APC UPS reliability WITH bad battery

[Anonymous user]

I know batteries are consumable and eventually need to be replaced.  I accept that yet still point of having a UPS for me is reduction in unexpected downtime.  It takes ~1 day to resync raids after power failure plus whatever static info is lost at the time.  Seems every UPS I have ever owned goes haywire when the battery begins to get weak sometimes the first indication is loss of power and systems rebooting when there is NO power outage.  Other times it detects the battery is weak but later inexplicitly tries to use it anyway or whatever at random times.

The solution is to go get a new battery ... great until some unpredictable time in the future where it gets weak and systems randomly loose power again for no good reason.  Mains are fairly reliable here and I'm beginning to think having a UPS is more trouble than its worth.

I have gone thru UPS's from other vendors but most  from APC with much the same results.  Currently have a small CS 500 and some newer BR700G's which so far have never had a weak battery.

I guess my question is has anything changed, is there a specific model I should look at or avoid where this problem has been addressed or is it just a limit of the technology?

I assume what is happening the inverter is used as a load to test battery capacity - if it has failed spectacularly enough the result is rebooted systems but I am obviously clueless.

[BillP · Accepted solution]

I think you are facing the dilemma that a lot of us face.  The power here at my location is highly reliable having only gone out maybe once or twice in the previous 12 months with the same failure rate for perhaps the last 4 or 5 years.  Our lines are underground and the power infrastructure is no older than 12 years.  I've invested lots of money in my SMT3000, SMX1500RM2U and a few other smaller units "betting on the come" that the power will go out and it will save me from having to wait for a rebuild a one of the RAIDs I have.  The cost of batteries every 3-5 years is getting pretty close to $1,000 if I purchased them at list price.  That's a lot of money for peace of mind.

In a way, I UPS systems are akin to buying automobile, home or life insurance.  I've been paying insurance for years and haven't made a claim in many years?  Is it worth it?  I am beginning to come to the same conclusion that, for me and in my environment, a UPS may not be cost effective or worth it.

In any event, the lead/acid battery system in the current flock of UPSs is the weak link and will continue to be so until different battery or energy storage technologies are explored.  And the odd thing, for me, is why do batteries fail so often when they are operating for most of their lives in idle or float mode?  I wonder, as you have, if there are UPS manufacturers who have moved on to newer technologies that will contribute to longer battery life.