Problems with my J15 Power Conditioner with Battery Back-Up

[Anonymous user]

My J15 is about 8 years old. Last year, I replaced both batteries. Since then, whenever I lose utility power, the unit does not switch to battery. This also occurs randomly, when there are no utility power issues or during brown-outs. All connected devices lose power, and then within a few seconds they all come back on - on utility power. The past two days, the unit shuts down all connected devices (TV, Modem, DVD, Surround Sound, and Cable Box). The error message is: Internal Battery Temperature Overload - Contact APC.... So, if the batteries are at charge level and are not being drained by an outage, why are they having temperature issues? Or could this error message be bogus...with the problem being with the unit, itself? I wrote the original user's manual for this device, and don't remember any discussions with the design team about battery temperature issues. I don't think this message is even covered in the manual.

[BillP]

Hi Michael,

The unit has Fault Conditions for Unit Overtemperature, Int. Battery Overtemp and Ext. Battery Overtemp. There appears to be no Internal Battery Temperature Overload as you've indicated. Additionally, were the internal batteries replaced with an APC battery cartridge or after market batteries? When the batteries were replaced, did you adjust the battery replacement date or run a runtime calibration?

Secret Squirrel

[Anonymous user · Accepted solution]

Thanks for your prompt reply. As I continued to receive "Battery Temp Overload" messages, I put a 10 inch fan in front of the unit, and it was fine for over a week. This morning, even with the fan, it started dropping power, again. But it would never switch to battery. I bought the replacement batteries about a year ago from Batteries Plus. They were identical to what I took out, as they took them for recycling. This morning, I reset the battery replacement date to 4 months back. In trying to run a Self-Test, it would run the test and provide the message "Self-Test ran with Warning". I then tried to run a calibration, but it immediately aborted. I tried these a few times. Finally, it shut down all items connected and gave an "Inverter Overload" message. I immediately shut it down and removed the battery pack (which was somewhat hot). I checked the 60 amp fuse on the battery, but can't tell if it's shot (can't find my voltmeter or continuity checker). While I don't think it's dead...not sure what to do after replacing the fuse.

Your additional input would be greatly appreciated.