My APC BR600CI-IN won't charge a battery.

[Anonymous user]

Hello there,

I am using this APC BR600CI-IN ups from last two years. I used one computer tower, 22 inch led monitor, and bose speaker. Recently the ups stopped suddenly when I was working on system. Taking a guess I replaced the battery and it was up and working. But after two days of use it again stopped suddenly in middle of design work resulting in computer shut down. I myself checked the ups and found that it was not charging the battery. Then I charged the original battery and the new battery externally and they both got charged to fullest. And then I kept both the batteries aside and found that old battery was also in good condition. Again i installed new battery in ups and same thing happened, it worked for two days and shut down suddenly. Now I am clear that ups has some charging problem. Can any please suggest what should I do? Is there any circuit problem? How can I reset the circuit?

[BillP]

Unfortunately, this type of issue is not usually something a user can resolve on a UPS of this size and type. If anyone else wants to chime in with assistance that you could evaluate and use at your own risk to try, then they certainly can. But, typically when there is a problem with the UPS like this, the answer we'd be able to provide is that the UPS may need to be replaced (under warranty or not) or repaired if that is offered in your region. I understand that it may not be what you want to hear but none of the Back-UPS are serviceable beyond the battery and we don't provide schematics unfortunately. Sometimes worldwide units in different regions also don't support batteries being replaced by the user either.

You can double check with your local support office if the UPS is still under warranty or not as I would think if it is, they can send you a replacement or something.

[Anonymous user]

Hello Angela,

Thank you very much for your prompt reply. I am a photo-technologist and professional photographer practicing industrial and commercial photography. And I am in this specialty field from last 30 years. I have also done photography at Schneider premises at Kalol, near Baroda, Gujarat, India. That is the reason I took liberty to open up the APC ups. But according to your response it seems that I have to buy new ups.

Please let me know if your company has any requirement for industrial photography here in India, because that also is my field of specialty.

Thankiing with warm regards,

Jaikishan

+91-9408926869

(www.exalensphotos.com)

[Terry_Kennedy_apc]

As another end-user, I'd like service information as well - but I can understand why APC doesn't provide it. Aside from something that would be of benefit to their competitors, the average user might hurt themselves (or their equipment) due to the dangerous voltages inside the UPS. And APC often makes improvements to the design without changing the model number, so if they did provide service information, they would have to check the serial number and possibly markings on the board(s) in the UPS to determine the correct schematics for the units. They seem to have a number of out-of-warranty repair providers who presumably have that information, although it is often more cost-effective to replace the unit rather than paying for service. If APC offers their Trade-UPS program in your country, that could be an alternative as it provides a discount on a new UPS and the one you trade in doesn't have to be in working condition.

Having said all that... There are a couple of things that are relatively easy to check, as long as you realize these aren't suggested or supported by APC:

1) There is usually a battery disconnect jumper on the UPS. On many models it is a plug and socket on the rear of the UPS (normally connected via a string or plastic hoop) or a jumper on the battery pack inside the UPS. I wouldn't expect this to be the problem, but it is easy enough to check.

2) The push-on terminals for the battery(s) can sometimes not grip tightly - this is particularly common if someone was "assertive" with them when trying to disconnect the old battery(s). These are normally "Faston F2" terminals and can sometimes be tightened up with needlenose pliers.

3) Some battery packs (where there are multiple batteries) have a fuse in the wiring, normally on one of the jumpers that connects one battery to the other. On other models, the fuse is somewhere else in the UPS. If the fuse blew, there was probably a reason for it, so be sure to replace with the same type / rating of fuse, and if the new fuse also blows, there's something else wrong which is outside of the scope of this post.

4) Since you already opened the UPS, you can visually inspect (after making sure that both the AC power and batteries are disconnected) anything you can see for discoloration. The covers on the battery terminals (see #2 above) can discolor from heat if there is a bad connection. You could also look for any discoloration / burn marks on any visible circuit boards. If you see some discoloration on the boards, something went wrong which led to the components in that area overheating. Even if someone could tell you the part number for a replacement part, it is likely that the replacement would fail as well due to the underlying problem. I would not disassemble the UPS beyond what you can visually inspect with the cover removed - there are usually lots of fragile cables connecting the various boards and keeping track of what goes where can be a problem, and there can be stored hazardous voltages even with the unit disconnected.

You probably also want to consider whether it is worth trying to repair the unit - if the UPS is used for a business, it is probably better to just buy a replacement unit, since if the repaired unit fails again there can be costs (systems are down, etc.) due to the outage. If it is for a home system, then this is less important, but you still don't want the broken UPS to damage any of the equipment it is connected to. Only you can decide what sort of repair attempts might be worthwhile.

[Anonymous user · Accepted solution]

Hello Terry,

Thank you very much for very useful inputs.

With warm regards,

Jaikishan