BR1500G Error F02

[rinconmike_apc]

I have a BR1500G.  The battery indicator is flashing.  This morning I had a power flicker and the computers attached turned off and the LCD flashed error F02.

Unit is around 4 to 5 years old and I never replaced the battery.

Does this error occur if battery is dead?  Is it worth just replacing the battery opposed to the entire unit?

thanks

[BillP]

If I look here @ http://www.apc.com/products/resource/include/techspec_index.cfm?base_sku=BR1500G&ISOCountryCode=US&t... at this model's documentation, F02 is explained and gives you some steps to try. Refer to the Back-UPS Pro 1300/1500 Installation and Operation document and PDF page 5.

Though, 4-5 years is a good time to start thinking about a battery replacement regardless. This unit appears to retail for around $240 and the battery is listed at $70 (though if you go through a reseller like Amazon, you can maybe find it for cheaper.)

You can consider a Trade-UPS and get credit towards a new unit, even if this unit does have a fault, and look at a new unit with a new 3 year warranty and new battery. You also get a return label for your old unit to return to us. Purchasing a battery only gives you a 1 year warranty on the battery itself.

Just to get an idea while you're evaluating options, the Trade-UPS page is here where you can see how much of a discount you could get and evaluate your options versus just buying locally or online. http://buy.apc.com/commerce/storefronts/tradeups/tradein.aspx?storefrontcode=apcetu&countrycode=us&l... 

[rinconmike_apc]

FYI, it is a BX1500G and not a BR1500G.

I did those steps (not much to do uless I am missing something).

No error after doing steps, just the battery bar empty and flashing.  Is it safe to assume the issue is just a dead battery?

For a new unit, I think I will want a smart-UPS.  Any recommendations?  A SMC1500?

I am going to use it with e Dell Precision T7910, some LCD screes, a stereo receiver, and some misc. items.  Right now the unit I am using says round 375W as the current load.

thanks,

Mike

[rinconmike_apc]

I just replaced the batteries with new batteries.  It shows all bars for the battery and with 20% load it says 1 minute run time.  Is this mormal?  Do I need to calibrate it with new batteries?

[rinconmike_apc]

I chatted with support and they had me do the following.  

First, Connect the UPS to the wall socket with no load and the UPS off for a period of 8-10 hours before trying this test. This will ensure that the battery is charged completely and then try the following steps:

1. Connect 30% load to the rating of the UPS, in case a computer without any applications running in order to save data loss.
2. Disconnect the unit from the wall outlet.
3. Run the connected equipment till the battery is out of charge.
4. Plug the unit back to the wall outlet and charge it completely by keeping the UPS off and with no load if possible for 10-12 hours.

After letting it charge again overnight, with no load it showed a run time of 40 min.  I turned on a load of around 200W and it shows 2 to 3 minutes which I beleive is way low.  I am going to try again, but I am wondering it the UPS is just bad.

Any thoughts?

[BillP]

What they had you do is a manual calibration which makes sense. This sounds like a calibration issue and the UPS not displaying the proper amount of runtime. Did you try this part yet to see how long the UPS lasts on battery - either the 2 or 3 minutes it is showing or the real amount it should be showing?

I checked the runtime chart here for BR1500G and we should expect ~33 minutes with 200W load: http://www.apc.com/products/runtime_for_extendedruntime.cfm?upsfamily=27 

[rinconmike_apc]

I am testing it now.  Lasted 8 minutes so far.  Another item to note, right away once I unplugged it from the wall, the battery bar showed zero bars and is flashing.  Is this a calibration issue?  I do not have the apc software installed on the system, should I try that, would that make a difference?

Will draining it again that I am doing now and recharging fix this issue?

[rinconmike_apc]

It lasted 33 minutes.  I have it powered off and charging now.

[BillP · Accepted solution]

Yes, I think the flashing empty battery was because it thought it only had a few minutes to run but as you said, it ran 33 minutes which seems accurate for the load %. Hopefully this manual calibration you did (letting it run and turn off and now charge) will address the reported runtime. If it doesn't, there won't be much else you'll be able to do unfortunately besides know it works properly in the sense of lasting the correct amount of time. Using the software (or not) will not impact this function and situation.

The UPS should be updating the runtime after the discharge since it should realize, hey! now I have 33 minutes available (with this load) and adjust accordingly if the load % changes. To me if anything, this would be some time of UPS firmware issue but unfortunately, for this type of UPS, there is nothing the user can do to do reset the value in the firmware or anything. Let's hope it updates after your calibration!

[Maxinike]

I used the app to tell him that there is a new batterie and it updated the running time on mine