Is my old APC Back-UPS XS BX1500's battery low or insufficient?

[ant_apc]

Hello.

I had a ten/10 minutes power outage this morning, but my six years old APC Back-UPS XS BX1500 didn't last long enough to power down my Windows machine, but my Debian/Linux did autoshutdown by itself due to very low power on time. The battery power only lasted under five minutes. Do I need to replace its battery from http://www.apc.com/products/resource/include/techspec_index.cfm?base_sku=RBC33 or is my old UPS insufficient for my setup?

FYI from my other computer with an old Debian/Linux:
$ cat /var/log/apcupsd.events
...
2011-05-13 07:33:04 -0700 Power failure.
2011-05-13 07:33:10 -0700 Running on UPS batteries.
2011-05-13 07:33:23 -0700 Reached remaining time percentage limit on batteries.
2011-05-13 07:33:23 -0700 Initiating system shutdown!
2011-05-13 07:33:23 -0700 User logins prohibited
2011-05-13 07:34:56 -0700 apcupsd exiting, signal 15
2011-05-13 07:34:56 -0700 apcupsd shutdown succeeded
2011-05-13 07:40:28 -0700 apcupsd 3.14.8 (16 January 2010) debian startup succeeded

$ /sbin/apcaccess for my powered systems together without its monitor powered on (not sleep):
APC : 001,037,0914
DATE : 2011-05-13 12:41:48 -0700
HOSTNAME : FooBar
VERSION : 3.14.8 (16 January 2010) debian
UPSNAME : FooBar
CABLE : USB Cable
MODEL : Back-UPS RS 1500
UPSMODE : Stand Alone
STARTTIME: 2011-05-13 07:40:26 -0700
STATUS : ONLINE
LINEV : 114.0 Volts
LOADPCT : 40.0 Percent Load Capacity
BCHARGE : 100.0 Percent
TIMELEFT : 19.9 Minutes
MBATTCHG : 5 Percent
MINTIMEL : 3 Minutes
MAXTIME : 0 Seconds
SENSE : High
LOTRANS : 097.0 Volts
HITRANS : 138.0 Volts
ALARMDEL : Always
BATTV : 26.9 Volts
LASTXFER : No transfers since turnon
NUMXFERS : 0
TONBATT : 0 seconds
CUMONBATT: 0 seconds
XOFFBATT : N/A
SELFTEST : NO
STATFLAG : 0x07000008 Status Flag
MANDATE : 2005-03-16
SERIALNO : QB0512132444
BATTDATE : 2005-03-16
NOMINV : 120 Volts
NOMBATTV : 24.0 Volts
NOMPOWER : 865 Watts
FIRMWARE : 8.g8 .D USB FW:g8
APCMODEL : Back-UPS RS 1500
END APC : 2011-05-13 12:42:39 -0700

My detailed computer and monitor setup can be found in here: http://zimage.com/~ant/antfarm/about/computers.txt ... Note that UPS is only connected to two PCs with two optical mice, and one monitor.

Thank you in advance. 🙂

[BillP]

how long has it lasted with this load in the past? if it is 6 years old, i'd assume it needs a battery replacement but apcupsd is only reporting a 40% load. if the ups was fully loaded with all of the items you mentioned when you retrieved that status, i'd look towards a replacement battery. the existing battery, if original, probably cannot provide the full runtime anymore.

[Anonymous user]

Hi ant,

By any chance, do you have the total amount of Watts/VA of the attached load on the battery side only? If we have that information we can easily calculate or know the estimated runtime that the UPS can provide.

Also, the battery life could affect the runtime of the unit.

Documentation below can give you additional as well.

[Kbase 10691|http://nam-en.apc.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/10691/kw/insufficient%20runtime]

[ant_apc]

i picKed a winna wrote:
how long has it lasted with this load in the past? if it is 6 years old, i'd assume it needs a battery replacement but apcupsd is only reporting a 40% load. if the ups was fully loaded with all of the items you mentioned when you retrieved that status, i'd look towards a replacement battery. the existing battery, if original, probably cannot provide the full runtime anymore.

Previous power outages were shorter than this one, so I don't know. Also, I upgraded PCs last December 2010 as well. I think the upgraded PCs use more power.

I am using the same battery that came with the UPS. You can see its 2005 date in apcuspd's results too.

