Just recieved a BE500U , questions

[Anonymous user]

I have received an old BE500U. With the battery installed the power on light does not light when the power button is pressed. There is voltage on the three surge protection sockets but none on the three battery backup sockets. With the battery removed and the power button is pressed there is a single beep and the green light blinks rapidly. There is voltage at all six of the sockets. There is 20.3 vdc at the battery connection wires. I believe the unit is about 5 years old. When I received it it was plugged in and had been for more than a year, but unused. No load reading on the battery terminals is only 1.3 volts. Is this simply a case of needing to replace the battery? Thanks for your replies.

[Anonymous user]

Probably will look at a new UPS instead.

[BillP]

i suggest a battery for the problem you describe but also consider the cost of a battery vs. trading in this UPS for a discount on a new one that comes with a new battery and 3 year warranty on the UPS itself.

[Anonymous user]

I have considered that option and looked at the discount upgrade option but know from nothing about sizing a unit. I have a PC, two monitors, two external HDs which I believe should be protected. I know the BE500U has only three protected sockets and was planning to only protect the 1TB external drive or only the primary monitor. Also a printer and two scanners but was not considering putting those on back up. I want on screen monitoring and auto shut down. Should a router be on the back up? How do I select a replacement? Suggestions welcomed.

[BillP]

ok first question - how many devices require auto-shutdown? any Back UPS product will only be able to gracefully shutdown one attached device via USB. if more are required, we'd have to look at a Smart UPS. how much runtime on battery do you want?

i think by going through the UPS selector - http://www.apc.com/tools/ups_selector/index.cfm - it may give you a BALLPARK idea of what you may need so we can tweak the recommendation if necessary. can you run through that and let me know what it suggests?

[Anonymous user]

I can see the need to only shut down the PC. Auto shut down would only be required in the event I was not actively working so I could initiate manual shut down when an extended interruption occurred. I leave the PC on 24/7 so night time failures would necessitate auto shutdown. If file transfers to the external drives were in progress a nominal run time should allow them to complete before shutting down.

The selector chose a Smart UPS which is, frankly, beyond my price point. (That is why I'm looking at resurrecting the old BE500) However, a search has led me to looking at the BE750. It appears to have ample power and a reasonably long run time before shut down. I do not really need the cable connections and have looked at the the BE550 but it has a limited run time and a minimal price difference. Either of these would be within my price range when the cost of a new battery for the BE500 is taken into consideration.

Thank you for your help.

[BillP · Accepted solution]

you're welcome. 750VA might be good assuming you're accounting for the potential power draw on each device. each electronic device typically lists the power draw on it some place. BE750G is the lowest price point. if you want boost and trim and a nice fancy LCD screen, check something like the BR700G.