Smart-UPS RT 8000 RM XL

[Anonymous user]

Hi

Model: Smart-UPS RT 8000 RM XL
Firmware Revision: 477.17.W
Manufacture Date: 03/16/07

Replaced battery packs (4 modules in total), waited till battery capacity was 100% and initiated a battery calibration. See following log:

04/21/2011 14:37:45 UPS: Battery calibration complete.
04/21/2011 14:20:05 UPS: Turned on.
04/21/2011 14:19:59 UPS: Turned off due to a low battery.
04/21/2011 14:19:59 UPS: Battery calibration initiated.

Imagine my frustration as all my servers switched themselves off due to the UPS turning itself off due to low battery, even though when it turned itself on again 6 seconds later, batterywas showing at 100%.

My research indicates that a battery calibration should not switch the UPS off (please correct me if I am wrong).

Any ideas anyone? At this time I am concerned that if power should fail, my UPS will switch itself off straight away. Something I can test, but getting time to turn all production servers off is not easy.

Cheers

Iain

[BillP]

your understanding is correct. the UPS should discharge itself to 10-20% battery capacity and not go to a low battery condition and initiate a shutdown.

can you provide us the full event.txt and data.txt logs from the NMC to review please?

you can use [these instructions|http://nam-en.apc.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/9321].

thanks!

[BillP]

i know you said that you waited till the charge hit 100%. how long exactly did you let them charge? going by what I see in the event log, as soon as you initiated the calibration, the UPS turned off due to a low battery - which makes me think they didnt charge long enough (looks like 20 minutes in the log), even though it reported 100%.

04/21/2011 14:37:45 UPS: Battery calibration complete. 0x0124
04/21/2011 14:29:27 System: Web user 'apc' logged in from 172.17.1.121. 0x0015
04/21/2011 14:22:54 System: Web user 'apc' logged out from 172.17.1.121. 0x001F
04/21/2011 14:20:05 UPS: Turned on. 0x0113
*04/21/2011 14:19:59 UPS: Turned off due to a low battery. 0x0114*
04/21/2011 14:19:59 UPS: Battery calibration initiated. 0x0123

for the UPS: Turned on event at 14:20, was that you turning it on one minute later when you realized everything turned off?

[Anonymous user]

Hi

Thanks for the quick response.

You are correct in that I did not wait long to do the calibration check. The batteries were showing 100% so I assumed it was safe to have a go. Good news is according to the logs the UPS kicked over to battery backup for a few seconds last Saturday, with no problems.

I will schedual a calibration test again, with my servers with only one power supply on that UPS off line, and report back. This may not be for a few days as getting down time can be difficult.

Thanks for your help so far.

[BillP]

alrighty. based on what i see so far, it appears the batteries werent fully charged even though the UPS reported 100%. now they should be fully charged when you try again on the calibration. i will await your results.

[BillP]

Hi Ian,

According to the event log, you tried the runtime procedure before the date when the UPS died on you.
2nd, it looks that somebody is playing with the UPS config too often : battery replaced message is there, quite often... Also, you do too many runtime calibration:

09/20/2010 16:35:33 UPS: Battery calibration complete. 0x0124
09/20/2010 16:21:53 UPS: Battery calibration initiated. 0x0123
04/08/2011 09:10:35 UPS: Battery calibration complete. 0x0124
04/08/2011 09:10:18 UPS: Turned on. 0x0113
04/08/2011 09:10:09 UPS: Battery calibration initiated. 0x0123
04/21/2011 14:37:45 UPS: Battery calibration complete. 0x0124
04/21/2011 14:29:27 System: Web user 'apc' logged in from 172.17.1.121. 0x0015
04/21/2011 14:22:54 System: Web user 'apc' logged out from 172.17.1.121. 0x001F
04/21/2011 14:20:05 UPS: Turned on. 0x0113
04/21/2011 14:19:59 UPS: Turned off due to a low battery. 0x0114
04/21/2011 14:19:59 UPS: Battery calibration initiated. 0x0123

Now, what I would suggest to you is:
- those battery are to last between 3 to 5 years;
- before doing any manual test, let the batteries to charge for at least 24 to 48 hours. a week would the best;
- let the UPS do its internal self test;
- do the ``runtime calibration`` only after 3 years; and if you could find a window to prevent any failures. make sure you have also more the 20% load on the UPS, steady.
when you replace the batteries, the UPS tech resets the battery aging counter, the UPS knows it has fresh new batteries, and following the self test, it will calculate the autonomy.

Personally, I have tested a 6000RM XLT, the UPS discharged 80% of the battery and then, it transfered back on its normal status without any problems or impact for the load.
The UPS is pretty smart, you do not need to test it manually, just pay attention to its messages. Also, you should think to have it verified by a certified tech once a year.
Take care,
Mihail

[Anonymous user]

Hi Mihail,

I want to know if it is indeed needed to have technician to reset the battery aging counter while replacing new battery packs, as my Smart-UPS 8000 RM XL is with the same problem of Iain's after 4 battery packs replaced few weeks ago, the battery voltage  checked is really normal as 213vdc above under loading @45% when cutting mains, but the battery capacity showing on Web card or the LED display on the front panel sudden drops to about 25%. It is a little frustrated.

Warm regards,

tommy

[Anonymous user · Accepted solution]

Hi,

Just keep it charging for two days more after the battery packs replaced and the date of the battery changed, then perform its self test, and do the calibration. That's all. Good luck !

tommy