[ant_apc]

juangele wrote:
Hi ant,

By any chance, do you have the total amount of Watts/VA of the attached load on the battery side only? If we have that information we can easily calculate or know the estimated runtime that the UPS can provide.

Also, the battery life could affect the runtime of the unit.

Documentation below can give you additional as well.

[Kbase 10691|http://nam-en.apc.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/10691/kw/insufficient%20runtime]

Total amount of watts/VA of attached load on battery side? How do I get that? Are you saying pretend that there is a power outage and run the command I did earlier?

[BillP]

i am not sure what judy is getting at but my recommendation is that it is time to replace the battery because the current battery isnt functioning 100% anymore since its 5+ years old.

[ant_apc]

i picKed a winna wrote:
i am not sure what judy is getting at but my recommendation is that it is time to replace the battery because the current battery isnt functioning 100% anymore since its 5+ years old.

Thanks. So I shouldn't trust the readings then since they seem to be inaccurate.

I wonder if I am better off to buy a new, stronger UPS, instead of buying a battery replacement. Have UPS' improved a lot and become cheaper over five years?

[Anonymous user]

APC products are terrible and if you have one, you should immediately return it. THere's no support and they simply don't work as described. For example, a battery backup by APC doesn't actually do anything other than act as a light weight surge protector. These people should be bankrupted out of business.

[BillP]

well, i think what judy was suggesting after re-reading this is that if you could provide the load percentage so she could check the runtime chart for you and we could see the expected runtime. according to apcupsd, it was reporting 40% at the time that data was provided so we could compare that against the runtime chart.

the UPS provides a runtime estimate when its online. when it is on battery, the estimate becomes more accurate. thus, yes there can be a bit of an accuracy factor on the runtime and it could require a runtime calibration if you don't have many power outages to ultimately calibrate it.

if you don't want to buy a battery, you could look towards the trade UPS program and trade in the UPS and get a discount towards a new UPS and new battery with a 3 year warranty. that will most likely be a lot more cost effective since a battery might be a little $$ and only come with a 1 year warranty on the unit itself.

here are some options -> http://www.apc.com/recycle/

[BillP]

ah ok. so we can do 44% of the 865 watts.

[ant_apc]

i picKed a winna wrote:
well, i think what judy was suggesting after re-reading this is that if you could provide the load percentage so she could check the runtime chart for you and we could see the expected runtime. according to apcupsd, it was reporting 40% at the time that data was provided so we could compare that against the runtime chart.

the UPS provides a runtime estimate when its online. when it is on battery, the estimate becomes more accurate. thus, yes there can be a bit of an accuracy factor on the runtime and it could require a runtime calibration if you don't have many power outages to ultimately calibrate it.

Calibration. How do I do that? I never had to do that before and didn't know it was required. Power outages are very rare. Most incidents are power hiccups (not actual outages) when turning on my old 20" CRT TV from 1996 in my room or turning on something from another room across the hall. Here are all the recorded incidents according to apcaccess' events since 9/21/2010:

