Back-UPS XS1500 Problems/Questions

[Mark850_apc]

I have a 5 year old Back-UPS XS1500, Serial # JB0511*, Model BX1500 (I don't know why the Model is shown as BX while the front panel nameplate shows XS). The battery was replaced last year. The unit runs 24/7 and supplies power to two computers via a SynAccess netBooter Remote Power Management System. One of the computers runs 24/7 the other is only on during the day.

During the last week, there have been two power incidents. The first occurred at 0230 and resulted in the 24/7 computer rebooting and the daytime only computer powering up. I witnessed the second incident which occurred during the day; while difficult to be sure (view of the equipment was peripheral), I am pretty sure the netBooter RPMS lost power indicating the root cause is the UPS.

(1) Does this sound like a known failure mode of the UPS?

(2) Are there any diagnostics which I can perform to help diagnosis this?

(3) What would be an appropriate current model to replace this UPS with?

TIA

Mark

[BillP]

Do you see or hear any kind of indicators from the UPS whenever it is rebooting? Do you have any logs on the APCUPSD that could potentially help us?

[BillP]

Mark,

Do you have the APC PowerChute Personal Edition installed on a computer that monitors your Back-UPS? Having a software would help us monitor what kind of power events your UPS has encountered. If you review the logs of your netBooter, does it show any interval like 2 weeks? If you are planning to replace the UPS, the recommended replacement would be [BX1500G|http://www.apc.com/products/resource/include/techspec_index.cfm?base_sku=BX1500G].

You can also use this APC Knowledge Base to give you an idea of the things that would cause a UPS/load to reboot --> [Equipment connected to a Back-UPS product turns off unexpectedly and/or reboots.|http://nam-en.apc.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/20/kw/reboot/related/1].

[Mark850_apc]

Thanks for your prompt reply.

The UPS is directly connected to the 24/7 (Home Automation) computer using apcupsd. The Dell desktop accesses the UPS status from the 24/7 machine using apcupscd. The 24/7 machine is loaded with Embedded XP i.e. stripped down so I doubt PowerChute would load.

The netBooter log just shows a PowerUp event. This configuration of netBooter and UPS has been in place for about 6 months and worked flawlessly. As mentioned, the reboot issues began about a week ago.

I have moved the Dell Desktop from the netBooter to the UPS directly. If the 24/7 machine reboots but the Dell does not, it will implicate the netBooter. If both machines reboot, then it is likely the UPS.

In the last few months the UPS has intervened an numerous occasions for 'low voltage' but there has been no obvious power dip (based on the room lights, and digital clocks without a 9V battery backup). I wonder if the UPS may have been on its way out for some time and this is just the final death throws.

Best Regards,

Mark

[Mark850_apc · Accepted solution]

Only one of the events occurred when I was present, but my view of the equipment was peripheral. I long ago turned off the beeping on the UPS.

The polltime parameter is set to 60 seconds so the apcupsd.events file only contains events it happened to capture over time. The last events recorded were 3 second outages in the early July timeframe.

I can decrease the poll time, what would be a useful value - 10 seconds?

Mark