Back-UPS LS 700 chirps every 3 min with Replace Battery light

[cavenewt_apc]

This was originally posted on APC forums on 1/18/2009

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Hi all. I have a Back-UPS LS 700, sn NB0204252200, which recently started chirping and flashing the Replace Battery light--It does a double chirp with the flashing light, a few seconds later it does the double chirp again; repeated every few minutes, never less than 3 minutes, sometimes longer.

I assumed this meant the battery needed replacing, so I bought a new APC battery from Amazon, installed it, and it's still doing the chirp thing. I am hoping that this is a temporary situation and will go away when the battery gets charged up, but from other threads on this forum I wonder if there is something wrong with the UPS instead. A multimeter measures the old battery at 13 volts.

There are only some network switches and a phone system plugged into this unit, no software, no USB, no computer. It worked fine for years; the battery I removed was a replacement (I know because it's an ABC, not an APC) but I can't remember how long it was in there. I have tried sliding the new batter out halfway and making sure the plugs are pushed on all the way. When I installed the new battery and turned the unit back on, it passed the self test.

I see from the docs that a manual self test should be performed after the battery is fully charged, so I will do one tomorrow.

It would be nice to find out if I should just buy a new UPS. This is a newspaper and most of our phone system is plugged into this unit, so it's pretty important that it be reliable. Any suggestions?

Thanks

--Colleen

[anklee_apc]

This was originally posted on APC forums on 7/29/2009

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I have a Back-UPS 700 that is doing the same thing. Did you replace yours? I am trying to decide whether to replace the battery. I will probably just trade it in with some other old ones that I have, but was curious as to what you did. I have never had one behave this way. I am also having trouble getting the UPS turned off, so it may be faulty.

Thanks.

[Techie_apc]

This was originally posted on APC forums on 7/30/2009

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Ann,

As far as I know, the purpose of the "Flashing Replace Battery LED" is to indicate that the Battery is not connected to the UPS. If the Battery is connected to the UPS firmly, the FRBL should not lit.

In this situation, I would not replace the battery. So My advice for you is that please replace the unit to a new unit.

Have a great day!

[BillP]

This reply was originally posted by Angela on APC forums on 1/19/2009

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hi colleen,

sometimes if there is a problem with the UPS circuitry, this issue can occur. the best solution is to do a UPS self test as you already came up with to see if it clears the replace battery LED. the other option would just to simulate a power outage by pulling the plug from the wall on the UPS to see if it supports a load. keep in mind that if for some reason, if the unit has a problem transferring to battery, this may drop the load so maybe you want to do this with a non critical load.

if the UPS passes the self test/pull plug test, it would be a cosmetic issue most likely where the replace battery LED is flashing but the unit still can use its battery and wouldnt necessarily require a replacement unless you couldnt stand the replace battery LED flashing - the only problem would be in the future for a replacement battery, the LED wouldnt work correctly.

if the self test/pull plug test drops the load, then there is something else going on where the UPS cannot see the battery at all and I think a replacement would be best.

overall, with the unit's age, you could think about the APC Trade UPS program and get a discount towards a new UPS which comes with a three year warranty and new battery of course.

[cavenewt_apc]

This was originally posted on APC forums on 1/19/2009

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OK, I'll try the load test in a few days (I can't unplug the phone system and half the network before then!) Assuming the unit performs ok...

1. "the only problem would be in the future for a replacement battery, the LED wouldnt work correctly." So, evidently the normal replace-battery warning of the light being steady-on won't work when it's stuck in this chirping mode?

2. If I decide to at least let my two good batteries wear out first (I'd have to swap them every few months), is there any way to shut up the chirping? The light we can live with. The chirping annoys people.

Thanks

[BillP]

This reply was originally posted by Angela on APC forums on 1/19/2009

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1.) to be honest, i'd have to test it but i am leaning towards the LED will always be flashing and will not be able to stay solid when the battery needs to be replaced next.

2.) i believe you can install powerchute personal to attempt to mute all alarms. i vaguely remember hearing that the only alarm you cannot disable is the replace battery alarm though - because of the fact that its trying to warn you that you need to replace it or the UPS wouldnt work - BUT i think i have spoken to someone who has done it. so i think its worth a try. within powerchute personal edition, you want to go under Configuration->Notification.

[sgadecki_at_alvinco.com_apc · Accepted solution]

This was originally posted on APC forums on 5/26/2011

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This random "Battery Disconnect" error seems to be a common problem with these Back-UPS LS700's. I have at least 8 of these units with the same exact problem, the red light comes on, they chirp, and the power management software says that the battery is disconnected. Then it 'reconnects' for a little while, then the same error and beeps again. We are using official APC RBC-17 batteries shipped directly from APC, so the batteries are NOT the problem.

All are Model: BPC700UC
I have been using APC UPS's for many may years and this is the only model that I have encountered that has this issue. APC should recall this model since they ALL seem to have the same problem...

We've already recycled a bunch of them and here are a few of the SN's from the ones that we still have:

3B053939X24704
4B0515P58272
4B0515P58269
NB0204251511

Is it a coincidence that all of these BPC700UC units are failing the same exact way? I think not...