$ cat /var/log/apcupsd.events
2010-09-21 06:37:09 -0700 apcupsd exiting, signal 15
2010-09-21 06:37:09 -0700 apcupsd shutdown succeeded
2010-09-21 06:38:25 -0700 apcupsd 3.14.8 (16 January 2010) debian startup succeeded
2010-09-26 13:28:55 -0700 Power failure.
2010-09-26 13:28:57 -0700 Power is back. UPS running on mains.
2010-09-28 18:22:15 -0700 Power failure.
2010-09-28 18:22:17 -0700 Power is back. UPS running on mains.
2010-10-01 07:58:19 -0700 Power failure.
2010-10-01 07:58:21 -0700 Power is back. UPS running on mains.
2010-10-01 11:00:18 -0700 Power failure.
2010-10-01 11:00:20 -0700 Power is back. UPS running on mains.
2010-10-01 21:46:01 -0700 apcupsd exiting, signal 15
2010-10-01 21:46:02 -0700 apcupsd shutdown succeeded
2010-10-01 21:27:06 -0700 apcupsd 3.14.8 (16 January 2010) debian startup succeeded
2010-10-01 21:44:14 -0700 apcupsd exiting, signal 15
2010-10-01 21:44:14 -0700 apcupsd shutdown succeeded
2010-10-01 21:45:09 -0700 apcupsd 3.14.8 (16 January 2010) debian startup succeeded
2010-10-01 21:47:53 -0700 apcupsd exiting, signal 15
2010-10-01 21:47:53 -0700 apcupsd shutdown succeeded
2010-10-01 21:48:47 -0700 apcupsd 3.14.8 (16 January 2010) debian startup succeeded
2010-10-01 21:54:01 -0700 apcupsd exiting, signal 15
2010-10-01 21:54:01 -0700 apcupsd shutdown succeeded
2010-10-01 21:56:43 -0700 apcupsd 3.14.8 (16 January 2010) debian startup succeeded
2010-10-01 23:28:19 -0700 apcupsd exiting, signal 15
2010-10-01 23:28:19 -0700 apcupsd shutdown succeeded
2010-10-01 23:29:14 -0700 apcupsd 3.14.8 (16 January 2010) debian startup succeeded
2010-10-01 23:32:52 -0700 apcupsd exiting, signal 15
2010-10-01 23:32:52 -0700 apcupsd shutdown succeeded
2010-10-01 23:33:46 -0700 apcupsd 3.14.8 (16 January 2010) debian startup succeeded
2010-10-01 23:40:33 -0700 apcupsd exiting, signal 15
2010-10-01 23:40:33 -0700 apcupsd shutdown succeeded
2010-10-01 23:41:22 -0700 apcupsd 3.14.8 (16 January 2010) debian startup succeeded
2010-10-01 23:44:24 -0700 apcupsd exiting, signal 15
2010-10-01 23:44:24 -0700 apcupsd shutdown succeeded
2010-10-01 23:45:46 -0700 apcupsd 3.14.8 (16 January 2010) debian startup succeeded
2010-10-01 23:46:43 -0700 apcupsd exiting, signal 15
2010-10-01 23:46:43 -0700 apcupsd shutdown succeeded
2010-10-01 23:51:52 -0700 apcupsd 3.14.8 (16 January 2010) debian startup succeeded
2010-10-06 20:50:33 -0700 Power failure.
2010-10-06 20:50:36 -0700 Power is back. UPS running on mains.
2010-10-17 20:50:52 -0700 Power failure.
2010-10-17 20:50:55 -0700 Power is back. UPS running on mains.
2010-10-18 07:28:38 -0700 apcupsd exiting, signal 15
2010-10-18 07:28:38 -0700 apcupsd shutdown succeeded
2010-10-18 07:29:34 -0700 apcupsd 3.14.8 (16 January 2010) debian startup succeeded
2010-10-25 07:24:52 -0700 apcupsd exiting, signal 15
2010-10-25 07:24:52 -0700 apcupsd shutdown succeeded
2010-10-25 07:25:47 -0700 apcupsd 3.14.8 (16 January 2010) debian startup succeeded
2010-10-26 22:54:19 -0700 Power failure.
2010-10-26 22:54:21 -0700 Power is back. UPS running on mains.
2010-10-31 21:27:40 -0700 Power failure.
2010-10-31 21:27:43 -0700 Power is back. UPS running on mains.
2010-11-03 07:51:20 -0700 apcupsd exiting, signal 15
2010-11-03 07:51:20 -0700 apcupsd shutdown succeeded
2010-11-03 07:52:16 -0700 apcupsd 3.14.8 (16 January 2010) debian startup succeeded
2010-11-19 22:22:43 -0800 Power failure.
2010-11-19 22:22:45 -0800 Power is back. UPS running on mains.
2010-11-20 08:47:12 -0800 Power failure.
2010-11-20 08:47:15 -0800 Power is back. UPS running on mains.
2010-11-26 22:13:22 -0800 Power failure.
2010-11-26 22:13:25 -0800 Power is back. UPS running on mains.
2010-11-28 09:33:58 -0800 apcupsd exiting, signal 15
2010-11-28 09:33:58 -0800 apcupsd shutdown succeeded
2010-11-28 09:34:56 -0800 apcupsd 3.14.8 (16 January 2010) debian startup succeeded
2010-11-28 19:18:43 -0800 apcupsd exiting, signal 15
2010-11-28 19:18:43 -0800 apcupsd shutdown succeeded
2010-11-28 19:19:37 -0800 apcupsd 3.14.8 (16 January 2010) debian startup succeeded
2010-12-12 12:40:15 -0800 Power failure.
2010-12-12 12:40:18 -0800 Power is back. UPS running on mains.
2010-12-13 08:39:59 -0800 apcupsd exiting, signal 15
2010-12-13 08:39:59 -0800 apcupsd shutdown succeeded
2010-12-13 08:40:54 -0800 apcupsd 3.14.8 (16 January 2010) debian startup succeeded
2010-12-20 16:07:31 -0800 apcupsd exiting, signal 15
2010-12-20 16:07:31 -0800 apcupsd shutdown succeeded
2010-12-20 18:47:42 -0800 apcupsd 3.14.8 (16 January 2010) debian startup succeeded
2010-12-20 20:14:05 -0800 apcupsd exiting, signal 15
2010-12-20 20:14:05 -0800 apcupsd shutdown succeeded
2010-12-20 20:14:52 -0800 apcupsd 3.14.8 (16 January 2010) debian startup succeeded
