Internal pack, cartridge 1 is not installed

[scottjcpp]

Suddenly received about 10 of these messages with the LAST one being cartridge 1  installed

Error messages stopped after the 'installed' message.

What could this be?

Scott

Serial Number : 5A2026T64501
Device Serial Number : AS2026194170
Date : 06/02/2024
Time : 06:14:39
Code : 0x012F

Critical - UPS: Internal pack, cartridge 1 is not installed.

[scottjcpp]

Happened again last night... 3 days after original.  The not installed message came in exactly every 10 minutes for about 50 minutes until the 'is installed' restoral occurred.  Just need some guidance on this message as it does not necessarily scream time to replace the batteries.  Help me obi wan...  

Please and thank you.

[Teken]

What specific model APC UPS is this SRT? What is the installation date of this specific battery cartridge and its projected replacement? If we assume the battery is nearing end of life than you would need to replace the entire battery cartridge or replace the individual cells. The batteries are rated for 3-5 years of service life based on usage, temperature, and environmental conditions. They have a full 260 depletion cycle life before they begin to degrade and fail. 

It should be noted if this is for a business than ordering directly from APC / Authorized reseller is the best route to take. This is especially true if the hardware is still under APC warranty. ☝️

If however the (UPS hardware) is NOT under APC warranty it makes more financial sense to replace all the individual cells in the cartridge. 👍 If the situation is the battery cartridge is / was just replaced recently and this error message appears.

You have a couple of things to check and validate . . .

Cartridge: Remove the battery cartridge and look for any obvious signs of damage / faults. Pay close attention to the Anderson mating plug to ensure its not bent, corroded, or Arc'd. Remove all the security screws from the pack using a triangle tip bit and verify the internal fuse is not open, broken.

If everything is fine physically use a DMM (Digital Multimeter) and measure the resting voltage of the cartridge. Since you provided no information as to the specific UPS in place I can't tell you what the expected VDC is supposed to be. ☹️

If this is a 48 VDC battery pack the resting voltage will be >50 VDC. When the cartridge is in place and being floated by the UPS it will be 54 ~ 55 VDC which pertains to the SMX / SRT Series Smart-UPS.

If this is a 24 VDC battery pack the resting voltage will be >27 VDC. When the cartridge is in place and being floated by the UPS it will be 27.2 ~ 27.6 VDC which pertains to the SMT Series Smart-UPS.

If this is a 120 VDC battery pack the resting voltage will be >128 VDC. When the cartridge is in place and being floated by the UPS it will be >138 VDC which pertain to the SMX / SRT Series Smart-UPS.

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If we make a lot of assumptions that the battery cartridge is fairly new and in good health as measured by a DMM. That nothing is physically wrong with the Anderson connector, fuse, wires, etc. Eject the offending battery cartridge and wait for the system to declare a battery fault.

Wait another 30 seconds, and than reattach the battery cable. The system should prompt you to confirm if this is a new battery cartridge, for now say (No) and save.

What is the results of doing this??? 🤔

[scottjcpp]

Wonderful reply with very valuable next steps.  Thank you!!!

I absolutely would have wanted to provide the model, however that is unknown at this early stage.  We will know all details soon.

Thanks again!

[scottjcpp]

Model number SRT-3000

[scottjcpp]

Yesterday tech worked on ups.  Had no 'triangle bit' (what is the spec of this bit??). We are familiar with all manner of security bits but not 'triangle'... so we could not open that section.

Battery disconnected showed disconnected as expected.

Reconnecting battery responded as expected (answered NO not a new battery).

Battery disconnected from float voltage read 108v

Battery connected to float charge voltage is unknown... to be determined today.

[Teken]

Hi Scott,

The triangle is a number 2.3 bit. You may also use a Torx T9H bit if you don’t have the triangle security bit. 👍

[scottjcpp]

Apparently same voltage (109) when on charge.  

What do we think at this stage?

[Teken]

I believe the SRT3000 is a 96 VDC system as such the 109 VDC charging voltage is fine. Based on the serial number the unit was produced on 26th week of 2020.

As stated before the average service life is 3-5 years based on usage, temperature, and environmental conditions. If the cartridge has never been replaced and is the original RBC they are almost four years old.

Might be time to replace it . . . 

Ideally the cartridge would be taken apart and each cell measured at rest. Voltage measurements taken at removal and 72 hours later. 

This very crude method will indicate if a cell is bad / going bad. But only if the cell is at a specific state of health. Meaning if one cell was really bad you would see the voltage drop off very quickly after the 72 hour resting stage outside of the UPS on a table.

Obviously, if you find a bad cell this indicates the problem as this one cell or more is dragging down the rest. 

Another crude method is to perform a load test on each cell to see how it performs. Doing so based on the battery specification sheet will quickly tell you if a battery is a pass / fail. As it won’t be able to provide the current for the specified load / time.

If you don’t have a carbon pile load tester you can simply attach any resistive DC load to each cell and see how long it runs while measuring the voltage. If a cell was very bad what ever load you placed on it would quickly stop and the voltage would fall below 12 VDC very quickly.

All of the above is very time consuming vs just replacing the RBC. Assuming it was suspect, bad, or marginal in health.

You could just skip all the above and perform a battery calibration with at least 30% attached load. You’ll simply go to the LCD menu / NMC and manually initiate this test.

Monitor how long the unit operates before shutting down. Compare that to the APC Runtime Calculator to see if you’re within the expected timeframe.

You’ll probably see half the expected runtime based on 50% load and full load.

Please keep in mind the battery calibration is NOT the same as the runtime calculator on the APC Website which is based on 50 - 100% load with new RBC. ☝️

The intent of running the battery calibration is a fast way to see how the entire battery cartridge behaves and operates. A battery calibration is very tough on the RBC as such should not be done more than once a year to determine (generally speaking) the RBC state of health. 

Let us know what you decide to do and the final outcome. I would order a RBC Cartridge and have it ready before any load testing is done. 👍

[scottjcpp]

Thank you very much... more valuable info.

Scott