____ Lifespan of a UPS? ____

[Blain]

My old APC Back-Ups 400 has served me well for almost six years now.
I'm running my PC and 21" monitor on it. Is it time to step it down to a peripheral protector and go with more VA with a new UPS?

The power is flaky out where I live. It's always popping out for a few seconds here and there. My UPS will beep, but the system hard-locks then. It's seems like the battery may be weakening.

Has my little 400 lasted as long as it should?

 

[ProviaFan]

If it's getting "tested" frequently with crappy line power, then based on the symptoms you're seeing, it's quite likely that the battery is about to visit battery-heaven.

I'm not sure about your model in particular, but some APC UPSes have replaceable batteries. Whether yours does or not, I do not know, but it's probably not worthwhile spending money to replace the battery of a UPS with such an age.

FWIW, stay away from the APC Back-UPS Pro 1100 (apparently it's a Sam's Club exclusive - I've not seen it anywhere else) if you plan to have your computer hooked up to the UPS for monitoring. This particular model lacks greatly in monitoring capability (as you should be able to guess when you compare its price to the price of the other Professional models).

 

[Blain]

Thanks
I was looking at the Belkin 1200VA as a replacement for the APC.
I know it's probably overkill. I basically use an UPS to make sure I've got clean power, rather than operating on the battery.

 

[ProviaFan]

Originally posted by: Blain
Thanks
I was looking at the Belkin 1200VA as a replacement for the APC.
I know it's probably overkill. I basically use an UPS to make sure I've got clean power, rather than operating on the battery.

That looks like a pretty good UPS, though I've not tried one first-hand. I hear the software sucks, but Belkin is supposedly more prompt about honoring their warranty/insurance than APC.