Back-UPS 1300 turns off (UPS protected outlets turn off)

[Anonymous user]

I have an odd problem that is happening with my Backup-UPS 1300 (BR1300LCD). It simply turns off from time to time. When it does this it appears only the UPS protected outlets turn off. The surge protected only outlets still work fine. I can't remember but I believe all I need to do is press the power button or the Display/Hold to Mute button and then it works fine.
It is showing that the battery is full and the load lever is shown as being around 40% or so. This has never happened. It is annoying since sometimes I'm in the middle of work on my desktop and lose a lot of data. I thought maybe it's a battery that's going bad but it doesn't appear it would cause this type of problem. I even though it may be a severe surge but I would not think that would cause a UPS to do this. Any idea of what's causing this and how I can fix it? Thanks.

[BillP]

The ups is probably in eco or green mode is there a leaf symbol on the lcd? if so you can refer to the manual to disable it and you wont have this problem

[BillP]

Good day Mark,

By any chance, do you have PowerChute Personal Edition installed on your computer? If you do, can you run a self-test on it and if not can we install this application to see if the UPS reports any problem?

[Anonymous user]

Hello,

I don't have the green leaf on the LCD so I don't think it's an issue with a green or eco mode.
As for Power Chute, I have a Mac and unfortunately the Mac version of the Power Chute is not updated for the latest Mac OS X so I am unable to use that. I have Windows XP running in virtualization on my Mac though. If necessary I should be able to install it on the windows side and have the Windows side see the APC for additional troubleshooting.

I have had this happen approximately 4 more times so I know the problem is still occurring. One thing I have seen the last time this happened is I was able to view the LCD screen while it was off and there is a battery symbol on there and there is a big X in the middle of the battery and it's blinking. I assume this is some type of error. Is this a battery problem? If it is I just didn't think it would cause issues while I have power to the APC. Let me know though if this helps tell us what the problem is. Thank you again.

[BillP]

The battery icon with an X mark on that is flashing indicates that the unit cannot detect a battery or simply a battery disconnected fault. What we normally do here is inspect the battery for any signs of crack, leak or vent. We also check if the battery connection is done properly, if the battery needs to be connected via cables we need to make sure that it is not wiggling. Checking the battery terminal for any signs of corrosion is another step that we do, if there is an available battery of the same model we swap them to see if the fault follows the battery or the UPS itself.

[Anonymous user]

Hello,
Thank you for your response. If I am assuming correctly I need to simply open the UPS up to see if any of the issues you mentioned are the problem. Maybe it's just loose and needs to be corrected properly but I guess if I find none of that is wrong or the battery is damaged I can get a replacement battery. Do I buy that direct from APC or elsewhere?
Also, we've had no power problems and I would think that a bad battery would not be an issue as long as we have power but would it still shut down the UPS even if the power is on?
Also, I have not isolated when the UPS shuts down but I have a lot of my computer equipment plugged into the UPS protected outlets but we have a laser printer which as suggested is plugged into one of the non-UPS outlets, one of the outlets that is simply surge protected. I noticed today when I sent a print job to the printer when the printer warms up I know it quickly pulls more power. During this time the UPS shut down. Most of the time it has shut down has been at night so I see it when I come into the office.

[BillP · Accepted solution]

Yes you are correct, if there is something wrong with the battery then it needs to be replaced. Our BackUPS is covered with 3 year warranty starting from the date of purchase, just to let you know. Batteries can be purchased from us or any authorize APC reseller.

With regards to the laser printer being plugged into the surge side of your UPS, we do not recommend that as much as possible. The laser printer needs a very high/large current pull during its startup and it leads to an overload.