Question on replacing batteries in 2 hot swappable APC units

[Anonymous user]

We have a Smart UPS 1500 and a XS1000, both have mission critical equipment plugged in to them and both have been beeping and have red replace battery lights lit up. I bought replacement battery packs for both units and installed them yesterday. In the 1000 it started chirping when I disconnected the old battery, and stopped when I connected the new one, so it knows the battery is there. I closed it all up, but the replace battery light is still lit, even now 18 hours later.

The 1500 did the same thing, it shows the battery is fully charged, but it still has the replace battery light lit. The 1500 has a test button so I pushed it, when I do so it chirps, but the replace light does not go off. I did some searching online yesterday and the most common solution offered on another site, by someone claiming to be an APC rep, is "just powercycle the UPS the light will reset and go off.' It's a hot swappable unit, with mission critical equipment plugged in and running I don't want to power cycle it. Of course we also don't want to find out the hard way that it doesn't work when power goes off and the UPS doesn't kick on.

The 1000 doesn't have a battery charge level indicator and doesn't seem to have a test button. I've thoroughly checked the connections on both units it's snapped in and clicked. It's not loose at all, it just seems like the replace light needs to somehow be reset but power cycling seems completely impractical.

Any suggestions?

Russ Smith

Sunnyvale, CA

[BillP]

Hi Russ,

You don't need to power cycle it but you do need to run a self test in order to clear the replace battery LED (which does also happen when you reboot the UPS) but it doesnot require the reboot which will disrupt power output to your equipment.

On the Back UPS, (XS1000) to do a self test, it is just holding down the power button for about two seconds until the online LED starts flashing and let go. If it is a BX1000 (http://www.apc.com/resource/include/techspec_index.cfm?base_sku=BX1000). My only concern is here if you do it too long or short it can turn the UPS off too. Alternatively, if you have PowerChute Personal Edition or could install it, you can issue the command here through the USB connection to issue the self test. Alternatively, an automatic self test should happen every two weeks and would clear it.

On the Smart UPS, you also need to hold down the test button for a few seconds until the online LED starts to flash (the one with the little sinewave) and then let go. You could wait at least about 8 hours on this unit max for it to fully charge the battery before doing the self test. A self test tests the discharge rate on battery and partially charged battery may not pass the test.

[Anonymous user]

Thanks Angela, I'll try it on the 1500 later today I'll give it a full 24 hour charge. Like you said on the 1000 I'm concerned it might go off using the power button, so I'll wait for it to self test.

If that doesn't work I guess we'll consider the power cycle but hopefully not necessary.

Update I realized you said 8 hours not 24 so I just did the test on the 1500 and it worked perfectly and the replace light is now off. Still don't want to do it on the 1000 so I'll wait for it to do its own self test.

thanks again

[BillP · Accepted solution]

You're welcome. Smart UPS units charge faster than Back UPS so it isn't usually more than around 8 hours for it to reach a full charge.

Let me know if you need any further assistance.