BX1500LCD Zero Runtime

[Anonymous user]

I bought my BX1500LCD in June of 2010. It's used to support a linux home server with accessories and is controlled by an apcuspd daemon. In August of this year, after around 14 months of normal operation, the unit suddenly started to give indications of low battery at 100% charge with a short available run time. I got the same indications through both the software interface and on the front panel of the unit: 100% charge with only a short (or even zero) run time available. I didn't expect the battery to have reached end-of-life after only 14 months but that's what it seemed to be, so I ordered a new battery pack from APC.

When the new battery pack arrived, I put it in and let it charge for a day but even so, I was still getting the same indication. I both Googled and checked the APC Knowledge Base, where I found something called a Manual Battery Calibration procedure, which I performed. I shut down the computer attached to the UPS, loaded it up to 75% load with pedestal fans and incandescent lamps, and then pulled the plug. It ran for about five minutes before shutting down. I removed the fans and lights and plugged the unit in and let it charge up again. Unfortunately, the UPS is still indicating 100% charge with zero available run time.

In its present condition, the server attached to the UPS will shut down immediately if there is a power outage due to the low battery indication. At least it's a clean shutdown but still, that's not the way it's supposed to work.

At this point, I really don't know what to do. Should I RMA the UPS under warranty? Or are there additional troubleshooting steps I could perform? Any advice or suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks!

Bill

[Anonymous user]

Bump. Any resolution ?

[BillP]

The old battery was probable fine all you need to do is preform a runtime calberation you can do that by putting on a non critical load such as a 100 watt light and pull the plug and let it run untill it shuts off

[Anonymous user]

As described in my initial post, I tried that, based on instructions on the APC website, but it did not help or affect the situation in any way.

[BillP]

It didn't work because the Load was to large to calibrate the load needs to be 30%

[BillP]

i have a question - now after your calibration that you performed, when it says 100% battery charge and zero runtime, this is with the data cable attached. if you remove the USB data cable from your computer and UPS and put the UPS on battery, does it still shutdown immediately? i ask because i am wondering if something did happen and the unit requires a calibration, perhaps with a smaller load. without software intervention, it sounds like the UPS will run for the correct amount of time but because its confused, it tells the software you shutdown immediately.

[Anonymous user · Accepted solution]

Hmmm, the instructions on the APC website said 'at least 40%', IIRC. Anyway, I repeated the manual run time calibration. I shutdown the server and disconnected the USB cable from the UPS. I then loaded the unit up to 42% of rated load as indicated on the LCD panel and then I pulled the plug. The unit ran for 12:20 (mm:ss) before shutting down. I then plugged the unit back in, leaving the server off. There were still some minor loads on the unit ~ 20 watts. I let the unit charge to 100%, which took a little over two hours, before plugging in the USB cable and turning the server back on.

The unit LCD panel now indicates 100% charge, 7% load, and 1 minute of available run time.

Regrettably, I don't think that the manual run time calibration procedure is sufficient to fix my problem.