F02 error from Back-UPS BR1500G in Linux; help diagnosing

[Anonymous user]

I seek help diagnosing an F02 error on my Back-UPS BR1500G.  I wonder if only the battery was bad, or if the BR1500G itself is failing.

I am in Spain, bought the unit here about a year and a half ago for use with Spain voltage/plugs, and have used it continuously ever since.  My Linux OS "sees" the UPS status with an icon in the system tray, reports that it is an RS 1500G and offers information on whether or not the battery is fully charged.

About two weeks ago, I noted that this system tray icon had changed.  I shut down the OS,  pressed the power button on the front of the unit.  When I rebooted Linux, the UPS icon in the system tray was back to normal.   However, pressing the button may have sent a surge to the motherboard.  I encountered an unusual delay when I tried to enter the BIOS set-up menu, and have experienced the same delay on BIOS entry ever since.

Today, with the Linux OS up and running, the power to the system abruptly went out, and the UPS emitted a continuous beeeeeeep sound.  I looked at the UPS unit, saw an F02 error message.  

I had an extra battery, so shut down the UPS, removed all plugs, replaced the battery.  When I turned on the computer again, the BIOS prompted me to enter setup mode.  I did, saved BIOS settings, restored the Linux partition, got the system up and running again.  The system tray icon again reports a fully charged UPS.  The front panel of the 1500G shows that the system is getting 226 volts, and reports no problems.

I'm trying to figure out if I had a battery problem, or if I had a UPS problem.   If the former, I suppose I can relax now; I have a new battery.  If the latter, I need to shop for another UPS.  

[Anonymous user]

FWIW, the unit has functioned without problems with the second battery since I wrote the post above.  I know of no "power events" in my building.

I installed the APC UPS daemon for Linux -- http://www.apcupsd.org/ -- and can use it to provide additional information about the UPS, if if will help you troubleshoot the problem.  I'd still very much appreciate feedback on the F02 error.

[BillP]

The definition of the error code F02 is "On-Battery Output Short". These units can do some weird stuff when the internal battery goes bad, if the unit is fine after you installed a new battery, i would not worry about it.

[Anonymous user · Accepted solution]

Thanks for the feedback, Dakota.  All is still well now with the replacement.

(I should have mentioned: both batteries are APC units.)