UPS: The battery power is too low to support the load; if power fails, the UPS will be shut down immediately

[Anonymous user]

what is the procedure of calibrate batteries in an APC Smart-UPS 3000 with 9630 management card ?

     for example :  do I need type "ups -c start" , then disconnect the ups's power supply form the wall ?

If the UPS status as below , can I calibrate it ?

apc>detstatus -all

E000: Success

Status of UPS: On Line, No Alarms Present

Last Transfer: Due to software command or UPS's test control

Runtime Remaining: 0 hr 52 min

Battery State Of Charge: 100.0 %

Output Voltage: 118.0 VAC

Output Frequency: 60.0 Hz

Output Watts Percent: 12.3 %

Output VA Percent: 12.3 %

Output Current: 3.16 A

Input Voltage: 117.3 VAC

Battery Voltage: 55.3 VDC

Internal Temperature: 24.3 C, 75.7 F

Self-Test Result: Passed

Self-Test Date: 05/16/2014

Calibration Result: Not Available

Calibration Date: Unknown

[BillP]

I think I replied but the reply got lost when I branched our discussion to a new thread. So if you get two requests, I apologize.

Since your reported runtime is pretty high, my next guess is this alert is due to a configuration setting. Have you recently adjusted any of the delays in the interface under Administration->UPS->Configuration?

Ideally, I'd like to see the log files from this UPS and it will answer all of my questions. I need event.txt, data.txt, and config.ini. (Instructions here if you need it -> How can I download Event, Data, Configuration, and Debug files from my Network Management Card? | FA...) You can attach them to this post but make sure you select "use advanced editor" in the reply box.

[Anonymous user]

Hi Angela,

The detail of delay is as following ,  I also attached event.txt, data.txt, and config.ini in this message.

apc>cfgshutdn -all

E000: Success

Shutdown Delay: 090 sec

Low Battery Duration: 02 min

Return Delay: 000 sec

Minimum Return State of Charge: 00 %

Sleep Time: 0.0 hr

[BillP]

Good morning - thank you for the logs.

So what I am noticing is that this is always being reported after a self test. When you do a self test, did you happen to notice if the reported runtime dropped down to something like 3-4 minutes instead of the reported 52 minutes?

Where did you get the battery from? Is it a genuine APC battery or third party battery? To me, it seems like there is an issue with this battery potentially because it is not normal for it to drop so much during a self test.

[Anonymous user]

Hi Angela,

The battery is genuine APC battery.  We just brought at 1 month ago from onx.com , which is middleman.   Since there are so many UPS,  I never notice the runtime of this UPS.         How do you think?  Is it necessary to do a calibration for this UPS ?

Thanks again

[BillP]

You can try a calibration but I don't know if it will be helpful. Can you issue a self test yourself now and refresh the status to see how much the battery capacity drops down during the self test? I don't know if you could also quickly check the reported runtime during the self test. If it is a genuine APC battery, it has a 1 year warranty and may need to be replaced, I am not sure yet.

[Anonymous user]

I did the calibration.  After around 40 mins , the UPS reboot itself , sounds its battery's power has been run out.   After rebooting , I login it and get following data.     I guess the sensor for detecting runtime remaining of battery is dead.   The battery is new battery from APC,  I did change 2 pieces of new batteries recently,  but still get the same alarm.

Anyway to solve this problem ?

After itself rebooting , around 15 mins:

apc>detstatus -all

E000: Success

Status of UPS: Discharged, No Other Alarms Present

Last Transfer: Due to software command or UPS's test control

Runtime Remaining: 0 hr 0 min

Battery State Of Charge: 8.0 %

Output Voltage: 123.8 VAC

Output Frequency: 60.0 Hz

Output Watts Percent: 22.1 %

Output VA Percent: 29.9 %

Output Current: 7.26 A

Input Voltage: 124.5 VAC

Battery Voltage: 49.4 VDC

Internal Temperature: 36.0 C, 96.8 F

Self-Test Result: Passed

Self-Test Date: 05/18/2014

Calibration Result: Passed

Calibration Date: 05/23/2014

After 30 mins:

