Confirm battery good/bad

Mobius_apc · ‎2021-06-28

Back-UPS XS 1300 (BX1300LCD-CN)

PowerChute Personal 3.0.2

LCD display is normal (battery shows full, replace battery LED is NOT on), but runtime indicates < 1 minute. Self-test from front panel does not indicate any problem. UPS is connected via USB to Synology DS418j NAS, which also shows battery 100% but runtime < 1 minute. upsc shows following (note LB - Low Battery):

admin@DS418:$ /usr/bin/upsc ups@localhost
battery.charge: 100
battery.charge.low: 10
battery.charge.warning: 50
battery.date: 2014/00/41
battery.mfr.date: 2009/08/14
battery.runtime: 92
battery.runtime.low: 120
battery.type: PbAc
battery.voltage: 27.2
battery.voltage.nominal: 24.0
device.mfr: American Power Conversion
device.model: Back-UPS XS 1300 LCD
device.serial: blanked
device.type: ups
driver.name: usbhid-ups
driver.parameter.pollfreq: 30
driver.parameter.pollinterval: 5
driver.parameter.port: auto
driver.version: DSM6-2-1-newmodel-repack-23796-180722
driver.version.data: APC HID 0.95
driver.version.internal: 0.38
input.sensitivity: medium
input.transfer.high: 139
input.transfer.low: 88
input.voltage: 122.0
input.voltage.nominal: 120
ups.beeper.status: enabled
ups.delay.shutdown: 20
ups.firmware: 836.H8 .D
ups.firmware.aux: H8
ups.load: 8
ups.mfr: American Power Conversion
ups.mfr.date: 2009/08/14
ups.model: Back-UPS XS 1300 LCD
ups.productid: 0002
ups.realpower.nominal: 780
ups.serial: blanked
ups.status: OL LB
ups.test.result: No test initiated
ups.timer.reboot: 0
ups.timer.shutdown: -1
ups.vendorid: 051d

Disconnected USB cable from NAS, and connected to Windows PC. Installed PowerChute 3.0.2. PowerChute also indicates battery 100%, but runtime < 1 minute. Performed self-test from PowerChute; all okay.

In PowerChute, selected and confirmed replace battery button. Now, both PowerChute and UPS front panel indicate runtime 39 minutes. Moved USB cable back to NAS, which strangely is still reporting runtime < 1 minute (NAS likely needs to update status). upsc now reports (no longer shows low battery):

admin@DS418:$ /usr/bin/upsc ups@localhost
battery.charge: 100
battery.charge.low: 10
battery.charge.warning: 50
battery.date: 2016/00/54
battery.mfr.date: 2019/05/22
battery.runtime: 2428
battery.runtime.low: 120
battery.type: PbAc
battery.voltage: 27.6
battery.voltage.nominal: 24.0
device.mfr: American Power Conversion
device.model: Back-UPS XS 1300 LCD
device.serial: blanked
device.type: ups
driver.name: usbhid-ups
driver.parameter.pollfreq: 30
driver.parameter.pollinterval: 5
driver.parameter.port: auto
driver.version: DSM6-2-1-newmodel-repack-23796-180722
driver.version.data: APC HID 0.95
driver.version.internal: 0.38
input.sensitivity: high
input.transfer.high: 136
input.transfer.low: 88
input.voltage: 122.0
input.voltage.nominal: 120
ups.beeper.status: enabled
ups.delay.shutdown: 20
ups.firmware: 836.H8 .D
ups.firmware.aux: H8
ups.load: 15
ups.mfr: American Power Conversion
ups.mfr.date: 2009/08/14
ups.model: Back-UPS XS 1300 LCD
ups.productid: 0002
ups.realpower.nominal: 780
ups.serial: blanked
ups.status: OL
ups.test.result: No test initiated
ups.timer.reboot: 0
ups.timer.shutdown: -1
ups.vendorid: 051d

So, is this battery good, or is it bad? Appreciate any advise.

Mobius_apc · ‎2021-06-28

Yep, I would have tried that, had not my earlier testing shown some results. But as it is, the indications are that the battery is in need of replacement.

I'm now looking at replacing the UPS, as recommended earlier, after reading about the Trade-UPS program. It seems that the for-retail, i.e. non-sine-wave (eg. BN1350M2-CA) units are not eligible for Trade-UPS, which leaves only the BR1350MS (or larger) as eligible for me. That unit's Trade-UPS price is about the same as the BN-unit's normal price; which in turn, after shipping and taxes, is close to three times the cost of a replacement battery. Still, I really like the sloped front panel of the new units, which should make them very much easier to read from above, when the UPS is on the floor beside the desk.

