XS1500 Issues

[Anonymous user]

I've been a long time customer of APC products and some time ago, I purchased an XS1500 UPS. Ever since day 1, the thing has had communication problems with the PC, but those get restored fairly quickly. It is annoying to have my PC constantly alert me to the fact that the UPS has lost communications, but I've learned to live with it.

In the last couple of weeks, things have gotten worse. My XS1500 unit suddenly started powering off without warning. It happened three times, the third being last night. Each time, I'd been able to power the UPS back on and get everything up and running again.

Today, the UPS powered off, only now, it won't come back on. In case it was a breaker issue, I tried depressing that button, but it did nothing (the button feels very loose when pressed). I noticed that the UPS still had power though, as if running on battery and the display screen, though dark, still showed the shadows of what it had been displaying (14 minutes of battery time should it go to battery power, less than 50% load). The power button and the display/mute button were lit though. Pressing the power button did nothing and pressing the display button caused the UPS device to change hum tones.

I unplugged everything from the UPS and unplugged it from the wall. It is still in the same status as before. The fans do not appear to be on (and the unit wasn't all that warm immediately after powering off) so I don't know why the battery seems to still be on (since the power and display buttons are still lit and it is still making an electronic hum) or why I can't get it to just work. I'm thinking I've got a bad unit though.

Thanks in advance for the help!

[BillP]

hi,

this sounds like an LCD unit. BX1500LCD?

how old is this? can you provide the first couple digits of the serial number, something like JBXXXX where X's will be numbers.

did you see anything recorded in powerchute? while the lights are lit on the UPS, does anything show up in powerchute/is the UPS even recognized?

does the unit pass power still? when it appears to be on and you unplug it from the wall, does it make any audible alarms to indicate that its still operating on battery? the fan should come on at this point as well.

you can also try unplugging the UPS from the wall and holding down the power button to see if the UPS starts. if you arent sure if you turned the UPS off or not though, hold off on doing that.

[Anonymous user]

i picKed a winna wrote:
hi,

this sounds like an LCD unit. BX1500LCD?

Yep. That's the one.

>

how old is this? can you provide the first couple digits of the serial number, something like JBXXXX where X's will be numbers.

Sadly, I can't remember. I still have the box but for whatever reason, I seem to have neglected to put the receipt in the box and thus I cannot remember when I purchased the device. As to the serial number, the first few digits are JB0732 (assuming you only wanted the first four numbers).

>

did you see anything recorded in powerchute? while the lights are lit on the UPS, does anything show up in powerchute/is the UPS even recognized?

I don't recall seeing anything in PowerChute but to be honest, I hadn't looked. The computer does recognize the device and it is PowerChute that's always complaining about losing communications w/ the UPS (even though it restores communications within seconds).

>

does the unit pass power still? when it appears to be on and you unplug it from the wall, does it make any audible alarms to indicate that its still operating on battery? the fan should come on at this point as well.

No alarms are coming from the unit. No power is passed to any device. While there is an electronic hum that I initially assumed was the fan, after unplugging the device from the wall and placing my hand over the fan area, no air was being blown out. The only reason I knew the batteries were providing power was (1) the electronic hum coming from the unit and (2) the power and display buttons were brightly lit.

you can also try unplugging the UPS from the wall and holding down the power button to see if the UPS starts. if you arent sure if you turned the UPS off or not though, hold off on doing that.

Well, I tried that but to be honest, nothing happened. Actually, I was expecting the unit to actually shut off completely (even though it was on battery) but I couldn't even make that happen.

[BillP]

i know you said you had frequent disconnects in the powerchute software but i had assumed that was prior to this issue.

so it is it currently detecting, then losing communication with the UPS while it appears to possibly be on right now?

the serial number part you provided indicates it was manufactured in the 32nd week of 2007 so it is not that old.

if you are comfortable doing so, what i'd recommend doing is seeing if you can turn it off some how and if we can, i'd want to disconnect the battery from it and then turn it back on to see what we get. you should just have to hold the off button while its plugged in to get it to go off (obviously 🙂 )

i agree with you - something strange is going on here..depending on what happens if you can disconnect the battery and reconnect it, then you may need to call tech support for a replacement cause its certainly under warranty.

[Anonymous user]

i picKed a winna wrote:
i know you said you had frequent disconnects in the powerchute software but i had assumed that was prior to this issue.

Well, it has been going on since the day I purchased the unit. I mentioned it as part of what might be part of a greater whole issue.

so it is it currently detecting, then losing communication with the UPS while it appears to possibly be on right now?

