The battery power is too low to support the load

[Anonymous user]

I'm getting repeated alerts that read "Critical - UPS: The battery power is too low to support the load; if power fails, the UPS will be shut down immediately," referencing error code 0x0107, followed almost immediately by a message saying "Informational - UPS: A discharged battery condition no longer exists," referencing error code 0x0108. These messages come in groups of 2-10, every few hours.  When I log into the network card, it shows no alarms present, capacity of 98%, and 6 minutes of run time.  The battery was replaced (OEM) 10 months ago.

A search of these forums yielded this: http://forums.apc.com/spaces/5/smart-ups-symmetra-lx-rm/forums/general/10730/discharged-battery-bug-...

The description of the problem in the above link is almost identical to what I'm seeing, but apparently there is some undocumented way to reset a battery constant.  Does anyone have further information on resolving this error?  Do I just need to replace the battery again already?

Thanks.

[voidstar_apc]

Hi Andy,

What's the model of your UPS?

Those messages occur when the runtime on battery drops below the "low battery duration" setting. It sounds like every few hours the load increases causing runtime to drop below the setting. Considerations then are:

- Is the estimated runtime accurate now that you've replaced the battery? You can look at the expected runtime charts for your UPS on APC's website. If the estimate is off, then doing a "runtime calibration" should help the UPS update its estimate. Runtime calibration requires load on the UPS to be at least 30% and non-varying -- some good loads could be light bulbs or hair dryers. It can be commanded via PowerChute or the Network Management Card, or by just unplugging the UPS and let it run on battery until it shuts down.

- If the runtime is accurate, does the "low battery duration" reflect the true amount of time + safety margin the attached loads need to safely shut down? By default this setting is 2 minutes but perhaps it has been changed. If the setting is excessively generous, you could decrease it.

- If the runtime is accurate and the low battery duration is correct, then perhaps the UPS doesn't have enough runtime for the loads. Some UPSes can accept additional battery packs.

[Anonymous user]

The UPS in question is a Smart-UPS 2200 RM.

There's already a very low load on this device, so I would think it would have to be a massive spike in order to cause the runtime to drop. I'm going to attach a screenshot of the UPS status screen.  I have 4 more similar UPS's, and 3 of the 4 have more load (in Watts), and none of them are having this problem.  They all show runtimes in the 25-37 minute range.

If I'm properly interpreting the chart I find at http://www.apc.com/products/runtime_for_extendedruntime.cfm?upsfamily=165, then my UPS should have ~40 minutes of runtime at a 19% load, but mine is showing 6 minutes.  Could this mean I have a bad battery, or that I need to calibrate it?

[voidstar_apc]

It sounds like the UPS doesn't have enough load to do a runtime calibration. Chances are good that the runtime estimate hasn't been updated since using the old battery. The UPS needs a constant load of at least 30% for calibration to succeed.

APC is a little confusing in that the have the name of the UPS "Smart-UPS 2200 RM" which can refer to different models, such as "SMT2200RM2U". The model is usually listed on a white sticker.

[Anonymous user]

Thanks for the information!  I'm going to read up on performing a calibration.

[SamirD_apc · Accepted solution]

And depending on if you have APC batteries or some equivalent, the equivalents may not pass calibration correctly.  I had a 1000va unit with a BTI battery that has never passed calibration, but would still support the load, but would never have a proper runtime listed.  The battery finally died and put in an APC battery and all is much better.