Can you use a UPS as a battery pack without mains ??/

[Anonymous user]

Hi there,

Thanks for looking at my first post 🙂

I am going away at the weekend and was trying to work out if a APC Smart-UPS 1500 can be used without plugging it into the mains. The reason i ask is i am off camping and would like power to charge my mobile and laptop. I know i can use an inverter and run that off the car but I have the ups taking up space and need to find a use for it. If there is no mains power going into the device it would seem that you cant switch it on. So first question is can it be switched on without mains power plugged in ? If it cant can i plug it into itself so it does have power and then i can remove it. Long and short i want to use it as a battery pack without having to have it plugged into the mains.

Ideas and thoughts are greatly accpeted.

Many THanks

Rob

[BillP]

yes you can, you'll just need to plug it in to mains once in a while to charge it for a few hours.

[Anonymous user]

great thanks how long do you think it would last running a little boom box or powering a laptop of phone chargers ?

[BillP · Accepted solution]

what is the specific model? i'd probably check one one of the comparable 1500VA units on the website to see its runtime chart if it the model is a few years old that you have. you can check the specific model which would be on the white sticker on the back of the unit. i ask because we have several model 1500 units. i would guess at least 5-6 hours assuming the lowest value in the runtime chart which is 50W.