XS-1300 making noise, can't stay on during power outage.

[Anonymous user]

I bought a APC Back-UPS XS-1300 about 9 months ago. It worked fine for a while. Now it makes a noise sort of like a cricket every 5-15 secs. The noise probably started a month or 2 ago and is now more frequent. When the power goes out, or if its unplugged from the wall, it can no longer power my pc and monitor as it did fine the first few months. The battery indicator drops quickly to empty (<5secs) as soon as the PC is turned on. Current draw is well under the max, at around 190w. The battery tests at about 25.2v, so I doubt that is the problem. Here is a sample of the sound, the loudest one occurs at about 70 secs in. It's faint but very annoying. I guess it is still under warranty, but I would be open to repairing it myself instead of going through the hassle of shipping it back to APC. Does anyone know what specifically might have failed?

[APC-noise.mp3|http://stelcontar.net/misc/APC-noise.mp3]

PS. I don't think the link code is working, the sound is here: http://www.stelcontar.net/misc/APC-noise.mp3

Message was edited by: GBest

[Anonymous user]

I bought a APC Back-UPS XS-1300 about 9 months ago. It worked fine for a while. Now it makes a noise sort of like a cricket every 5-15 secs. The noise probably started a month or 2 ago and is now more frequent. When the power goes out, or if its unplugged from the wall, it can no longer power my pc and monitor as it did fine the first few months. The battery indicator drops quickly to empty (<5secs) as soon as the PC is turned on. Current draw is well under the max, at around 190w. The battery tests at about 25.2v, so I doubt that is the problem. Here is a sample of the sound, the loudest one occurs at about 70 secs in. It's faint but very annoying. I guess it is still under warranty, but I would be open to repairing it myself instead of going through the hassle of shipping it back to APC. Does anyone know what specifically might have failed?

[APC-noise.mp3|http://stelcontar.net/misc/APC-noise.mp3]

PS. I don't think the link code is working, the sound is here: http://www.stelcontar.net/misc/APC-noise.mp3

Message was edited by: GBest

[Anonymous user]

Mine just started making this identical noise about 3 weeks ago. It's highly annoying to have this in the living room when watching a movie. I'm going to have to disconnect it. It seems changing the battery isn't helping some people. I was going to invest in new batteries but now I'm thinking I'd be better off picking up a new UPS. What a shame filling the landfills up with such big boxes.

[Anonymous user]

I contacted customer support and they said it could be the battery and sent a new one. Unfortunately it didn't solve the problem. I tested it with a 100w lamp, the battery charge meter goes from full to empty in less than 20secs for either battery with the alarm going off the whole time. The voltage on the batteries after this test is 25v or more. Battery was charged overnight, UPS plugged directly into the wall. Must be a bad unit. Interestingly I haven't heard the noise with the new battery.

Message was edited by: GBest

[Anonymous user]

I tested it again today. It begun with 100% charge according to powerchute and was plugged in for 2 days. I had 360w load on it and it only lasted about 2.5mins to shutoff once unplugged (longer than the old battery but nowhere near long enough). I noticed the smell of ozone when it was running on battery too.

[Anonymous user]

I finally contacted APC about replacing the unit (I've been busy), they sent a replacement unit right away and it lasts much longer, around 25mins with ~200w load with no ozone smell. Interestingly I heard the same high pitched chirping sound at first so I put in the replacement battery from the old unit (which stopped the noise on that unit) but it still made the sound in the new unit. I put back in the new battery that came with the new unit and eventually it went away. Thanks for the help!

[Anonymous user]

Maybe, there is dust in your ups. Maybe you can try to clean the duct with professional cleaners.

[Anonymous user]

The noise is back 😞 .

[Anonymous user]

I did another load test...~375w and it lasted about 10.5 mins until shutoff which is a little shorter than it should be but much better than the old unit. I'm not sure it is caused by a dying battery as the poster in this thread suspected: [http://forums.apc.com/spaces/4/back-ups-surge-protectors/forums/general/4076/back-ups-rs1500-br1500g...]. This battery came with the new unit and the replacement battery sent to me for troubleshooting a couple of months ago made the same noise. It's been about 10mins since I did the load test and I haven't heard the sound...maybe because the battery is low?

btw the frequency of the sound is about 12,500Hz.

[Anonymous user]

Old unit made the sound too btw. Might be a design flaw.

Message was edited by: GBest

[Anonymous user]

It took a day or two but the sound is back unfortunately...very annoying when the room is quiet.

[Anonymous user]

There's no dust...this is a new replacement unit, it was spotless.

[Anonymous user]

Definitely not a bearing sound since the fan is only on when it's on battery. It could be some capacitors.

[Anonymous user]

Yes, I retested and a ~150w load lasted probably 15-20minutes with the battery indicator empty the entire time. I'll try to recalibrate tomorrow with a full charge.

[Anonymous user]

First 6 digits are 084502. The battery voltage was 25.2v after the UPS shut off in less than 5 secs btw.

Message was edited by: GBest

[Anonymous user · Accepted solution]

Yes, the noise goes away when disconnecting the battery. I don't get a chirping noise either, I might have the alarm disabled. The box says 3 year warranty including battery so I guess it is covered.