Back-UPS 1500GI Behavior

[BillP]

Hi. I have an APC Back-UPS Pro 1500GI UPS and was just wondering on some of its behavior specifically when there is a blackout.

1.) Normally, I set the UPS to save power by letting it turn off automatically its built-in LCD after some period. When there is a blackout or power is cut-off to the UPS, this setting resets itself to default in such a way that when power comes back the built-in LCD is not set to power-save mode. Is this normal? Doesn't it "remember" its setting before the power is cut-off?

2.) I know you can set the UPS to shutdown the PC connected to it depending on how you set this behavior. But what happens to the UPS itself after it shutdowns the PC? Will it also turn off itself and then turn on when the power comes back? Or will it just remain turned on until its battery is depleted (this is not ideal because the battery lifetime will be reduced if you let it stay on even though it is not used)?

[BillP]

So what should we do?

[BillP]

you can't do anything, BR1500GI is not firmware upgradable, it borned with many design flows and they cannot be corrected.

All the BR1500GI I owned (5 units) does not met the specifications in terms of battery runtime.

I talk about 35 to 45% less than what indicated on the specs. I have precise instruments to measure and say what I say so think twice

before buying an APC product

I paied 350€ (463$) for each unit, this units are really really too expensive for what they offer and for the unfixable design flow they have.

Angela is has you can see, one of the few good reasons to choose APC for home use. Excellent support, nothing more.

PS: I add that I run my toy at 220V, this means maximum efficiency in electrical terms, in any case they don't meet the specs.

[BillP]

Can I ask for a refund then?

[Anonymous user]

Hi Kevin. I'mstuck with LCD issue too.

[BillP]

I hope APC works something about this.

[BillP]

the product does not met the specs, yes.

[BillP]

Can anyone from sales answer in this thread?

[BillP]

I would suggest contacting sales support via email or phone. Not sure how they would handle this to be honest, especially if it was not purchased through us directly.

[BillP]

Would you be able to help?

[BillP]

I am just technical support here so I can't do much. If if's OK with you, between today and tomorrow, I can track someone down to contact you via your email in your profile?

[BillP]

Sure, that'd be great. Thanks.

[BillP]

I forgot, what region/country are you located in?

[BillP]

I'm from the Philippines.

[Anonymous user]

LCD reset itself is fault design of APC. (All Back-UPS Pro serie has this problem)

APC team should fix this problem as soon as posible not fix in future product.

[BillP]

Correct. I cannot settle for a "fix for future products".

[BillP]

Hi. I have an APC Back-UPS Pro 1500GI UPS and was just wondering on some of its behavior specifically when there is a blackout.

1.) Normally, I set the UPS to save power by letting it turn off automatically its built-in LCD after some period. When there is a blackout or power is cut-off to the UPS, this setting resets itself to default in such a way that when power comes back the built-in LCD is not set to power-save mode. Is this normal? Doesn't it "remember" its setting before the power is cut-off?

2.) I know you can set the UPS to shutdown the PC connected to it depending on how you set this behavior. But what happens to the UPS itself after it shutdowns the PC? Will it also turn off itself and then turn on when the power comes back? Or will it just remain turned on until its battery is depleted (this is not ideal because the battery lifetime will be reduced if you let it stay on even though it is not used)?

[BillP]

hello,

I checked on # 1 which does not make sense to me either personally but apparently it does reset upon shutdown.

For # 2, if you have no software/USB connection, by default, the UPS will run until it depletes its battery fully. This is called a low battery shutdown. Upon doing so, it will then go to sleep and wait for AC power to come back and upon AC power return, will turn itself back on. If you use software options such as Native OS support or PowerChute, you'll see similar options to below:

Also, here is a short summary of both options that I found in our knowledge base:

Shutdown time line, software not installed:

1. UPS goes to battery, the on battery beep sounds

2. The UPS will sound the "on battery beep" until it reaches the last few minutes of run time. The length of time depends on the load and how old the battery is.

3. When the unit reaches the last few minutes of battery runtime it will then sound its low battery alarm.

4. Just before the battery is completely exhausted the ups will turn itself off.

5. If the UPS went to battery due to a brown out the unit at this point will be in "low voltage sleep mode" (LVSM) until the input voltage becomes acceptable again.

PowerChute Personal Edition default shutdown time line:

1. UPS goes to battery and PCPE starts its preserve battery power counter.

2. When the counter expires it sends a command to the UPS to start counting its turn off delay and then commands the OS to shutdown.

3. The operating system shuts down and the UPS continues to count its turn off delay. (Once the UPS finishes counting its turn off delay it will reboot and nothing can stop this from happening.)

4. The UPS cuts power to the outlets then rechecks to see if the incoming power is acceptable. If it is not it waits there until power returns.

5. If the UPS went to battery due to a brown out the unit at this point will be in LVSM until the voltage becomes acceptable again.

[BillP]

Thanks for getting back at me.

For #1, can I request a firmware update as a solution for this issue? I don't think this behavior is acceptable.

For #2, I do have a USB connection from the PC to the UPS and yes I use PCPE with the Preserve Batter Power option ticked. So basically, for any setting in PCPE the UPS doesn't completely shuts itself down? I don't understand number 3 in the procedure in your knowledge base, why would the UPS reboot?

[BillP]

I can ask our Back UPS team to log # 1 as an issue for a future enhancement request/issue for the product but the UPS firmware itself is not field upgradeable at this time since this UPS does not support that function. So if they do make a change, it'd be for future products. I can't speak to any of this though in further detail currently really since I am not a decision maker on this particular issue as you understand but that is how I'd imagine it would go.

On # 2 - when AC power is returned is when this reboot cycle completes. So the OS shuts down and then the UPS will do a turn off delay and then turn itself off and cut power to the outlets. When power comes back on, the UPS wakes up from LVSM and turns back on. So basically, a reboot happens but steps 3-5 describe the entire reboot cycle, not just step 3. The entire reboot cycle is the fact that the OS turns off, the UPS counts down its turn off delay, cuts power to the outlets and then waits for AC power to come back to finish the reboot cycle and turn back on.

Let me know if you need further clarification.

[BillP]

I understand. I thought there is a firmware update tool for this UPS. So there's no way that this becomes user-upgradeable?

Ok, got it. How about if the USB connection is to a Thecus N8800 NAS (this uses its own software for control) will it behave the same way?

Lastly, assuming that AC power is on will the battery of the UPS charge even though it is turned off?

[BillP]

Not for this UPS as far as I know. Only recently as far as smaller UPSs have the SMX/SMT/SMC units become firmware upgradeable (in addition to some large facility size UPSs). Many of our other accessories have supported this for many years prior.

I would have to know more about what the NAS is able to do to the UPS as far as control or monitoring (just command it off or maybe monitor the runtime so it can decide when to shutdown?).

The NAS units I have had experience with typically seem to monitor the UPS for status and based on that status, do what they need to in order to gracefully shutdown. They don't necessarily tell the UPS to do anything (i.e. shutdown). So, I can't answer 100% on that one.

And yes, as long as AC power is present to the UPS (but the UPS output is off), the UPS battery will continue to charge as needed.

[BillP · Accepted solution]

Alright then. I guess I'm stuck with this design flaw. If ever there's a solution in the future, please keep me updated.

I don't have access to the NAS right now. I still have to check and get back to you about this but I'm thinking that it does the same way as what you are describing.

Ok, that's good to know.