APC UPS SC1500

[Anonymous user]

I currently have an APC UPS SC1500 (which I'm aware is discontinued) at my place of employment.  When I power up the UPS, it starts to boot up, but a few seconds later it almost seems to shut off but with the "On Battery" light illuminated, cutting power to anything plugged into it.  After waiting a couple of minutes, it finally boots up along with giving power to everything plugged into it.

Is this normal?

Is my UPS trying to tell me something?

Are UPS's meant to be powered on at all times?

I'm sort of new to UPS's, so I would appreciate any help you can give.

[BillP]

Hi Scott,

This unit would sounds like it is going through a self test to make sure that the battery is ok. This self test occurs whenever the UPS is turned on or at a specific interval the default of which is 14 days.

During this self test the unit should still be operating normally and power to any equipment should not be interrupted. The issue your equipment might be having an issue with is that the SC15000 has a step approximated sine wave, this doesn't always work well with newer electronics, but items like a lamp would have no problem using. 

As far as the UPS remaining on all the time most people use them this way.

[Anonymous user · Accepted solution]

You said this self test occurs whenever the UPS is turned on or in 14 day intervals.  This doesn't accurately fit the behavior of this UPS.  It doesn't happen every time I turn it on and certainly doesn't happen in 14 day intervals.  It is frequent enough to halt our work flow for 10+ minutes and be very annoying.

You also mentioned that during this self test, the UPS should still be operating normally and that no power to any equipment should not be interrupted.  Again, this is not represented here.  No power is going to any equipment plugged into the UPS and will not power when attempting to power them individually.

Any more thoughts or advice?

Thanks!