See Answer In Context

BillP · ‎2021-06-28

Although the reporting of the UPS is fairly good, it is not always consistent as you have seen. It is possible for a battery to still discharge and recharge to 100% capacity, however be unsuitable for continued use in your configuration. Overtime after many discharges and recharges, the ability of the battery to perform the chemical reactions necessary to store DC power will diminish. Eventually the batteries capacity will drop below what is necessary to support the load while on battery and require replacement.

A true test of the batteries' capability would be a "pull plug" test which will force the UPS to support the connected equipment. You will likely find that the unit is incapable of supporting the full load for very long and will turn the load off, instead of initiating a Graceful Unattended Shutdown as desired. The batteries will typically last 3-5yrs depending upon usage. Supporting larger loads, while having more frequent power anomalies can result in battery life even shorter than the 3yrs listed.

I would recommend replacing the unit at this time considering the age of your UPS. This product family has seen two complete model revisions since. The currently available comparable unit is BR1350MS.

https://www.apc.com/shop/us/en/products/Back-UPS-PRO-BR-1350VA-SineWave-10-Outlets-2-USB-Charging-Po...

Secret Squirrel

Mobius_apc · ‎2021-06-28

Thanks for the reply. Yes, it does seem that it will indeed be necessary to do an actual power-loss test. If that fails, I will likely replace the battery, which is so much cheaper. The model that you linked to, though approximately the same VA as mine, is (I believe) a true-sine-wave unit (mine is not), and it costs very nearly three times as much as what my unit cost brand new. I would hope that APC would have a stepped-wave 1300VA LCD model for significantly less money than that?

Mobius_apc · ‎2021-06-28

So, I pulled the plug. Before doing so, I shut down most of the powered equipment. What was left on was, a single four-bay NAS for testing, a 16-port Ethernet switch, and also a 17" LCD monitor and 5.1 speaker system which I forgot to turn off. According to the front panel, the load was just under 30W. There were also a couple of items on the surge-only sockets (including a laser printer) which I didn't unplug.

Before power-down, the front panel indicated runtime of 185 minutes. When the plug was pulled, that time decreased gradually to 23 minutes, where it remained; also, the power-bar indicator rapidly dropped from full, to a single bar. The NAS, to which the UPS USB cable is attached, and which was set to power down 10 seconds after loss of power, appeared to go into safe mode and remain there; it did not actually power-down. This appears to be what the documentation indicates should happen; safe mode unmounts all file systems, and apparently the NAS continues under power as long as power remains. The NAS does have an option to tell the UPS to shut itself down. The NAS also acts as a NUT server, to tell other computers/NAS's via the network, when power failure occurs, so that they can shut down.

The plugged remained out for about five minutes, and during that time, the runtime remained at 23 minutes. Also, during the time the plug was out, a fan turned on and continued to run until the plug was reinserted. The NAS and UPS are physically close to one another, and it was difficult to tell which one's fan was running, but I'm fairly sure it was the UPS. When the power was restored, the NAS rebooted, and after booting a computer to check, all appeared normal. The NAS logs indicated the loss of power, and almost immediately indicated low battery.

This would all appear to indicate that a new battery is required. It also showed that the NAS would respond gracefully, and go into safe mode. Further testing, after replacing the battery, will be to have a computer running, and ensure that it shuts down in response to the NAS NUT server.

One peculiarity is that, when the UPS power plug was reinserted into the wall outlet, the front panel immediately indicated that power was restored, but then it went back to indicating being on battery, and one or two seconds later went back to on-line power; and there was a distinct sound of a rely activating at each switch-over. This happened only once. I have no idea whether or not this is normal.

BillP · ‎2021-06-28

I can't speak to any of the issues your facing nor the results you achieved.

But just for the record, your device should not have a laser printer plugged into it: https://www.apc.com/us/en/faqs/FA158812/

Mobius_apc · ‎2021-06-28

Thanks, that's good to know.

BillP · ‎2021-06-28

You might also want to take a look at this (forgot about it before) https://www.apc.com/us/en/faqs/FA158947/

Mobius_apc · ‎2021-06-28

Yep, I would have tried that, had not my earlier testing shown some results. But as it is, the indications are that the battery is in need of replacement.

I'm now looking at replacing the UPS, as recommended earlier, after reading about the Trade-UPS program. It seems that the for-retail, i.e. non-sine-wave (eg. BN1350M2-CA) units are not eligible for Trade-UPS, which leaves only the BR1350MS (or larger) as eligible for me. That unit's Trade-UPS price is about the same as the BN-unit's normal price; which in turn, after shipping and taxes, is close to three times the cost of a replacement battery. Still, I really like the sloped front panel of the new units, which should make them very much easier to read from above, when the UPS is on the floor beside the desk.