No Error but battery has no capacity

[Anonymous user]

Hi,

My SUA1500I has given no error (it did some time ago when I needed to change the battery, which I did) but when running on battery with very low load the abttery goes lfat immediately and the ups switches off.

I have installed powerchute and checked the diagnostics but I can't seem to do anything and the info I see doesn't make sense (for one thing it shows battery replacement as being 2004 when I last did it in 2010).

I suspect my battery is the problem but don't want to fork out unless I am sure there is not some other issue with the ups please help.

oh - I have attached a screenshot of my diagnostic page.

[BillP]

Hi,

Can you confirm if you are connected via serial or usb? Also does PCBE not show you any readings like the battery voltage, input/output voltages, load and run time?

When we do battery replacements for our clients in most cases we also have to do a manual calibration of UPS to reset the battery constants. If the battery constants have dropped too low the UPS can behave as you have described above and a calibration is needed. The other scenario is that the battery really is old/dead and needs to be replaced. You can try and see what the age of the battery is by opening the UPS and looking at the top of the battery. Most battery manufacturers have a battery code to tell the age of the battery. If you can post the code, might be able to tell you the age of the battery or you can follow the link below which will show alot of manufacturers battery codes.

http://www.stationarybatterytraining.com/pdf/2012%20date%20codes%20unmasked%20-esa.pdf

[Anonymous user]

Thanks Llewellyn, I am connected by USB with these values:

Battery Voltage: 27.4

Battery charge: 100%

Runtime remaining: 25 mins

Line Voltage: 223

Output Voltage: 223

Load: 28%

I did not see my battery in the pdf but it is branded APC and has 090812dc stamped on it so I think the date may be Sept 2008?

The UPS has been working fine, it just started this behaviour suddenly & I did not do any calibration when I last replaced the battery..

[BillP · Accepted solution]

With all the diff battery makes out there its always difficult to determine what the date is without know for sure what the brand battery is. But know that APC mainly use, CSB, BB, LONG batteries that I have seen. So the year on the battery can be anything from 2008, 2009, or 2012. If you know when you installed the battery you might be able to go back to supplier and see if they know the actual age of the battery. As most batteries are not suppose to sit on a shelf for more than 6 months without charging. As a rule of thumb we recommend to our clients replace their batteries every 3 years to ensure optimum run time at the end of life. Most manufacturers state their batteries will last 3-5 years.

In your case it might be that the batteries are currently in need of replacing. Was wondering if you can post the SN of the UPS to determine how old the UPS is. APC SN normally have a format of 2 letters followed by 10 digits. Letters are factory and first 4 numbers the age of the UPS, so AS1023 = [AS (not important)], [10 = 2010], [23 = week 23 of 2010]. Hope this helps.