Do I have a bad replacement battery ? Or is my BackUPS 900 xs at fault ?

[Anonymous user]

For my BackUps 900XS I got a replacement battery from a vendor called APCUPSBattery.com. I charged it to 95% and then plugged in my equipment to the battery protected sockets: the protected equipment drew a total of 280 watts while the unit is rated at 540w.

Ten hours later the PowerChute software showed the battery was charged only 15% and then three hours later on the software showed a charge of 0%. At that point in time, the BackUPS 900 unit passed the PowerChute self test.

I then unplugged all equipment and let the unit charge. When I checked a day later, the "Replace Battery" light was flashing.

QUESTION: Is this the fault of the BackUPS 900 or the new battery ? Is there anything I can do to fix it ?

[Anonymous user]

Thanks for your response. When I installed the battery it was definitely connected, because it charged. Since then I have not disconnected it. When I ran the PowerChute self test on the UPS, the UPS passed the self test. Given these facts, what does the "Replace Battery" light mean ? Could the UPS be bad (even though it passed its own self-test), or does it mean the battery is bad ?

[BillP]

Robert,

By any chance do you have an APC original battery that is compatible with your UPS? From your first post you have stated that you bought the battery from APCUPSBattery which is not connected to APC. I think what they offer are batteries that are compatible with our products as well as with other manufacturers.

Regarding your question about the Replace Batter LED, when this LED is lit up solid it means that the UPS has failed the self-test and the battery inside it is bad and needs to be replaced. If that LED is flashing, it means that the UPS doesn't detect any battery connected to it. This could be due to installation of a non-APC battery or the sensor on the UPS has gone bad. If you could find a working APC battery that is the same as with your UPS, it would help if you can connect it on this UPS.

JonPro

[Anonymous user]

Thanks for the reply, Jon. Unfortunately I don't have a known good battery to test whether the UPS is working.

Further development: after declining to 0% power remaining, and then going to the battery replace light, the UPS is now showing no lights whatever when plugged in to the wall.

Thing that puzzles me is the new battery initially charged to 95%, suggesting it was recognized by the UPS as a valid battery, and the UPS passed the software self test with that battery present: subsequently it declined to 0%, declined further to "Replace battery", then declined further yet to showing nothing at all, all within about 48 hours.

I guess my underlying question is whether the observed behavior looks like bad battery or bad UPS or is ambiguous.

Thanks again for your reply.

P.S. I contacted APCUPS.com and they were very helpful and agreed to send a replacement. So I'll have to wait for it to arrive and see whether it works or not.

[BillP]

Let us wait and see what happens with the battery that they'll be sending. In the future, please make sure that you only purchase APC products from us or from authorize resellers. If the new battery won't fix the issue, I suggest that you look for an APC battery if not you can avail of a new UPS with discount via TradeUPS.

[Anonymous user]

I received replacement batteries yesterday. I checked them with a meter and the needle was in the "Battery Good" zone. The batteries are "TOYO-USP 6FM9 F2 (12V 9AH/20HR), Sealed Rechargeable Battery, Constant Voltage Charge," dated 0204 10, which looks like February 4 2010, implying they are new. I installed them in the BackUPS 900 XS and started charging them 6pm April 22 and checked 9am April 23. The PowerChute personal edition software reported battery capacity of 56% at 9am, declining to 37% at 3pm. When I turned on the UPS at 9am it passed the self test, both software, and hardware (flashing green for awhile, solid yellow for awhile, then solid green). At 3:39 it again passed the self test, even though the batteries had been steadily losing charge. Any idea why this was happening ?

[BillP]

With the replacement batteries installed, did the replace battery LED stopped flashing?

If you cannot really test it with a Genuine APC battery and it keeps doing this, I suggest that you replace the unit itself. There's a possibility that the charging mechanism on the unit is not functioning properly. You can call our APC Technical Support if you are in the U.S. and ask for TradeUPS to avail a discount on the UPS that you would like to have.

JonPro

[Anonymous user]

With the replacement batteries installed, did the replace battery LED stopped flashing?

Yes, the replace battery LED stopped flashing as soon as the replacement batteries were installed. However, the replacement batteries failed to retain their charge, and declined to zero capacity over 18 hours, despite the fact the UPS passed its own self-test.

[Anonymous user · Accepted solution]

For my BackUps 900XS I got a replacement battery from a vendor called APCUPSBattery.com. I charged it to 95% and then plugged in my equipment to the battery protected sockets: the protected equipment drew a total of 280 watts while the unit is rated at 540w.

Ten hours later the PowerChute software showed the battery was charged only 15% and then three hours later on the software showed a charge of 0%. At that point in time, the BackUPS 900 unit passed the PowerChute self test.

I then unplugged all equipment and let the unit charge. When I checked a day later, the "Replace Battery" light was flashing.

QUESTION: Is this the fault of the BackUPS 900 or the new battery ? Is there anything I can do to fix it ?