2010-12-24 06:48:00 -0800 apcupsd exiting, signal 15
2010-12-24 06:48:00 -0800 apcupsd shutdown succeeded
2010-12-24 07:03:46 -0800 apcupsd 3.14.8 (16 January 2010) debian startup succeeded
2010-12-24 17:25:10 -0800 apcupsd exiting, signal 15
2010-12-24 17:25:10 -0800 apcupsd shutdown succeeded
2010-12-24 17:25:57 -0800 apcupsd 3.14.8 (16 January 2010) debian startup succeeded
2010-12-24 19:54:01 -0800 apcupsd exiting, signal 15
2010-12-24 19:54:01 -0800 apcupsd shutdown succeeded
2010-12-24 19:54:50 -0800 apcupsd 3.14.8 (16 January 2010) debian startup succeeded
2010-12-25 18:31:26 -0800 apcupsd exiting, signal 15
2010-12-25 18:31:26 -0800 apcupsd shutdown succeeded
2010-12-25 18:32:14 -0800 apcupsd 3.14.8 (16 January 2010) debian startup succeeded
2010-12-26 13:18:07 -0800 apcupsd exiting, signal 15
2010-12-26 13:18:07 -0800 apcupsd shutdown succeeded
2010-12-26 13:18:54 -0800 apcupsd 3.14.8 (16 January 2010) debian startup succeeded
2010-12-28 21:15:31 -0800 Power failure.
2010-12-28 21:15:32 -0800 Power is back. UPS running on mains.
2011-01-01 18:20:22 -0800 apcupsd exiting, signal 15
2011-01-01 18:39:42 -0800 apcupsd 3.14.8 (16 January 2010) debian startup succeeded
2011-01-08 19:20:12 -0800 Power failure.
2011-01-08 19:20:14 -0800 Power is back. UPS running on mains.
2011-01-15 10:51:06 -0800 apcupsd exiting, signal 15
2011-01-15 10:51:06 -0800 apcupsd shutdown succeeded
2011-01-15 10:51:57 -0800 apcupsd 3.14.8 (16 January 2010) debian startup succeeded
2011-01-24 04:32:59 -0800 apcupsd 3.14.8 (16 January 2010) debian startup succeeded
2011-01-24 06:03:02 -0800 apcupsd 3.14.8 (16 January 2010) debian startup succeeded
2011-01-24 07:24:46 -0800 apcupsd 3.14.8 (16 January 2010) debian startup succeeded
2011-01-24 07:26:37 -0800 apcupsd exiting, signal 15
2011-01-24 07:26:37 -0800 apcupsd shutdown succeeded
2011-01-24 07:29:39 -0800 apcupsd 3.14.8 (16 January 2010) debian startup succeeded
2011-01-26 01:31:39 -0800 Power failure.
2011-01-26 01:31:43 -0800 Power is back. UPS running on mains.
2011-01-26 01:31:55 -0800 Power failure.
2011-01-26 01:31:58 -0800 Power is back. UPS running on mains.
2011-01-26 01:32:36 -0800 Power failure.
2011-01-26 01:32:39 -0800 Power is back. UPS running on mains.
2011-01-26 03:40:20 -0800 Power failure.
2011-01-26 03:40:23 -0800 Power is back. UPS running on mains.
2011-02-18 20:17:18 -0800 Power failure.
2011-02-18 20:17:21 -0800 Power is back. UPS running on mains.
2011-02-21 12:20:55 -0800 apcupsd exiting, signal 15
2011-02-21 12:20:55 -0800 apcupsd shutdown succeeded
2011-02-21 12:21:45 -0800 apcupsd 3.14.8 (16 January 2010) debian startup succeeded
2011-02-21 14:17:23 -0800 apcupsd exiting, signal 15
2011-02-21 14:17:23 -0800 apcupsd shutdown succeeded
2011-02-21 14:21:49 -0800 apcupsd 3.14.8 (16 January 2010) debian startup succeeded
2011-02-22 21:57:42 -0800 Power failure.
2011-02-22 21:57:44 -0800 Power is back. UPS running on mains.
2011-03-07 22:37:26 -0800 Power failure.
2011-03-07 22:37:29 -0800 Power is back. UPS running on mains.
2011-03-16 22:25:06 -0700 Power failure.
2011-03-16 22:25:09 -0700 Power is back. UPS running on mains.
2011-03-20 08:55:51 -0700 apcupsd exiting, signal 15
2011-03-20 08:55:51 -0700 apcupsd shutdown succeeded
2011-03-20 08:56:48 -0700 apcupsd 3.14.8 (16 January 2010) debian startup succeeded
2011-04-02 22:02:27 -0700 Power failure.
2011-04-02 22:02:29 -0700 Power is back. UPS running on mains.
2011-04-11 18:56:24 -0700 apcupsd exiting, signal 15
2011-04-11 18:56:24 -0700 apcupsd shutdown succeeded
2011-04-11 18:57:24 -0700 apcupsd 3.14.8 (16 January 2010) debian startup succeeded
2011-04-20 00:16:45 -0700 apcupsd 3.14.8 (16 January 2010) debian startup succeeded
2011-04-20 00:30:32 -0700 apcupsd 3.14.8 (16 January 2010) debian startup succeeded
2011-05-02 10:20:57 -0700 Power failure.
2011-05-02 10:20:59 -0700 Power is back. UPS running on mains.
2011-05-06 17:23:00 -0700 apcupsd exiting, signal 15
2011-05-06 17:23:00 -0700 apcupsd shutdown succeeded
2011-05-06 17:24:52 -0700 apcupsd 3.14.8 (16 January 2010) debian startup succeeded
2011-05-08 21:08:42 -0700 Power failure.
2011-05-08 21:08:44 -0700 Power is back. UPS running on mains.
2011-05-13 07:33:04 -0700 Power failure.
2011-05-13 07:33:10 -0700 Running on UPS batteries.
2011-05-13 07:33:23 -0700 Reached remaining time percentage limit on batteries.
2011-05-13 07:33:23 -0700 Initiating system shutdown!
2011-05-13 07:33:23 -0700 User logins prohibited
2011-05-13 07:34:56 -0700 apcupsd exiting, signal 15
2011-05-13 07:34:56 -0700 apcupsd shutdown succeeded
2011-05-13 07:40:28 -0700 apcupsd 3.14.8 (16 January 2010) debian startup succeeded

