Back-UPS Pro 650 BP650S: How to Adjust Sensitivity/Alarms Manually without Software?

[BillP]

Just got a new battery and the unit works but it beeps too much so need to adjust sensitivity.   I have the original serial cable but am waiting for delivery of a serial PCI I/O card so can't make changes through software yet.   In the meantime, how do I adjust the settings manually?

[BillP]

Stan,

It has been quite some time since I have seen one of those but to my recollection with the BP650s the sensitivity has to be set via the serial port. 

[BillP]

I was afraid of that.   In the event the PCI serial card doesn't work, is there an adapter that would allow the serial cable to interface with a USB port on the pc?

[Anonymous user]

These units are almost a Smart UPS in terms of configurability: they communicate using UPSLink ("APC Smart") protocol and have some other features usually only seen on a Smart UPS of their time. (Unfortunately, a true sinewave output isn't one of them.)

A USB to RS232 serial adapter ought to work just fine. I've not tried it myself, but I have heard many reports of people using them successfully.

[BillP]

Well, after trying a PCI serial card and a serial to usb adaptor no success in establishing communication.    I guess I'll have to scrap the unit.   I would like to reuse the new RBC4 battery, though.   Does APC have a current production UPS (prefereably a true sine wave model) that would use the RBC4 battery as an extra battery?   

[Anonymous user]

On 9/16/2016 7:53 AM, stan said:

Well, after trying a PCI serial card and a serial to usb adaptor no success in establishing communication.    I guess I'll have to scrap the unit.

That's quite odd. Do you have a 940-0024 "smart" communications cable for this unit? A standard serial or null modem cable won't work.

If you're in the United States and it's a 120 volt unit, I'd be interested in it (without battery).

The Smart-UPS SC620 also uses the RBC4, but it too is serial only as far as I can tell. It is also not a true sine wave unit. (I believe that all of APC's product line having a true sine wave output also utilize a 24 volt battery system.)

[BillP · Accepted solution]

I finally established communication with the UPS.  It was the APC software not hardware.    You have to use PowerChute Business Edition rather than Personal Edition.   Apparently the Personal Edition software won't recognize the UPS on the serial port.   (And, yes, I do have the 940-0024 cable).