UPS shutdown during self test due to bad battery

[Anonymous user]

Is this expected behavior? We buy these to protect our equipment from loss of power, and here we have the UPS is the reason for the loss of power, cutting off power to $100k of attached equipment. In this instance I would have been better off with no UPS at all as power hasn't gone out in this building since the blackout 10 years ago.

I've never had this issue with the other 3000's and 2200's we have here, most of which have had bad battery alerts at some point.

Do I just trash this unit and go with another model or brand? Is this a common occurrence? Our servers are running on redundant UPS's, but that's primarily to avoid prolonged power issues with a single circuit. At this point I'm thinking I'll need a dual input PDU and 2 UPS's as I can't rely on these APC's to stay on if they detect a bad battery.

Model: Smart-UPS 2200 RM

Firmware Revision:     665.6.D

10/15/2013     15:32:07     UPS: The battery is now installed.

10/15/2013     15:31:50     UPS: The battery is not installed properly.

10/15/2013     15:31:16     UPS: The battery is now installed.

10/15/2013     15:30:59     UPS: The battery is not installed properly.

10/15/2013     15:30:42     UPS: The battery is now installed.

10/15/2013     14:55:08     UPS: The output power is turned off.

10/15/2013     04:09:14     System: Set Date or Time.

10/14/2013     04:08:53     System: Set Date or Time.

10/13/2013     04:08:35     System: Set Date or Time.

10/12/2013     04:08:17     System: Set Date or Time.

10/12/2013     02:04:32     UPS: The battery is not installed properly.

10/12/2013     02:04:16     UPS: The battery is now installed.

10/12/2013     02:02:32     UPS: The battery is not installed properly.

10/12/2013     02:02:16     UPS: The battery is now installed.

10/12/2013     02:01:41     UPS: The battery is not installed properly.

10/12/2013     02:01:24     UPS: The battery is now installed.

10/12/2013     02:00:50     UPS: The battery is not installed properly.

10/12/2013     02:00:33     UPS: The battery is now installed.

10/12/2013     02:00:16     UPS: The battery is not installed properly.

10/12/2013     01:59:59     UPS: The battery is now installed.

10/12/2013     01:59:25     UPS: The battery is not installed properly.

10/12/2013     01:59:08     UPS: The battery is now installed.

10/12/2013     01:58:17     UPS: The battery is not installed properly.

10/12/2013     01:58:00     UPS: The battery is now installed.

10/12/2013     01:57:08     UPS: The battery is not installed properly.

10/12/2013     01:56:51     UPS: The battery is now installed.

10/12/2013     01:56:35     UPS: The battery is not installed properly.

10/12/2013     01:56:18     UPS: The battery is now installed.

10/12/2013     01:52:02     UPS: The battery is not installed properly.

10/12/2013     01:51:44     UPS: The battery is now installed.

10/12/2013     01:51:27     UPS: The battery is not installed properly.

10/12/2013     01:51:10     UPS: The battery is now installed.

10/12/2013     01:50:52     UPS: The battery is not installed properly.

10/12/2013     01:50:36     UPS: The battery is now installed.

10/12/2013     01:50:19     UPS: The battery is not installed properly.

10/12/2013     01:50:01     UPS: The battery is now installed.

10/12/2013     01:49:44     UPS: The battery is not installed properly.

10/12/2013     01:49:27     UPS: The battery is now installed.

10/12/2013     01:47:44     UPS: The battery is not installed properly.

10/12/2013     01:47:28     UPS: The battery is now installed.

10/12/2013     01:47:10     UPS: The battery is not installed properly.

10/12/2013     01:46:37     UPS: The battery is now installed.

10/12/2013     01:45:47     UPS: The battery is not installed properly.

10/12/2013     01:36:57     UPS: The battery is now installed.

10/12/2013     01:35:14     UPS: The battery is not installed properly.

10/12/2013     01:34:58     UPS: The battery is now installed.

10/12/2013     01:34:39     UPS: The battery is not installed properly.

10/12/2013     01:34:22     UPS: The battery is now installed.

