Back-UPS CS 650 Still Beeping after Battery Replaced

[Anonymous user]

Hi,

I've got an APC Back-UPS CS 650 which is a few years old.

Yesterday I came home to discover it and everything connected to it shut down. There hadn't been a power cut (my bedside clock was still at the correct time), and one of the devices connected to the UPS was a QNAP NAS which initiates a safe shut down in the event of the UPS going to battery power, however the logs for this showed an incorrect shutdown (and when I switched it back on it took an age to remount the drives, which confirms an instant shut-off).

The UPS had been beeping for a few days with the "replace battery" light flashing, so I assumed something was up with that, although this doesn't explain the random immediate shut-down. Anyway, I ordered a replacement battery (RBC17) and installed it earlier today.

However, that was a good 6 hours ago now and the UPS is still beeping with the "replace battery" light still flashing. The beep pattern is 1-2-2 which seems to be repeating every minute or two.

1) What could have caused it to shut down the way it did?

2) Was it a battery issue or have I wasted money on the new battery?

3)) If it was a battery issue, how do I stop it beeping now that it has been replaced?

Any help much appreciated!

[Anonymous user]

Thanks for your continued help.

To be safe I'm thinking I may just "bite the bullet" and purchase a new Back-UPS CS-650. I had a look and the one I have is from 2009.

Because I now have an almost new battery, I have a few questions: -

1) Are units shipped with any charge in the battery?

2) If not, I assume it's best that I use the relatively new battery from the failing UPS in the replacement unit?

3) And if I do that, how long will the battery that ships with the new UPS last on the shelf, as a spare?

[BillP]

Don't forget about our Trade UPS program if it works out for you cost wise! https://buy.apc.com/commerce/storefronts/tradeups/tradein.aspx?storefrontcode=apcetu&countrycode=GB&...

You can get a discount on a new unit.

1.) Yes, they are charged but then the UPS is shipped with the battery disconnected. In our warehouses, if they do not ship within 6 months for some reason, they go through a refresh process to avoid old batteries in them when they eventually reach a customer.

2.) No, this is really not necessary unless you buy one from a retailer where the battery has been sitting disconnected for months or years with no periodic recharge like we do in our own warehouses has eventually lost its charge and potentially the ability to be recharged properly.

3.) #2's answer might make a bit more sense when I give the answer to this one -> refer to our knowledge base @ http://www.apc.com/site/support/index.cfm/faq/ and refer to article ID FA156516 and even FA157446.

[Anonymous user]

Thanks again.

Re the Trade UPS link, it looks like I can get an identical replacement unit cheaper elsewhere...but thanks anyway!

If I read the FAQ articles you mentioned correctly, it looks like if I end up with 1 good UPS unit and 2 batteries, for the maximum battery life I should swap the batteries around every 6 months without discharging them...is that correct?

[BillP]

yes, you're correct. you could periodically recharge them to maintain both of them.

and yes, i figured depending on where you look, you can find something cheaper. We also provide a free shipping label to return your old UPS and recycle it

[Anonymous user]

My new UPS arrived today and it's currently on an 8 hour charge.

I was planning to dispose of my old unit (after removing the new battery from it), then came across http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6JHEMPMd8Pc.

That's exactly what mine is doing. The comments are interesting: -

I get this all the time on mine at work and it has just had a brand new battery installed (which was purchased direct from APC themselves), it's really irritating.

Other than this (annoying) beeping it all works fine though - pull the power cord out and I get ~20 minutes run time.

although mine still seems to be working perfectly (aside from the beeping and flashing), the random sudden shut-down which started my whole episode is too risky to have happen again. Then there's this: -

My identical ups did the same with new battery. Problem was one broken capacitor in the main board, next to two 40Amp fuses. It was easy to change and cost virtually nothing!

Suggesting perhaps my old one can perhaps be fixed after all?

[Anonymous user]

It seems I was a little too hasty in thinking everything was OK

The UPS is still beeping, it seems to be every 10 minutes or so, a series of 6 double beeps accompanied by a flashing "replace battery" light, and then what looks like normal operation the rest of the time.

Is there some kind of reset I need to do? I'm assuming the battery (new a few weeks ago) is now fully charged. Or is there perhaps something wrong with the UPS itself?

[BillP]

During this condition with the flashing lights and beeping, is it possible to unplug the UPS to see if it transfers to battery? It certainly is possible there can be a problem with the UPS detecting its battery so you may want to try this step (if you want to) with a non critical load attached.

[Anonymous user]

OK, I manually shut down the NAS and plugged a lamp in (and also left the usual other stuff e.g. switch, router etc. plugged in) and cut the power in the middle of one of the "replace battery" beeping episodes...