Well, with the PC dead (the UPS unit's "power off" kills the PC, monitor, and external hard drives even though the battery keeps power on to the UPS's power button and display button), that's hard to say. lol I can say that the communication issues have been happening today. Whether the frequency of the communication failures have increased or not, I could not say.

the serial number part you provided indicates it was manufactured in the 32nd week of 2007 so it is not that old.

Ah. I didn't think it was too old, but a year seems about right for when I purchased the unit.

>

if you are comfortable doing so, what i'd recommend doing is seeing if you can turn it off some how and if we can, i'd want to disconnect the battery from it and then turn it back on to see what we get. you should just have to hold the off button while its plugged in to get it to go off (obviously 🙂 )

Actually, I anticipated this being your next suggestion and I already unplugged the battery. Obviously, that killed the power. I pressed the power button after the battery was removed and the residue charge was cleared from the unit. After checking your response, I have replaced the battery. I was able to turn the UPS on and off with no problems. I have not yet plugged in the computer and equipment though.

i agree with you - something strange is going on here..depending on what happens if you can disconnect the battery and reconnect it, then you may need to call tech support for a replacement cause its certainly under warranty.

In regards to the warranty, will my having been unable to locate a receipt be an issue? I hate to ask a dumb question but in all the years I've owned UPS devices (and I own several even now), this is the first time I've ever had a problem.

[BillP]

i would see if maybe you can plug in a lamp or radio, if you haven't already and maybe connect the PC to the wall for power but leave the data cable connected so you can see if powerchute is seeing the unit/reporting anything. if for some reason the UPS goes to battery, it could potentially shut the computer down too with the data cable connected so beware 😉

this serial number is definitely in warranty and nobody will question it, regardless of when you purchased it. if the unit starts acting ok but you still come against "unable to communicate with UPS" issues, tech support may have you try a couple of things such as making sure that no antivirus/security programs are causing it or making sure you arent using a USB hub (versus USB ports right on the motherboard). so, you could try it on a different computer just to monitor that issue. you of course dont necessarily need to plug in a computer to the UPS for power to have the data cable connected to it but if the UPS shuts down and the data cable is connected, as mentioned before, it will shut your computer down.

hope this helps!

so, correct me if i'm wrong, the UPS is acting normally now?

[Anonymous user]

i picKed a winna wrote:
i would see if maybe you can plug in a lamp or radio, if you haven't already and maybe connect the PC to the wall for power but leave the data cable connected so you can see if powerchute is seeing the unit/reporting anything. if for some reason the UPS goes to battery, it could potentially shut the computer down too with the data cable connected so beware 😉

I did that. PowerChute never reports an issue (and it has never reported an issue) but periodically, it "dings" that it loses communication with the PC, but then the alarm goes away and nothing is registered with PowerChute.

this serial number is definitely in warranty and nobody will question it, regardless of when you purchased it. if the unit starts acting ok but you still come against "unable to communicate with UPS" issues, tech support may have you try a couple of things such as making sure that no antivirus/security programs are causing it or making sure you arent using a USB hub (versus USB ports right on the motherboard). so, you could try it on a different computer just to monitor that issue. you of course dont necessarily need to plug in a computer to the UPS for power to have the data cable connected to it but if the UPS shuts down and the data cable is connected, as mentioned before, it will shut your computer down.

It's not on a hub and the motherboard is a replacement one when the original board had issues. Replacing the motherboard fixed some minor PC issues I had, but there was no change in the UPS device's losing connection.

so, correct me if i'm wrong, the UPS is acting normally now?

Yeah, I got it back up now. This post is actually being made from the new computer.

Now, let me ask this question. Since the UPS device is immediately powering off (thus killing all attached devices immediately) and then having problems being restarted, could it be overheating somehow? Granted, there are no issues being reported or alarmed by the unit or PowerChute, but I'm just grasping at straws here.

[BillP · Accepted solution]

i wont rule out overheating but this model should display a fault stating that it is overheating. the LCD display should show: F07

ok, when you hear the ding, which comes from windows, that confirms to me that its really an issue with the UPS and its data port rather than a software issue, especially if happens on multiple USB ports. for that reason alone, APC can replace it for you not to mention all the other issues we just discussed.

if you need to contact APC to get this replacement taken care of, you can reference this thread and you can express that you spoke to a member of the escalation team that said to replace it after providing them with a couple of details.

let me know if you need anything else 🙂