10/12/2013     01:34:05     UPS: The battery is not installed properly.

10/12/2013     01:33:49     UPS: The battery is now installed.

10/12/2013     01:33:31     UPS: The battery is not installed properly.

10/12/2013     01:33:14     UPS: The battery is now installed.

10/12/2013     01:32:57     UPS: The battery is not installed properly.

10/12/2013     01:32:40     UPS: The battery is now installed.

10/12/2013     01:32:24     UPS: The battery is not installed properly.

10/12/2013     01:11:55     UPS: The battery is now installed.

10/12/2013     01:08:13     UPS: The battery is not installed properly.

10/12/2013     01:07:56     UPS: The battery is now installed.

10/12/2013     01:07:38     UPS: The battery is not installed properly.

10/12/2013     00:06:11     UPS: The battery is now installed.

10/11/2013     23:54:31     UPS: The battery is not installed properly.

10/11/2013     23:54:14     UPS: The battery is now installed.

10/11/2013     23:52:32     UPS: The battery is not installed properly.

10/11/2013     23:38:53     UPS: The battery is now installed.

10/11/2013     23:37:27     UPS: The battery is not installed properly.

10/11/2013     23:35:29     UPS: The battery is now installed.

10/11/2013     23:25:32     UPS: The battery is not installed properly.

10/11/2013     23:24:39     UPS: The battery is now installed.

10/11/2013     22:52:49     UPS: The battery is not installed properly.

10/11/2013     19:24:36     UPS: The battery is now installed.

10/11/2013     19:22:52     UPS: The battery is not installed properly.

10/11/2013     19:22:35     UPS: The battery is now installed.

10/11/2013     19:21:27     UPS: The battery is not installed properly.

10/11/2013     19:20:19     UPS: The battery is now installed.

10/11/2013     19:06:57     UPS: The battery is not installed properly.

10/11/2013     19:06:41     UPS: The battery is now installed.

10/11/2013     18:52:10     UPS: The battery is not installed properly.

10/11/2013     17:57:17     UPS: The battery is now installed.

10/11/2013     17:56:24     UPS: The battery is not installed properly.

10/11/2013     17:56:09     UPS: The battery is now installed.

10/11/2013     17:43:54     UPS: The battery is not installed properly.

10/11/2013     17:33:39     UPS: The battery is now installed.

10/11/2013     17:26:00     UPS: The battery is not installed properly.

10/11/2013     16:56:58     UPS: The battery is now installed.

10/11/2013     16:55:51     UPS: The battery is not installed properly.

10/11/2013     16:54:08     UPS: The battery is now installed.

10/11/2013     16:53:34     UPS: The battery is not installed properly.

10/11/2013     16:34:13     UPS: The battery is now installed.

10/11/2013     16:30:48     UPS: The battery is not installed properly.

10/11/2013     16:13:56     UPS: The output power is now turned on.

10/11/2013     16:01:00     System: Email: Could not mail 'italerts@domain.com'.

10/11/2013     15:59:43     System: Email: Could not mail 'italerts@domain.com'.

10/11/2013     15:58:25     System: Email: Could not mail 'italerts@domain.com'.

10/11/2013     15:57:32     UPS: Failed a self-test.

10/11/2013     15:57:31     UPS: The battery is now installed.

10/11/2013     15:57:15     UPS: The battery is not installed properly.

10/11/2013     15:57:09     System: Email: Could not mail 'italerts@domain.com'.

10/11/2013     15:56:38     UPS: Failed a self-test.

10/11/2013     15:56:37     UPS: The battery is now installed.

10/11/2013     15:56:21     UPS: The battery is not installed properly.

10/11/2013     15:56:00     UPS: Failed a self-test.

10/11/2013     15:55:59     UPS: The battery is now installed.

10/11/2013     15:55:50     System: Email: Could not mail 'italerts@domain.com'.

10/11/2013     15:55:44     UPS: The battery is not installed properly.

10/11/2013     15:54:33     System: Email: Could not mail 'italerts@domain.com'.

10/11/2013     15:53:54     UPS: The battery is now installed.

