Back-ups HT 1500 red light flashing

[rossberg_apc]

I purchased 2 HT 1500's today.

Per the instructions I connected the internal battery cable to the UPS. After plugging the UPS into the 120V AC and pushing the power switch there is a brief period during which the On Line light is on and it looks like it's going through a self-test.

When that's completed the On Line light remains on and the Replace Battery light begins to flash which, according to the Troubleshooting, indicates that the battery isn't connected. There is no beeping, just the red flashing light along with the On Line light. I've tried cycling the power switch, unplugging and replugging the power cord, etc.The PowerChute program isn't reporting any errors although I don't know if it tests for battery condition. The devices plugged into it are receiving power. Of course, if the power is disconnected from the UPS there is no battery power to keep them running.

I can't believe I got 2 brand new UPS's with bad batteries. Is there something else I'm supposed to do such as let it charge overnight or something? I've set up dozens of similar UPS's but have never run into this kind of problem before.

[BillP]

Let them charge for at least 24-48 hours and it should clear up. When you buy UPSs retail, sometimes they've been sitting on a shelf for months and just need to charge up. When they are below a certain voltage, the UPS may not "see" them since the voltage is too low and indicates the battery is disconnected with the flashing replace battery LED.

Your typical Back UPS needs about 24-48 hours to charge before I'd be concerned, after it has adequate time to charge up. If you still see this issue in a few days after the units have been plugged in and charging, let us know. Also at that time, let us know the first several digits on the unit's serial numbers (like JB1213XXXXX).

[rossberg_apc]

Sounds like a good plan. I currently only have one remaining unit since I returned one of them thinking it was defective. My bad. If this solves the problem I'll notify the vendor.

In any event I'll let you know what happens. In the meantime the serial number for the UPS I have is JB0708010823.

[BillP]

Ok, well that tells me it was manufactured in 2007 so that is concerning to me if the battery hasn't been charged since then - it very well could be past the point of being able to be recharged since it is so old..

[rossberg_apc]

I looked at the testing info enclosed with the unit and you're right - it was tested on 2/27/2007.

I purchased this from a reputable seller - MicroCenter - from a display of this and other APC models so I assume they've sold a fair number of them. I'm surprised that they wouldn't have had other returns and, if others were bad, why they didn't stop selling them. I still can't believe that out of a stack of them I picked the only ones which had bad batteries.

By the way, the unit was plugged in overnight but there's been no change - it's not charging and the red light is still flashing.

If you think it's a bad battery I'd prefer to have APC send me a replacement battery and I'll send them back the old one if they want it rather than me taking this back to the store again and trying to find something else that works.

[BillP]

If you have your proof of purchase available to send, you can contact technical support via phone or email and they should be able to send you a new battery for that system. They will need the proof of purchase to update the warranty to be able to send you a battery.

I am surprised too because I just checked and these Back UPS HT units were discontinued around that time so they've just been selling them still..

[rossberg_apc · Accepted solution]

That's what I ended up doing. Thanks for the help.