Smart-UPS 3000 RM self-test after battery replacement

[Anonymous user]

Hello,

we have a Smart-UPS 3000 RM. After initiating a self-test all connected servers were shut-down immediately.

So we replaced the battery (on the fly). After battery replacement we did a runtime calibration ... same effect as above - but I have to admit, the batteries weren't fully charged.

What might be the reason for this?
Before performing a self-test: do the batteries have to be fully charged?

Can we dare to run a self-test once again (batteries have been charged over night)? We'd connect the redundant power supplies directly to the wall and would shut down the other servers that have no built in redundant power supplies.

Edit: recognized that the following wasn't fomatted correctly (copy and paste from UPS management page)
UPS System Parameters Status

Device Status
On line
UPS Load 48,7 %
Runtime Remaining 13 Minutes
Internal Temperature 25,2 °C / 77,4 °F

Power Status
Line Voltage 228,9 VAC
Output Voltage 228,9 VAC
Output Frequency 50,0 Hz

Battery Status
Battery Charge 100,0 %
Battery Voltage 55,4 VDC


Thanks for your answers,
Thomas

Message was edited by: 64bit

Message was edited by: 64bit

[Anonymous user]

Hello,

we have a Smart-UPS 3000 RM. After initiating a self-test all connected servers were shut-down immediately.

So we replaced the battery (on the fly). After battery replacement we did a runtime calibration ... same effect as above - but I have to admit, the batteries weren't fully charged.

What might be the reason for this?
Before performing a self-test: do the batteries have to be fully charged?

Can we dare to run a self-test once again (batteries have been charged over night)? We'd connect the redundant power supplies directly to the wall and would shut down the other servers that have no built in redundant power supplies.

Edit: recognized that the following wasn't fomatted correctly (copy and paste from UPS management page)
UPS System Parameters Status

Device Status
On line
UPS Load 48,7 %
Runtime Remaining 13 Minutes
Internal Temperature 25,2 °C / 77,4 °F

Power Status
Line Voltage 228,9 VAC
Output Voltage 228,9 VAC
Output Frequency 50,0 Hz

Battery Status
Battery Charge 100,0 %
Battery Voltage 55,4 VDC


Thanks for your answers,
Thomas

Message was edited by: 64bit

Message was edited by: 64bit

[Techie_apc]

Hi Thomas,

I normally recommend to perform a self test with fully charged batteries. However, the UPS should not shutdown the power to the connected equipment after the self test when it is plugged in. You can notice the following sequences after initiating the self test.

1. The green On Line indicator will flash.
2. The yellow On Battery indicator will light while the battery test is performed.

If the UPS passes the Self-Test, the green On Line indicator will be lit and solid. If it fails the test, the red Replace Battery indicator will be lit as well as the green On Line LED.

What lights were on in the front of the UPS when the servers shutdown due to self test? Could you please post the event and data logs which were recorded after you did the self test? Had the servers been working fine before when you did the self test in the past?

[Anonymous user]

Hi,
thank you for your help.
We did another selftest with that UPS - same result.
This time I watched the LEDs as you requested:
Selftest begins and then 2 seconds later the state of the LEDs changed
- yellow battery symbol prermanently lit
- online (? LED above yellow battery) permanently red
Also there has been an audible alarm.
Our UPS hat to be switched off ("0" button), it had to be switched on again ("1" button).
Now all lights indicate "green" again.

Some more details: Battery state was 100% before performing the self-test.
Due to connecting servers with their redundent supplies to external power mains the UPS load now is minimal, remaining battery capacity is shown 58 minutes (when all server power supplies were connected: 14 minutes).

In Power Chute the result of our self-test is shown as follows:
Self-test Result, Failed due to overload

Defective UPS?

Regards,
Thomas

Message was edited by: 64bit

[Anonymous user]

Hi,

load was minimal ... 15% so there shouldn't have been an overload.

Meanwhile we exchanged the UPS as we "found" another one of the same type in our shelves (which we forgot). In this UPS we installed the newly bought battery pack (old one was 7 years old). This second UPS performs the self-test well.

Strange thing though with the first (defective?) UPS: we decided to do more investigation in our "testing lab". That means the UPS has been cold reseted (disconnected from mains and from its batteries for a couple of minutes while we installed the second UPS). After installation in our testing lab the self-test now works like a charm (with the original, ie 7 years old battery pack)!

At the moment we are in a progress of recharging the batteries, because we nearly discharged them (well they were not discharged completely but right to the point when the connected management server started to shutdown). For discharging the batteries we used two vacuum cleaners running at high power consumption :-)))) Recharging process of the batteries seems to be OK.

Might it be the UPS has been in a state of "confusion" which prevented it from performing a proper self-test and that was cleared by its cold reset?

[BillP]

Yeah, plus the data logs even with all of the servers connected showed it was only at a 50% load, which is definitely not an overload condition. Sounds like the unit was confused & stuck in this weird overload state. Definitely a good idea to try that brain dead procedure with units before writing them off as completely toasted. 🙂

If it's about 7 years old, though, it's at about the end of its expected life anyway. They usually get about 7-10yrs of use, just as a heads up.

[Techie_apc · Accepted solution]

My suspicious is that the UPS is reacting this way due to overload. It appears that the UPS is overloading due to the connected servers when you initiate the self test. What is the load power consumption when this happens? The red light above yellow or on battery light indicates that the UPS is overloaded. The Overload light will come whenever the connected equipment exceeds the UPS output rated capacity. The UPS will shutdown itself to protect the connected equipment from over current if the overload is severe. If possible, could you please connect a single server to the UPS for a testing and re-do this self test?