It switched straight to battery power, my test lamp stayed on without even a flicker.

So, I plugged everything back in....

It's still beeping. Seems almost random, always 1 beep followed by a series of double beeps, sometimes 3, 5, I even counted 9 once. Always accompanied by a flashing red "replace battery" light and at seemingly random intervals.

[BillP]

Sounds like the UPS sensing of the battery is flaky because it actually does see its battery and transfers to it.

SecretSquirrel - could you provide your two cents on this one?

[Anonymous user]

Hi,

I've got an APC Back-UPS CS 650 which is a few years old.

Yesterday I came home to discover it and everything connected to it shut down. There hadn't been a power cut (my bedside clock was still at the correct time), and one of the devices connected to the UPS was a QNAP NAS which initiates a safe shut down in the event of the UPS going to battery power, however the logs for this showed an incorrect shutdown (and when I switched it back on it took an age to remount the drives, which confirms an instant shut-off).

The UPS had been beeping for a few days with the "replace battery" light flashing, so I assumed something was up with that, although this doesn't explain the random immediate shut-down. Anyway, I ordered a replacement battery (RBC17) and installed it earlier today.

However, that was a good 6 hours ago now and the UPS is still beeping with the "replace battery" light still flashing. The beep pattern is 1-2-2 which seems to be repeating every minute or two.

1) What could have caused it to shut down the way it did?

2) Was it a battery issue or have I wasted money on the new battery?

3)) If it was a battery issue, how do I stop it beeping now that it has been replaced?

Any help much appreciated!

[BillP]

a flashing replace battery LED indicates a disconnected battery. this can indicate that it is physically disconnected or when they get older, that the voltage is so low it cannot be seen anymore. when you replace a battery, you'll want to let it charge up for 16-24 hours and then issue a UPS self test for it to clear any replace battery indicators. It should at least stop flashing immediately once it seems voltage there but when it is solid, a self test needs to be done to clear it and verify the new battery is good to go.

it is hard to say what happened. it does sound like the battery was not there at all and perhaps there was another issue that caused it to transfer to battery besides a complete power outage (sag/surge/electrical noise/scheduled self test) but it would make sense that it tried to switch to battery and the battery was not able to support the load.

[Anonymous user]

Thanks for the prompt response. It seems I was a little hasty, even though all the documentation I could find said to give it 6 hours it did, as you suggest, take a full 24 hours to stop beeping. I didn't do anything to it - no self test or anything else - it just stopped beeping and flashing so I guess it's OK now.

The lesson learned here is to replace the battery when it starts to beep. I read somewhere that failed scheduled self tests will never interrupt the power supply to anything plugged into the UPS...that doesn't seem to be the case. Not in this instance, anyway...

[BillP]

The self test should not but if the battery is in rough shape, it could, if it cannot support the load. ideally, the UPS should report a self test has failed about a month before this time period to give you adequate warning.

Usually this happens in environments that are too warm or not well ventilated. Since the battery is ultimately made up of chemicals though, it can be hard to predict when they fail if it was designed with a flaw from the factory 3+ years ago, it could show itself now, just as an example.

[BillP · Accepted solution]

Hi

I have replaced a New APC RBC2 Battery in a CS 650 APC unit and put it on Charge for over 24 Hours and still it Beeps - 1 Short beep followed by 2 or 3 double Beeps and a flashing red Replace Battery light.

I have lowered the sensitivity on the CS650 by holding in the Power button for 10 Seconds and getting all 4 lights on and setting level to 1 light (first on battery light).

I have a number of CS 650 units that are a few years old and have worked without any issues but as the APC batterys are not cheap if I cannot resolve this Issue it may be cheaper to replace the unit altogether with a cheaper brand?.

Please help

Bryan.

Update

I have bought another battery APC RBC2 for the CS 650 Unit and put it in and chargeg it for over 24 hours and guess what the CS650 is still beeping ?

please help

Bryan

[Anonymous user]

I guess it's too late for my post, but your problem can be easy fix if you are familiar with electronics. Common issue is just one bad electrolytic capacitor that loses his capacity (dries out).

[Dr_John]

I had a client give me an old LS-500 that beeped. So, I ordered a battery and it still beeped. Even though the Replace Battery light flashed and beeped, it still powered my test bench device when the backup was unplugged from 110.

OK, I'll just remove the speaker. Opened it up, checked all the wires plugged into the circuit board. What the heck, unplugged and replugged them in. Put it all back together and no more Replace Battery light flashing or any beeps! Put the old battery in and it worked too! It just reminded me of one of the first things I learned: Check the easy stuff (or whatever description you want) FIRST!