APC UPS unit has a swelled battery

Chadder007

Diamond Member
Oct 10, 1999
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Are there any good ways to get the swelled down on a UPS battery? The unit said the battery is bad and a new one was ordered. Tried to pull out the old one using 2 people and we couldn't get it out at all. It looks like it is buldged a bit in the middle to where we can't get it out.
Plugged up the new battery to the side of it and it seems to work ok, just can't place the new battery inside.
 

AnnonUSA

Senior member
Nov 18, 2007
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You will have to disassemble the unit completely to remove the old battery. I have seen this happen a number of times in SU1000 units. APC recommends replacing Units that this has happened in. But that is a bit of overkill. Open the unit cover, and remove anything attached to the Steel chassis, then you will have to bend the chassis a bit to remove the battery. Be sure to check and PCB assemblies that were attached to the chassis for stress cracks from the expanded battery (that is why APC says to scrap the unit), if the boards look, good reassemble and install the new battery.
 

bruceb

Diamond Member
Aug 20, 2004
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It is not overkill to replace the whole unit when that happens.
One, the battery could have leaked into the circuits.
Two, a circuit failure, could have resulted in an Overcharge
Rate of either Voltage or Current to the Battery which caused it to swell up.

I would just buy a whole new unit or IF it is still under Warranty, send it
back to APC .. a simple phone call to them will help determine if it is under
warranty or not. And even if not, they may offer something towards a new unit
given the type of failure. They may even want it back to see Why it happened.
 

Chadder007

Diamond Member
Oct 10, 1999
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Originally posted by: bruceb
Nice .. Did they want the old unit back ? ?

Yes, they sent me another one with a shipping label to ship the bad one back. Great service by them BTW.
 

rgallant

Golden Member
Apr 14, 2007
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Heat can also cook the batteries, they must have good air flow around them and never put anything on to top of them.