Second "Replace Battery" problem in 7 months

[BillP]

I just got a notification for the second time that my battery should be replaced.  I replaced the battery in March of this year, my unit is/was still under warranty.  Before I called customer support again I wanted to see if anyone had any ideas why this is happening?

The first time my battery "died" I had bought my UPS 6-8 months prior but never got around to setting it up, so the battery sat.  When APC warrantied me a new battery they told me to not let the battery sit for 6+ months at a time.  I've been using the new battery since I received it.

For the past month or two I've only a couple devices running off of the battery backup, it's at 84W, 9% load right now.  I first got the notification a couple of weeks ago about the battery.

Should my whole unit be replaced?  It's a BR1500G.

Thanks

[BillP]

Hello,

Does the UPS go onto battery operation frequently? Where is the UPS located (as in the ambient environment)? There are several factors that contribute to battery life such as over all usage, manufacturing defect, ambient temperature, environment, etc.

We warranty this unit and its battery for three years though at least but you could consider any of those factors I mentioned to see if anything sticks out to you. (There is some general information on temperature here -> http://www.schneider-electric.com/support/index?page=content&country=US〈=en&locale=en_US&id=FA156516)

[BillP]

Thanks for the reply, no it rarely goes onto battery operation.  I have very reliable power in New Jersey.  The temperature was never above 70 degrees Fahrenheit and has been down around 65 recently.  It has plenty of ventilation around it as well. I'd rather not warrant they whole unit because I don't really want a refurbished one, but maybe it has to be done.

[BillP · Accepted solution]

What if you do another self test on the UPS? Does the alarm clear?

The UPS self test compares the voltage drop on the battery with your load against a "table" it stores internally that defines what the normal tolerance for the voltage drop would be. Sometimes you can see it fail once for one reason or another but then it will pass a subsequent test.

Like, maybe it did a self test right after you did have a quick power event so the battery was a little discharged, just as an example of when you could see the behavior.

I don't think a unit replacement would help here. If anything, it is likely a blip in the battery voltage drop that triggered it or the battery indeed has failed prematurely. Since you had this issue before is why I asked those other questions to see if something in the environment is contributing to a premature failure.