UPS not providing battery power

[Anonymous user]

Hi, All--

I have a SU2200NET that I acquired several years ago, and until recently, it has worked perfectly and saved my "bacon" several times.

On January 29th, for some reason, my machines went down while I was away; I also have a 9617 network management card installed in it, so I checked the log to see what had happened, but there was nothing definitive in there--it just indicated that "the output power is turned off"

Thinking that there might be a problem with the firmware on the card, I upgraded it to the latest 3.5.5 firmware

After the firmware upgrade, the logs now state the following:

*********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************
01/29/2008 11:49:05 UPS: The output power is now turned on.
01/29/2008 11:49:02 UPS: A discharged battery condition no longer exists.
01/29/2008 11:49:01 UPS: The battery power is too low to support the load; if power fails, the UPS will be shut down immediately.
01/29/2008 11:49:00 UPS: The output power is turned off.
*********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

The battery showed 100%, so I couldn't figure out what could have caused the UPS to not provide battery power.

Yesterday evening, there was a quick spike/surge, and my machines went down AGAIN . . . this time, the logs displayed the following:

*********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************
02/15/2008 21:08:50 UPS: A discharged battery condition no longer exists.
02/15/2008 21:03:37 UPS: The output power is now turned on.
02/15/2008 21:03:36 UPS: The battery power is too low to support the load; if power fails, the UPS will be shut down immediately.
02/15/2008 21:03:34 UPS: The output power is turned off.
*********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************
To my eye, the logs look pretty much identical; I obtained this log when I got my machines booted back up, and when I went into the UPS "Overview", it looked like the battery was dead--it was charging, but it was at around 1%, and through the evening, I could see it climbing slowly. This morning, it was displaying back at 100%.

Every time I have viewed the status previous to this event, it always showed the battery at 100%, as it does now. It's also showing a load of only 23.4% (about 375w).

This morning, I performed a "self test", and when I clicked on that link, the UPS shut off AGAIN!

This was in the logs after I got the machines back up:

*********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************
02/16/2008 05:42:45 UPS: Restored the local network management interface-to-UPS communication.
02/16/2008 05:42:21 System: Network service started. System IP is x.x.x.x from manually configured settings.
02/16/2008 05:42:21 System: Coldstart.
*********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

I edited the IP address in the log, just for security purposes.

Now, my question is this--why would it suddenly shut down, or what could be causing it to be discharged when power is lost? Are my batteries bad? Is there maybe a problem with the UPS itself?

Any assistance with this would be greatly appreciated . . .

Thanks in advance!!

[TheNotoriousKMP_apc]

Hello,

There is one of two things wrong with the UPS:

1. If the UPS immediately powers off and doesn't go to battery, there is a relay failure and the UPS would have to be repaired/replaced.

2. If the UPS goes to battery, even for a second, the battery is discharged, however, if it's a new battery, and exhibits the same thing, then there is a problem with the battery charger, which would have failed, causing the UPS to THINK the battery is charging, when in actuality, it's likely discharging the battery.

[Anonymous user]

Thanks for the reply--the UPS doesn't have a new battery pack, they're probably 3 or 4 years old, but I'm not sure if it's really charging the batteries or not; is there some safe way I can test them without dumping my machines again?

If it isn't the batteries, it DOES behave as if there is a problem with the relay, so do you happen to know who would have the part and/or who might repair the unit?

Again, thanks for your help!

[TheNotoriousKMP_apc]

If you have any type of multimeter, you can take it to the batteries. Decent batteries will float at a full charge on a 2200 around 27.4 VDC per set, as that's how you'll have to read the RBC11.

If the UPS needs to be repaired, APC's only authorized repair service is Coastal Business Machines (1-888-234-9877).

[Anonymous user]

Quote The Notorious K.M.P.

1. If the UPS immediately powers off and doesn't go to battery, there is a relay failure and the UPS would have to be repaired/replaced.

UnQuote

Your post about the relay just go me thinking, I was experiencing a problem with my UPS, the unit would not send out power upon mains loss. So after reading you comment about a relay and having quite a good knowledge on how a relay works I opened up the unit (removing the battery first of course) and gave the white relay inside a little tap with a screwdriver. I figured they are not switching over to battery power on mains loss. Reassembling the unit, i attached a device cord and noticed an instant noise/feel from within the UPS and eureka, it worked! Thanks for the tip 🙂

[BillP]

Old thread, but same problem

Using the management card and a MIB browser I can see that the voltage reported by the system is 27.6V, so that would match the charging volts indicated here.

Can I trust that value to tell me that the charger is working fine?

[BillP]

What Is The Model And Serial Number Of The Ups

[BillP]

SU1400RM12U
AS0222110197

Mick

[BillP · Accepted solution]

If you pull the plug what happens