Also, back in late summer of 2008, I did had to manually power off UPS for over a month due to a house remodel so I didn't use it for a while.

[BillP]

i am not sure how to do it on apcupsd but a calibration just discharges the battery to 10-20% and then charges back up so then the UPS knows how much runtime it really has and re-calculates it.

[ant_apc]

i picKed a winna wrote:
i am not sure how to do it on apcupsd but a calibration just discharges the battery to 10-20% and then charges back up so then the UPS knows how much runtime it really has and re-calculates it.

How about when my UPS run out of power like a few days ago? I know on some laptops/notebooks, draining all the battery power and then recharge will give more accurate status. Will that work for this old UPS battery?

[BillP]

yup. that would be what i would call a manual calibration. it should be accurate as long as you had no software settings that intervened and prevented the UPS from draining its battery, which i dont believe you did.

[ant_apc]

i picKed a winna wrote:
yup. that would be what i would call a manual calibration. it should be accurate as long as you had no software settings that intervened and prevented the UPS from draining its battery, which i dont believe you did.

Hmm, I don't know Linux's UPS software does that. I used mostly the default settings from 2005 or so. Also, it is done through its USB connection.

I forgot to mention that after my old UPS and its connected computer stuff were shut down a few days ago, I tried to turn on my UPS for kicks when the power was still out. UPS' front light came on red and then off again after a second. I assume its battery power was completely gone?

