Smart UPS 5000 Question

[Anonymous user]

We have an APC Smart UPS 5000. Recently we have started getting the following warning

Serial # : BA0843004621
Device Ser #: JS0844001962
Date: 03/26/2016
Time: 04:02:21
Code: 0x0119

Critical - UPS: At least one faulty battery exists.

We opened up the front covers and started investigating the batteries hoping that there would be a serial that would indicate which battery was failing. The UPS has 6 battery packs however there are no useful numbers that match up. Each battery pack seems to have two serials and a label. Nothing in the logs seems to match up to these serials.

Example Logs:

12-Mar-16	04:03:31	UPS: Failed a self-test.
12-Mar-16	04:03:16	UPS: At least one faulty battery exists.
12-Mar-16	04:03:15	UPS: Started a self-test.
12-Mar-16	04:03:13	UPS: A faulty battery no longer exists.

Is there an easy way to figure out which battery has failed? Ive attached some pictures of the batteries that we use.

Each Battery pack appears to be two batteries together each with their own serials, so two serials per pack

[Anonymous user]

Also an additional question, If we were to replace these batteries can you please confirm which replacement we would need. It looks like RBC55's but im not 100% sure. There is no useful information on these batteries. Ive found that the UPS model is a SUA5000 VA 208/230 VAC Tower/Rack Mount 5U UPS.

[BillP · Accepted solution]

Hi Neil,

Are all of the batteries (internal UPS battery and battery packs) all the same age as far as you know? If so, they should all be replaced at the same time and are likely all in need of replacement since the UPS uses them as one giant DC bus. Mixing good/new batteries with old batteries will destroy the new batteries you add to the DC bus so it is not a good idea to just replace some of the batteries because it will be a bigger problem in the long run.

Also, the date code in the photo you shared is the manufacturer's date code so whoever makes the batteries we'd have to see how to read it unless you see an APC serial number sticker on any of the batteries in the UPS or the external packs.

Your UPS was manufactured in 2008 so do you know if the internal batteries have ever been replaced? If not, they may not have an APC serial number on them if they were the original batteries shipped with the UPS. Inside the Network Management Card web interface too, you will see an option for "Last battery replacement date" on one of the screens but this requires a user to manually update it. It may be wrong if nobody updated it but also is worth a check to see if someone replaced the batteries since 2008.

On the UPS itself, we need to confirm the actual UPS model number. You should find a little white sticker behind the front bezel or on the back of the UPS.

My guess is your UPS model may be something like SU5000RMXLI5U but we should verify it to be 100% sure. Because I also saw RBC12 for that UPS model I found.

If you were to proceed with finding out which pack needed replacement understanding the consequences of only replacing some of the batteries, you'd probably have to connect them one by one to the UPS and run a UPS self test but as I noted, since the UPS treats all of the batteries as one giant battery almost, they are likely all in the same condition and will all need replacement.