SU3000NET failure assessment help request

[Anonymous user]

The unit died while in service. It would not power on again. It had been in service for several years and the batteries have been replaced twice during that time.

I pulled the batteries and measured the voltage; I took the readings at the terminal plugs. One module measured 24 volts and the other measured 25 volts. With the batteries back in the unit and the unit plugged into the mains, the following is what occurs when I attempt to power the unit on:

The UPS Filtering LED (middle one on the left) flashes green, while the all 5 battery charge status LEDs (far right) illuminate solid green for several seconds. All LEDs then go off and remain so for 1 to 2 seconds. There's a relay click at which time the status LEDs on the left side illuminate in the following pattern: amber (top), green (middle), amber (bottom). While simultaneously the status LEDs on the right side illuminate in the following pattern: red (top), amber (middle), red (bottom). During this period of solidly illuminate LEDs, the unit beeps at a rate of approximately 2 beeps per second and then ultimately shuts itself off after several seconds.

I realize that these LED and beep patterns are a fault indication. But is it possible to know where the failure lies from the behavior I've described? One additional thing I've noticed is that the wiring fault LED on the back panel blinks red during the beeping while the front panel LEDs are illuminated.

Any thoughts on this will be much appreciated.   

[BillP]

Hi Tony,

Do you happen to have the serial number of the unit to get an idea of how old it is?  Also, do you know how old the battery in the unit is and what the model and serial of that is?  The two beeps similar to a "chirping" is generally a sign of a battery disconnect, however that happens every 4 seconds rather than the every second that you described.  Your battery voltage sounds correct (this unit uses 48v battery systems as noted in this link - http://www.apcmedia.com/salestools/ASTE-6Z8L9Y/ASTE-6Z8L9Y_R0_EN.pdf?sdirect=true ).  The rest of the symptoms do fall in line with typical internal fault symptoms rather than a battery issue.  The best troubleshooting step for this I can provide would be to disconnect the unit from utility power, disconnect the load, disconnect the internal and external batts, and hold down the off button for about 20 seconds.  After that proceed to try and boot the unit back up.

Regards,

[Anonymous user]

Hi Jordan. Thanks for the reply.

I've done as you recommend and disconnected the utility power and all batteries, then pressed and held the off button for 20 seconds before releasing it. Once I reconnected the batteries and the utility power then pressed the on button, the unit chirped 3 times and then went off. Since doing that, it won't respond at all when I attempt to power it on. It now behaves as if it's entirely dead. So holding in the off button in fact changed something... I'm just unsure what.

The serial number on the unit is YS0241111414. The internal batteries are approximately 2 years old and are not from APC. They had been working fine.    

[BillP]

Hi Tony,

As expected, you do have an internal hardware fault according to the results of your unit reset.  Obviously APC strongly recommends using APC batteries, but using 3rd party batteries is not the cause here.  Your unit is about 13 years old according to the serial number which is a very long life span for a UPS.  I would advise trading this unit in for a new one as there are no user replaceable parts for our Smart UPS line.

Best,

[Anonymous user]

Jordan,

Noted about the battery recommendation -I understand your advice in this regard- and I realize this unit is older than recommended to continue service. I as well understand that the behavior I'm seeing is a sign of an internal fault of some sort. But I have something further to report. I decided to perform the reset process once again. This time, though, after reconnecting the internal batteries I connected the AC power plug to a different wall outlet. The unit did not go dead this time. Now, each time it's powered on it consistently chirps 3 times while illuminating only the middle and bottom LEDs on the right side before it switches off. Is the illumination of those two particular LEDs and the 3 chirps an indicator of a specific internal problem?

Thanks  

[BillP]

Hi Tony,

I am yet to find any references on what specifically this could mean but I will continue to search and see if I can find out exactly what the internal problem is.

Regards,

[Anonymous user · Accepted solution]

Thanks, Jordan. I appreciate it very much. Just to be clear, the LEDs that illuminate upon power up are the "Loads powered by battery" and the "Battery needs replacing" ones. They remain on solid for about 1.5 seconds before the unit powers off.