[BillP]

yup, most likely.

check this out -> http://www.apcupsd.com/manual/manual.html#soft-runtime-calibration

[ant_apc]

i picKed a winna wrote:
yup, most likely.

check this out -> http://www.apcupsd.com/manual/manual.html#soft-runtime-calibration

Thanks. I will have to decide to get a completely new UPS or a battery. I don't know if my old one is strong enough to handle two powerful PCs with an old 19" LCD monitor. I don't know how much power they actually use in total. I know I have two PSUs (600 + 650 watts).

[BillP]

well, if you had everything plugged in earlier when you gave me that read out from apcupsd, it said:*LOADPCT* : 40.0 Percent Load Capacity*? BX1500 can handle 865 watts. so even though your power supplies max out at ~600 watts each, they don't draw that constantly. i would use 346 watts as your normal load and then it probably uses a little more when you turn everything on and there is inrush current.

[ant_apc]

i picKed a winna wrote:
well, if you had everything plugged in earlier when you gave me that read out from apcupsd, it said:*LOADPCT* : 40.0 Percent Load Capacity*? BX1500 can handle 865 watts. so even though your power supplies max out at ~600 watts each, they don't draw that constantly. i would use 346 watts as your normal load and then it probably uses a little more when you turn everything on and there is inrush current.

Ah OK. Earlier I had my monitor, PCs idling, and other things off for apcaccess results. Here's what I have if I was using it like right now (4% more load):

$ /sbin/apcaccess
APC : 001,037,0914
DATE : 2011-05-17 13:24:47 -0700
HOSTNAME : FooBar
VERSION : 3.14.8 (16 January 2010) debian
UPSNAME : FooBar
CABLE : USB Cable
MODEL : Back-UPS RS 1500
UPSMODE : Stand Alone
STARTTIME: 2011-05-13 07:40:26 -0700
STATUS : ONLINE
LINEV : 115.0 Volts
LOADPCT : 44.0 Percent Load Capacity
BCHARGE : 100.0 Percent
TIMELEFT : 17.0 Minutes
MBATTCHG : 5 Percent
MINTIMEL : 3 Minutes
MAXTIME : 0 Seconds
SENSE : High
LOTRANS : 097.0 Volts
HITRANS : 138.0 Volts
ALARMDEL : Always
BATTV : 26.9 Volts
LASTXFER : No transfers since turnon
NUMXFERS : 0
TONBATT : 0 seconds
CUMONBATT: 0 seconds
XOFFBATT : N/A
SELFTEST : NO
STATFLAG : 0x07000008 Status Flag
MANDATE : 2005-03-16
SERIALNO : QB0512132444
BATTDATE : 2005-03-16
NOMINV : 120 Volts
NOMBATTV : 24.0 Volts
NOMPOWER : 865 Watts
FIRMWARE : 8.g8 .D USB FW:g8
APCMODEL : Back-UPS RS 1500
END APC : 2011-05-17 13:25:20 -0700

Also, I was watching a videos from my HDTV recordings (my Windows box acts as a media center/home theater) when the power outage hit.

[ant_apc]

Yep, it looks like I will need to get a new UPS or a new battery:

On Sunday night, there were two quick (a few minutes) power outages due to the crazy heat wave. My old APC Back-UPS XS BX1500, from 9/25/2005, did not even last a second and shut down with my two PCs connected. I noticed my UPS' status now shows "ONLINE LOWBATT" with just one PC and 19" 5:4 LCD monitor connected:

$ /sbin/apcaccess
APC : 001,037,0913
DATE : 2012-08-17 05:34:05 -0700
HOSTNAME : MyBox
VERSION : 3.14.8 (16 January 2010) debian
UPSNAME : MyBox
CABLE : USB Cable
MODEL : Back-UPS RS 1500
UPSMODE : Stand Alone
STARTTIME: 2012-08-13 20:19:09 -0700
STATUS : ONLINE LOWBATT
LINEV : 115.0 Volts
LOADPCT : 30.0 Percent Load Capacity
BCHARGE : 100.0 Percent
TIMELEFT : 1.8 Minutes
MBATTCHG : 5 Percent
MINTIMEL : 3 Minutes
MAXTIME : 0 Seconds
SENSE : High
LOTRANS : 097.0 Volts
HITRANS : 138.0 Volts
ALARMDEL : Always
BATTV : 26.9 Volts
LASTXFER : Low line voltage
NUMXFERS : 0
TONBATT : 0 seconds
CUMONBATT: 0 seconds
XOFFBATT : N/A
SELFTEST : NO
STATFLAG : 0x07000048 Status Flag
MANDATE : 2005-03-16
SERIALNO : QB0512132...
BATTDATE : 2005-03-16
NOMINV : 120 Volts
NOMBATTV : 24.0 Volts
NOMPOWER : 865 Watts
FIRMWARE : 8.g8 .D USB FW:g8
APCMODEL : Back-UPS RS 1500
END APC : 2012-08-17 05:34:55 -0700

