tower Smart UPS 1400 doesn't power on

[Anonymous user]

I'd love to put this old UPS back into service. It was in a closet, sitting unused when I started the job. Today I plugged it in to try to check whether the batteries were good. The UPS doesn't power on, no lights, no beeps. The outlet is definitely providing clean power, and I've tried pushing in the circuit breaker reset on the UPS.

I checked the manual, and the troubleshooting steps don't suggest anything else. Is this the symptom you get if the batteries are very, very dead? The batteries are plugged in at the gray connector, but maybe they're providing zero charge so the UPS doesn't power-on?

[BillP]

If you can, try metering the voltage on that gray connector. This will rule out if the batteries are dead or if the UPS is toast. Judging by the UPS just sitting around, its a good guess that the batteries are most likely toast. They have about a 6 month shelf life if they arent being charged.

Voltage on the gray connector should be around 25-27 VdC.

[Anonymous user]

Should I read that as:
if the UPS doesn't read 25-27 VDC from the battery pack, as measured at the gray connector, the power-on will silently fail, and not give a bad battery indicator?

I think the batteries are probably bad. I just wanted to know if this is the expected UPS behavior if the batteries are totally bad. Maybe the bank of leds indicating battery life only work if the UPS gets a sufficiently high output from the battery pack?

[EZ_Button_apc]

If the batteries are completely dead, the UPS will give no sign of life. Our new units have the capability to power on without the batteries connected, but the 1400 units will not be able to without a good battery.

Message was edited by: EZ Button

[Anonymous user]

Thank you very much.

That's exactly what I wanted to know. I was somewhat worried that something else was wrong with the UPS. Time to order a new battery pack!

I can actually understand why this would be the design decision. If the UPS was new and the customer hadn't hooked up the battery pack, it would probably be a good idea for the UPS to not power on until they attached the pack. I also think it is better that the UPS say something that indicates the equivalent of "no battery detected". It's good to hear that's the way the newer models work.

[Anonymous user]

I'd love to put this old UPS back into service. It was in a closet, sitting unused when I started the job. Today I plugged it in to try to check whether the batteries were good. The UPS doesn't power on, no lights, no beeps. The outlet is definitely providing clean power, and I've tried pushing in the circuit breaker reset on the UPS.

I checked the manual, and the troubleshooting steps don't suggest anything else. Is this the symptom you get if the batteries are very, very dead? The batteries are plugged in at the gray connector, but maybe they're providing zero charge so the UPS doesn't power-on?

[Anonymous user · Accepted solution]

Same symptoms as original post. No power, no beeps, to lights, nothing. Battery voltage is good (26VDC). Good Continuity from outlet to circuit board. Good continuity from battery packs to circuit board. That's where is all ends, at the board.

Replace the board? If so, anyone recommend a place to find replacement/repair parts for this model? (APC 1400 RM)
-or-
Trash it?

[Anonymous user]

APC supports two options:

1.you can trade your ups in through the APC trade-ups program for up to 35% off a new ups. APC will also cover the return shipping cost of the old ups.

2. You can contact Coastal Business Machines to see if they can refurbish the ups. There web page is http://cbmi.com

[Anonymous user]

aria wrote:
Same symptoms as original post. No power, no beeps, to lights, nothing. Battery voltage is good (26VDC). Good Continuity from outlet to circuit board. Good continuity from battery packs to circuit board. That's where is all ends, at the board.

Replace the board? If so, anyone recommend a place to find replacement/repair parts for this model? (APC 1400 RM)
-or-
Trash it?

I'm not totally sure, but the SU1400RM2U's RBC24 might be a 48v nominal. If you have the same unit in working conditions, check the battery voltage through PowerChute. If it's around 52v, you have a 48v system, in which case 26v may not be enough to bring the unit out of lockout mode.

Message was edited by: KVAr

[Anonymous user]

No, it's made of 4.
http://www.apc.com/resource/include/techspec_index.cfm?base_sku=RBC24

APC gives 432 nominal-V x Ah. If you divide it 48v, you get 9Ah, so the OEM is made of 12v 9Ah packs. Most likely 4 in series. Could be two strings of two in parallel, but I doubt it. If you know what you're doing, it's easy to take it apart and figure it out.

12v 7,7.2,8 and 9Ah all have the same foot print. 9Ah is not as common in the aftermarket replacement market as the 7.2Ah, which can be assembled into RBC24 and if you assemble a replacement battery pack using 7.2Ah, you won't get the same runtime the UPS was designed to provide.

Without knowing the wiring of each battery pack, you have no idea what the voltage is.

Here is what I know for sure:
RBC7 =half U battery x 2 back to back, 17-18Ah, two x 12v series. 24v
RBC6 =12v 12Ah x 2 in series 24v

yes, it is possible for rack and tower versions to have different voltages. For the units using RBC7 (tower type 1400 and 1500 models), if your battery is much below 20v or so, the UPS may not turn on and if the voltage isn't above 25v or so after it was stored, the batteries are shot anyways.

If you have the Smart-UPS 1400 or 1500 TOWER type, then make sure your batteries are >20v

If you have the RACK MOUNT (1400RM2U) check the battery wiring and make sure EACH battery is registering above 10v for UPS to be even able to turn on and >12.4v if you expect batteries to have any usable capacity. So, if it's a 48v pack and you're reading 27v, then the batteries are beyond dead.

I

[Anonymous user]

An RBC24 is made up of a paralled pair of 12 V 7.2 Ah cells in series, so it should be 26-27 volts.

Dave