apc>detstatus -all

E000: Success

Status of UPS: Discharged, No Other Alarms Present

Last Transfer: Due to software command or UPS's test control

Runtime Remaining: 0 hr 0 min

Battery State Of Charge: 16.0 %

Output Voltage: 124.5 VAC

Output Frequency: 60.0 Hz

Output Watts Percent: 22.1 %

Output VA Percent: 29.9 %

Output Current: 7.26 A

Input Voltage: 123.8 VAC

Battery Voltage: 50.2 VDC

Internal Temperature: 36.0 C, 96.8 F

Self-Test Result: Passed

Self-Test Date: 05/18/2014

Calibration Result: Passed

Calibration Date: 05/23/2014

[BillP]

The battery should be given at least 8 hours to charge. What is the status of this UPS now? Or is this the same one from your other post?

[BillP]

You don't need to touch the plug/power supply at the wall. If you need to calibrate the UPS batteries for a particular reason and want to issue the command from the CLI, see below.

apc>ups ?

Usage: ups  -- Initiate UPS Control

    ups [-c

            GraceReboot | Sleep | GraceSleep>]

        [-r ] (UPS Runtime Calibration)

        [-s Start] (UPS Selftest)

        [-o <# | #,#, ... | #-#>

            Reboot | DelayReboot | Shutdown | DelayShutdown |

            Cancel>] (Outlet Group Control)

        [-st] (UPS Status)

        [-os] [# | #,#, ... | #-#] (Outlet Group State)

        [-a Start] (Test UPS short alarm)

So, you'd do apc>ups -r Start and the UPS will put itself on battery and run down to between 10 and 20% battery capacity.

We only recommend this procedure after you get a new battery and/or if the runtime does not update upon replacement. Then, especially if you don't get many power outages, which also ultimately calibrate the system too, then you could do it once a year perhaps. (Just in case anyone else sees this post).

[Anonymous user]

Thanks for your reply, but I still have a few questions regarding the Calibration.

What does it mean "if the runtime does not update upon replacement"      Below UPS , I just replaced with a new battery at 3 weeks ago.    Does it update upon replacement ?   And based on below detail of the UPS ,can I run Calibration for it ?   And do I need type "ups -r stop" after some specific time.    Thanks again for your help.

apc>detstatus -all

     E000: Success

     Status of UPS: On Line, No Alarms Present

     Last Transfer: Due to software command or UPS's test control

     Runtime Remaining: 0 hr 52 min

     Battery State Of Charge: 100.0 %

     Output Voltage: 118.0 VAC

     Output Frequency: 60.0 Hz

     Output Watts Percent: 12.3 %

     Output VA Percent: 12.3 %

     Output Current: 3.16 A

     Input Voltage: 117.3 VAC

     Battery Voltage: 55.3 VDC

     Internal Temperature: 24.3 C, 75.7 F

     Self-Test Result: Passed

     Self-Test Date: 05/16/2014

     Calibration Result: Not Available

     Calibration Date: Unknown

[Anonymous user]

Because the UPS LED is flashing in unison and  I am keeping receive the following message  "Critical Events - UPS: The battery power is too low to support the load; if power fails, the UPS will be shut down immediately."       

The UPS model is Smart-UPS 3000 RM , its NMP is  AP9630 .   I did replace with a new battery  and after it I did run a self test,  but same result.

And I wondered if running the calibration will impact its attached devices  ?

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated

[BillP · Accepted solution]

Let's start with this - why were you pursuing doing a runtime calibration? And what is the model of this UPS (upsabout command would be helpful)? SUA3000RM2U was just my guess and 52 minutes is relatively close to what it should be for a 12% load on that model. So the better question may be to ask why you were thinking of doing a calibration to make sure it is the correct next step?

When the UPS has a new battery and you run a self test, especially on an SUA model UPS, then it should update to be relatively accurate. If it does not, then you could do a calibration.

If you still want to do a calibration for any given reason, you just issue the start command and that is it. Stop is only if you are in the middle of a calibration and need to manually stop it for a particular reason (such as you decided not to complete it or you have to power down the UPS).