What is the expected life of an APC UPS?

[BillP]

I have a 4 1/2 year old APC Back-UPS RS 1500VA with the external battery pack. I'm aware that the batteries will need replacing soon, but I'm just uncertain whether I should upgrade the UPS or just replace the batteries? Is is my first UPS so I'm unsure whether they typically go on for years, or are better replaced regularly.

In terms of runtime, VA, features etc my current UPS does everything I need.

Unfortunately the APC upgrade options seem a little pointless given that the price after discount generally equals the prices in online shops (so no real saving), but I don't want to invest in nearly £200 of new batteries if the UPS could fail in the next couple of years. Whilst I don't really need more features, I would consider a smart-ups next time around, which would make the external battery pack unusable.

Any comments?

PS my current runtime calibration shows around 80 minutes at 40% load, which is fine me currently. Now the batteries are getting old is this likely to start declining rapidly over the next year?

[BillP]

most UPS products are designed and have a product lifecycle of 10 years. you'll talk to other people that have less, and other people that have had them for 10+ years. keep in mind, there is a lot of environmental issues that contribute to the lifetime of batteries as well as electrical components.

as you have mentioned, batteries are consumable items, thus they are generally replaced every 3-5 years depending on environment and usage.

the benefit of trading in a unit with APC is to get a return label to recycle and dispose of your old unit as well as receiving a new unit which does then come with a new three year warranty on the UPS itself as well as the battery. a new genuine APC battery only comes with a one year warranty on the actual battery itself.

thus, it depends. some units have batteries that are almost as much money as the UPS so in that instance, it may make more sense to just get a new UPS for a little bit more money with a new warranty on the UPS and battery. other units have cheaper batteries so it may make sense to just replace battery, especially since the UPS in question may be running just fine and you don't have a need for any of the new features.

thus, i just think you need to weigh the pros and cons of your particular scenario keeping some of these points in mind. hope that helps.

[BillP]

agreed. heat from anywhere is a big factor and the higher the load as well as the type of load, means more heat.

[Anonymous user · Accepted solution]

I think the load put on the UPS is also one of the things that can affect its life. More load means more heat being dissipated and heat is the number one enemy of electronics, so...