UPS failed - Replace the whole thing?

[Fis]

On more than one occasion I have found my PCs off after there had been a power outage when I wasn't home. Obviously, UPSs aren't going to keep everything running for hours, so shame on me for not turning it off when I'm away for a day.

Well, this week I was at home when the power went out and one of the PCs connected to a UPS shut down instantly. So it turns out the UPS is obviously not working, and I have no idea how long that's been the case.

I've never had a UPS fail. Should I trash the whole thing or can I just replace the battery?

I'm also worried about the other one. How long should a UPS last?

 

[tynopik]

batteries are only good for a couple of years usually, so you should be able to just replace the battery

that said, sometimes batteries are so expensive it's almost worthwhile to buy new

(like sometimes i see cheap inkjet printers WITH A FULL CARTRIDGE SET selling for less than what a full cartridge set would cost separately)

 

[apoppin]

What kind of UPS do i need for my rig?

850W?

 

[Fallen Kell]

Go to APC and use their calculator. It is fast and easy. If you really want to know, get a power draw monitor at Radio Shack (you know one of those devices that goes between wall socket and your power strip/computer power cord which tells you how many amps/watts you are drawing on the connection). With that, you can then ask yourself how long you wish to be able to stay up on battery power and find a unit that has a max current output higher than what you draw as well as enough amp/hours of battery capacity to meet your uptime requirement.

 

[Modelworks]

Usually the UPS can last a very long time.
I have one here that is about 10 years old.
Its an APC, meant for server racks.
I removed the batteries years ago and instead its connected to a couple 200amp marine batteries.
Gives hours of run time.

If you want that long a run time then you should look for a ups with an external connector,
Or you can just buy a server ups off ebay without the batteries and add the marine batteries like I did.

Really a nice thing to have setup during hurricane season
Works great for keeping the tv on, last time I ran the 27" tv for 19 hours and still didn't kill the batteries.

 

[vailr]

Just rplace the sealed lead-acid battery.
zbattery.com:
http://www.zbattery.com/Batter...aled-Lead-Acid-Battery
http://www.zbattery.com/Batter...aled-Lead-Acid-Battery

 

[Dorkenstein]

Not to thread-hog but if my APC UPS chirps at me during the night, and never any other time, is it a bad battery or is the power going funky on me? I just want to know so I can fix it or replace it. Thanks.