during the UPS's initial - self test. The self test essentially places a (short) defined load on the battery cartridge and refers to a voltage lookup table as to a Pass / Fail.

All SLA batteries lose a percentage of charge when sitting at rest. So if you purchased a unit that has been sitting on someone's shelf for years. The battery voltage more than likely is below what is safe and what the UPS is able to charge. This is why its imperative that you visually confirm and document the production date of the UPS and Battery.

If say you purchased the UPS on January 01, 2023 and the battery installed shows a manufacture date of 2020. I would immediately return the unit back to the vendor / call APC Support to have a fresh battery pack to be sent out. Contacting APC (IS) the prescribed remedy per their warranty to resolve this issue which happens a lot for slow moving hardware on thousands of resellers shelves / stockrooms.

Generally speaking, you can determine the manufacture date by looking at the (APC Sticker) first four to six numbers affixed to the battery. Since the vast majority of the battery cells come from CSB somewhere on the cell will have six digits which represent YY-MM-DD. A cell that indicates 180404 would mean it was produced on April 04, 2018.   

Regardless, its imperative to perform a lights out test on any UPS that supports critical infrastructure. Don't count on the weekly self test as the indicator a battery cartridge / cell is fine! ☝️ Only a live *Lights Out* (Unplug) the unit from the wall outlet will confirm the current state of the UPS and batteries. If the expected runtime isn't seen it's time to replace the cells with quality one's.