APC BE700G-GR (Need Help)

[Anonymous user]

Hi all,

I just bought an APC BE700G-GR, and its great but the thing is:

I let the UPS charge till its battery capacity hit 100%, the estimated battery was 22 minutes, but when i tried to test the UPS, it showed me that the estimated battery time was 15 minutes only, and when i charge it again to 100%, it shows me that the battery estimated time is 22 again, does this mean that battery is dying, although its brand new (the whole device)?

Is the estimated battery time about running my PC in idle conditions only, or is it also 15 minutes when running my PC on load?

lastly, i want to ask if i had to leave it on constantly. i prefer powering it off after shutting down my PC (not from the wall socket, just the On/Off button), but i heard that this would lower the life of the battery, so is that true?

one last thing when i power off the UPS and turn it on again, it shows me that the estimated battery time is 40 minutes, but when i test it, it goes to 15 or 20 minutes again.

Thank You

[BillP]

While I agree with what you're saying, a Back UPS is not super advanced unfortunately so it does not constantly report that it is on battery. So since PCPE missed the initial on battery transfer before you turned your computer on, it had to wait for the low battery shutdown signal which would be the next step on the shutdown timeline. Thus, it did not work as you (or I would expect).

[Anonymous user]

Hi all,

I just bought an APC BE700G-GR, and its great but the thing is:

I let the UPS charge till its battery capacity hit 100%, the estimated battery was 22 minutes, but when i tried to test the UPS, it showed me that the estimated battery time was 15 minutes only, and when i charge it again to 100%, it shows me that the battery estimated time is 22 again, does this mean that battery is dying, although its brand new (the whole device)?

Is the estimated battery time about running my PC in idle conditions only, or is it also 15 minutes when running my PC on load?

lastly, i want to ask if i had to leave it on constantly. i prefer powering it off after shutting down my PC (not from the wall socket, just the On/Off button), but i heard that this would lower the life of the battery, so is that true?

one last thing when i power off the UPS and turn it on again, it shows me that the estimated battery time is 40 minutes, but when i test it, it goes to 15 or 20 minutes again.

Thank You

[BillP · Accepted solution]

When the UPS is running online (versus on battery), the runtime is an estimate. When it runs on battery, it is constantly calculating the runtime so this tends to be a more accurate number. A few instances of this is almost like a runtime calibration as well.

If this is concerning, you can unplug your UPS (and data cable if attached) and let it run until the UPS turns off by itself - so maybe do this with something other than your computer. When it charges back up, this should be a little more accurate as it is a calibration.

Anyway, this behavior sounds normal.

The runtime estimate is the estimate based on the current load percentage. It should change based on load.

A UPS is intended to remain on all the time. Every time you turn it on, it does a self test so doing this every day could put unnecessary stress on the battery after a year or two of every day transferring to battery. The self test normally runs once every two weeks if you leave it on all the time. I would just leave the UPS on all the time and turn your computer off for the evening unless you have a very specific reason for turning it off.

[Anonymous user]

i'm really sorry about this disturbance but i wanted to ask one more question:

I had a Real blackout today and the UPS worked perfectly On Idle And Load, and i shut down my PC Completely after the battery hit 70%, but i didnt power off the UPS or remove it from the wall socket. When i opened my PC again after 1 hour or so (the blackout lasted 20 minutes), i found out that the battery was at 55% and charging (it was discharging although i powered off my whole PC), do i have to power off/remove the UPS from the wall socket after i shut down my PC in a blackout or should i leave it as i did?

By The Way, are there any Extended Batteries for my UPS?

I Know that my questions are alot, but this will be the last time and i'm really sorry for the disturbance.

[BillP]

We're here to help!

How did you configure your PowerChute software. There are two options - keep your computer on as long as possible or preserve battery power. This will either cause the UPS to discharge almost until no battery capacity is left or shutdown your computer shortly after the power outage and then turn the UPS off to preserve charge.

Did you manually power off your PC?

The UPS is designed to remain on all of the time so I'd recommend you configure your PowerChute software with one of the options I mentioned above depending on what you want to do.

Lastly, only some of the BX and BR type UPSs offer extended battery packs - none of the BE series like you have do.

[Anonymous user]

I configured it to keep it as long as possible. If i choose the other option (Preserve Battery After An Amount Of Time), Will it stop the discharge of the battery after i shut down my PC? (I Found Out that the discharge would stop at 25% after the blackout)

Yes, I manually power off my PC after the blackout.

[BillP]

this whole set up is designed to do a graceful shutdown for you. When the PC is off and PowerChute is no longer running, the UPS is going to do a 'low battery shutdown' which means it will run as long as possible and then turn off. So if you want it to preserve battery power, let it do its thing and gracefully shutdown the computer for you and preserve battery power.

[Anonymous user]

Ok, Thank You Very Much Angela.

[BillP]

You're welcome