Best way to keep ups battery last longer?

Anonymous user · ‎2021-07-11

I recently purchase APC Back-ups pro 1000 to protect my PC. not going to use much of ups battery since i have home-ups as well. so i need to have battery last longer, so don't have to change battery anytime soon.

wonder why its written warning 'do not switch off main power to the unit' on top of ups. i'd like to switch off main when i'm not using it. also is it better to turn main on for battery life or better off most of the time?

Terry_Kennedy_apc · ‎2021-07-11

In general, keep the batteries at a cool, constant temperature and avoid un-necessary discharge (for example, run-time calibration). Also, supply the appropriate float voltage, although that's not something you have control over - it is part of the UPS design. Depending on all of the above, you can generally expect a 2 to 5 year service life from SLA batteries. My rule-of-thumb (but this is for the more sophisticated Smart-UPS models) is one battery replacement, and then replace the whole UPS when it is time to replace those batteries. But that's just my opinion as an end user.

As far as warnings about input power, I'm not familiar with the particular model you're using. However, with the Smart-UPS models, the batteries are always powering the internal circuitry even when the UPS is "off". On models with a sensitivity LED on the rear panel, you can see that the UPS is still running even when off and unplugged. There is a procedure to "dead" the UPS - press and hold the off button with the UPS unplugged from the supply. You'll hear a click and the sensitivity LED will go out. There may still be some minor drain on the batteries, so if the UPS won't be used for a while, the battery disconnect (normally a plug on the back of the unit) should be activated - this is the reverse of the steps needed to connect things when the UPS is first installed.

Again, that's for Smart-UPS and above. I'm not sure if this applies to Back-UPS units. I'm sure one of the APC folks will correct me if needed.

See Answer In Context

Terry_Kennedy_apc · ‎2021-07-11

In general, keep the batteries at a cool, constant temperature and avoid un-necessary discharge (for example, run-time calibration). Also, supply the appropriate float voltage, although that's not something you have control over - it is part of the UPS design. Depending on all of the above, you can generally expect a 2 to 5 year service life from SLA batteries. My rule-of-thumb (but this is for the more sophisticated Smart-UPS models) is one battery replacement, and then replace the whole UPS when it is time to replace those batteries. But that's just my opinion as an end user.

As far as warnings about input power, I'm not familiar with the particular model you're using. However, with the Smart-UPS models, the batteries are always powering the internal circuitry even when the UPS is "off". On models with a sensitivity LED on the rear panel, you can see that the UPS is still running even when off and unplugged. There is a procedure to "dead" the UPS - press and hold the off button with the UPS unplugged from the supply. You'll hear a click and the sensitivity LED will go out. There may still be some minor drain on the batteries, so if the UPS won't be used for a while, the battery disconnect (normally a plug on the back of the unit) should be activated - this is the reverse of the steps needed to connect things when the UPS is first installed.

Again, that's for Smart-UPS and above. I'm not sure if this applies to Back-UPS units. I'm sure one of the APC folks will correct me if needed.