However, it is about $100 (without taxes, shipping fees, etc.) for a new battery and no discount for a new APC UPS. 😞 UPS works fine as long as it doesn't use its battery. Hmm, should I get a new battery or a new UPS? Have consumer UPSes improved since 2005?

It also can handle power hiccups like these according to
/var/log/apcupsd.events log file:
...
2012-07-03 07:09:21 -0700 apcupsd 3.14.8 (16 January 2010) debian startup
succeeded
2012-07-23 07:37:11 -0700 Power failure.
2012-07-23 07:37:14 -0700 Power is back. UPS running on mains.
2012-07-29 21:26:00 -0700 Power failure.
2012-07-29 21:26:03 -0700 Power is back. UPS running on mains.
2012-08-07 23:37:41 -0700 Power failure.
2012-08-07 23:37:44 -0700 Power is back. UPS running on mains.
2012-08-08 07:37:34 -0700 Power failure.
2012-08-08 07:37:36 -0700 Power is back. UPS running on mains.
...

Thank you in advance. 🙂

[ant_apc]

I also disconnected everything from the battery outlets to see the differences:

$ /sbin/apcaccess status
APC : 001,037,0905
DATE : 2012-08-17 10:34:10 -0700
HOSTNAME : MyBox
VERSION : 3.14.8 (16 January 2010) debian
UPSNAME : MyBox
CABLE : USB Cable
MODEL : Back-UPS RS 1500
UPSMODE : Stand Alone
STARTTIME: 2012-08-13 20:19:09 -0700
STATUS : ONLINE
LINEV : 116.0 Volts
LOADPCT : 0.0 Percent Load Capacity
BCHARGE : 100.0 Percent
TIMELEFT : 170.3 Minutes
MBATTCHG : 5 Percent
MINTIMEL : 3 Minutes
MAXTIME : 0 Seconds
SENSE : High
LOTRANS : 097.0 Volts
HITRANS : 138.0 Volts
ALARMDEL : Always
BATTV : 26.9 Volts
LASTXFER : Low line voltage
NUMXFERS : 0
TONBATT : 0 seconds
CUMONBATT: 0 seconds
XOFFBATT : N/A
SELFTEST : NO
STATFLAG : 0x07000008 Status Flag
MANDATE : 2005-03-16
SERIALNO : QB0512132...
BATTDATE : 2005-03-16
NOMINV : 120 Volts
NOMBATTV : 24.0 Volts
NOMPOWER : 865 Watts
FIRMWARE : 8.g8 .D USB FW:g8
APCMODEL : Back-UPS RS 1500
END APC : 2012-08-17 10:34:54 -0700

170.3 Minutes???

[ant_apc]

This is weird! Earlier, I was using my main Windows XP Pro. SP3 computer and my UPS said "On Battery" with its orange light and beeped loudly at me. There was NO power outage!!! My Windows PC stayed up fine on its battery outlet, but Linux box (non-battery outlet) shut down from its apcupsd and USB cable connected to UPS:

2012-08-13 20:19:10 -0700 apcupsd 3.14.8 (16 January 2010) debian
startup succeeded
2012-08-23 07:37:56 -0700 Power failure.
2012-08-23 07:37:57 -0700 Battery power exhausted.
2012-08-23 07:37:57 -0700 Initiating system shutdown!
2012-08-23 07:37:57 -0700 User logins prohibited
2012-08-23 07:37:58 -0700 apcupsd exiting, signal 15
2012-08-23 07:37:58 -0700 apcupsd shutdown succeeded

I had to turn UPS off to make it stop beeping and telling me battery. So weird. Maybe my UPS is broken too? Maybe I should replace the whole thing and not just its dual batteries?

Message was edited by: ant

[ant_apc · Accepted solution]

Dupe.

Message was edited by: ant