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I actually fixed my dead UPS!

V

Vicken

Senior member
Well, I bought a used APC 1250VA SmartUPS 6 months ago which has brand new batteries and no warranty at all. The only reason I bought it cause I know they are built like a tank. About a week ago, it completely went dead. I took the whole thing apart documenting where all the wires go. I found that the 120V input wire had a very loose solder joint and the wire was burned. The fan in the unit was frozen and there was one trace on the back of the PCB that was melted and broken. The other one just had lifted off the board. While removing the circuit board from the case, I broke a ribbon connector that was directly soldered to the front panel to the main board. (kinda stupid that it wasnt detachable) So here's what I did to fix it. I got all the parts from allelectronics.com. Spent about $20. I ordered a new 24v fan with the same amperage rating (even came with the same 2 pin header!), two 8 pin headers with a connector, solder paste, desoldering wick, and some epoxy. I already had an iron and solder. First, I replaced the wire on the 120V input and resoldered it. Then I soldered a wire on the broken trace and epoxied the other one down. Then, I desoldered 16 pads. This part took me forever. I seriously hate desoldering and suck at it! If I had a small enough drill bit, I would of drilled the broken wires from the solder. Many, many, many hours later. I finally soldered both headers and connected the new detachable wire. I plugged it in and nothing happens. Well maybe the batteries have to be hooked up for it to even turn on? So I hooked up the batteries. I seriously thought it was not going to work. I was really worried about all the soldering I did or if the actual circuitry was damaged. It only takes one bad connection to ruin it all, and I had soldered about 20 of them. I have very little soldering skills so I was really doubting the whole thing. Well, I turned it on and BEEP! It works! Seriously saved me money! Thankfully, the $20 didnt go to waste! I am going to let it run tommorow with only a lamp plugged in it and watch it for a while just to make sure its all ok. I tried fixing electronic things in the past without any success whatsoever, but this time it worked! It just felt so good to see that thing turn on and actually come back to life. 🙂
 
Nice save.

That unit was obviously flawed from the Factory, sad how Quality Control has gone down the pooper.

Your unit is now technically "Better than New" certainly in this case.
 
It may not have had a warranty, but I still would have taken it back to where I bought it. If it only lasted 6 months, you shouldn't have to pay for repairs. The store should return it to the manufacturer so they can fix their own mistakes.
 
sounds like he bought it refurbished. hence the new batteris no warrenty. if it had alot of use before the refurb and it wasn't a factory refurb then i highly doubt he'd have any chance of getting a free repair.
 
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