10/11/2013     15:53:13     System: Email: Could not mail 'italerts@domain.com'.

10/11/2013     15:51:56     UPS: The battery is not installed properly.

10/11/2013     15:50:31     System: Email: Could not mail 'italerts@domain.com'.

10/11/2013     15:49:14     System: Email: Could not mail 'italerts@domain.com'.

10/11/2013     15:47:56     System: Email: Could not mail 'italerts@domain.com'.

10/11/2013     15:46:39     System: Email: Could not mail 'italerts@domain.com'.

10/11/2013     15:45:22     System: Email: Could not mail 'italerts@domain.com'.

10/11/2013     15:44:07     System: Email: Could not mail 'italerts@domain.com'.

10/11/2013     15:43:07     UPS: Failed a self-test.

10/11/2013     15:42:53     UPS: The output power is turned off due to a low battery.

10/11/2013     15:42:52     UPS: At least one faulty battery exists.

10/11/2013     04:08:19     System: Set Date or Time.

10/10/2013     04:07:45     System: Set Date or Time.

10/09/2013     04:07:26     System: Set Date or Time.

10/08/2013     04:07:21     System: Set Date or Time.

10/07/2013     11:10:54     System: Web user 'apc' logged out from 10.10.10.10.

10/07/2013     11:07:52     System: Web user 'apc' logged in from 10.10.10.10.

10/07/2013     04:06:57     System: Set Date or Time.

10/06/2013     04:06:10     System: Set Date or Time.

10/05/2013     23:17:18     System: Email: Could not mail 'italerts@domain.com'.

10/05/2013     23:16:03     System: Email: Could not mail 'italerts@domain.com'.

10/05/2013     23:14:47     System: Email: Could not mail 'italerts@domain.com'.

10/05/2013     23:13:42     UPS: Restored the local network management interface-to-UPS communication.

10/05/2013     23:13:16     System: Network service started. System IP is 10.10.10.10 from manually configured settings.

10/05/2013     23:13:16     System: Warmstart.

10/05/2013     04:05:18     System: Set Date or Time.

10/04/2013     04:05:15     System: Set Date or Time.

10/03/2013     04:04:54     System: Set Date or Time.

10/02/2013     04:04:46     System: Set Date or Time.

10/01/2013     04:04:14     System: Set Date or Time.

09/30/2013     04:03:36     System: Set Date or Time.

09/29/2013     04:02:42     System: Set Date or Time.

09/28/2013     04:02:26     System: Set Date or Time.

09/27/2013     15:45:03     UPS: Passed a self-test.

09/27/2013     15:44:47     UPS: Started a self-test.

09/27/2013     04:02:21     System: Set Date or Time.

09/26/2013     04:01:56     System: Set Date or Time.

09/25/2013     04:01:14     System: Set Date or Time.

[BillP · Accepted solution]

Hi Jesse,

No, this is not common. Over the generations of UPS, battery management gets better and better to try and make sure this never happens (hopefully) but we cannot guarantee that due to certain variables (environment, etc). For instance, newer models provide a predicted replace battery date so users can plan ahead for battery replacements before a failure occurs.

This appears to be a catastrophic battery failure and I presume the UPS may be older too (prior to adjustments and tweaks to battery management and trying to prevent this from happening as much as possible).

How old are the batteries? I'd be more concerned if these are like a year old but regardless, it doesn't mean it should happen if they arent. If the batteries are older, it makes a bit more sense since they typically last 3-5 years. Are these in a warm environment (closet, etc)? You could check the NMC data log prior to this event and check the battery voltage and internal temperature of this UPS. This can also expedite this type of problem.

Again, you only see this type of extreme failure when the battery is very hot or very old.

Let me know if you have further questions or want help looking at your data log. Just looking at the event log, it tells me that the battery is very weak and going below a certain voltage threshold where it is constantly not detected/detected.

(Unrelated, I presume your network management card firmware is a little older - I can tell by the wording of the events - if you would like to update it or know more about that, let me know. It won't help with this issue beyond wording of events in the logs).