SMT1500i continuously chirping without any LED or LCD indicators

[Anonymous user]

Hi, I've ran into an odd issue with the SMART-UPS 1500 (SMT1500i) I'm using. 

Usually I use it lightly on my workstation, and when done I just switch it off from it's LCD panel but leave it on at the mains.

Following a grid outage today while I was working, i shut down my system and switched the ups off as usual from the LCD control panel, but left it plugged into the wall socket. It had around 45% battery capacity remaining. 

On returning back after grid power got restored, the unit was emitting a continuous chirp with the fan audibly running but no display on it's LCD. Also its LED lights were off. I tried out the following steps, all this with all load disconnected from the unit:

1. Tried using the power button to turn it on and perhaps get a readout from the LCD screen but this didn't change anything.

2. Tried switching it off from the mains socket and disconnected the plug, chirping still continued. 

3. Disconnected the batter connector plug at the back of the unit. This obviously silenced the chirping. 

4. Connected the battery connector at the back of the unit, unit was quiet. But when i used the power button to switch it back on, while the unit was still disconnected from the mains, the chirp continued, with neither the LCD screen turning on nor the LED lights flashing .

5. Opened the front of the unit to take out and disconnect the batteries. Tested the voltage across them with a digital multimeter, and they had a healthy 25.4V output. Checked if the terminals were loose or corroded, and they were all okay. Plugged them back in and switched on the unit while still disconnected from mains power, got the same error as step 4 above.

6. Pushing thread here, i disconnected the batteries from the unit and plugged it back to mains just to see how it would behave, the unit turned on on its own without I pressing the power button, with the continuous chirping and the LEDs and LCD sscreen still off. Fan was also running and there was a continuously clicking sound from within that I could hear. 

I just thought I should clearly outline the troubleshooting steps I took to help you determine whether perhaps there was anything I may have skipped or should have done differently. 

I replaced the batteries in this unit around 2 months ago and save for the day i installed them and ran it off them to drain/calibrate/test runtime on it, today is the only other day that this unit has had to run off backup following the grid outage.

Im not sure whether there was a power surge since i have a smaller unit (SUA750i) that powers the Network/Storage equipment, and perhaps other electronics not connected to power backup that may have gotten fried along with this one too.

I suspect something else may have caused the issue but that would now be beyond my basic troubleshooting capacity.

Could you please assist with this? 

Thanks

[BillP]

Hi Sammy - 

Thank you for the very detailed explanation of what happened and the steps you have taken to troubleshoot. Unfortunately from your description it sounds like the UPS has suffered a hardware failure. For further assistance you can contact your local tech support team, but I'm quite confident the unit needs to be replaced.

Thanks,

Liam

[Anonymous user · Accepted solution]

Hi Liam,

Though not very good news, thank you for the response. 

I'll get it replaced .

Regards