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UPS problem solving

Dorkenstein

Dorkenstein

Diamond Member
I've been using an APC Back-Ups XS 1500 for about 4 years. I just changed the batteries in it last year. Originally purchased from Best Buy.

However, changing the batteries and doing the self-test stuff from the APC website has never fixed the biggest issue for me. In the wee hours of the morning the UPS will trip and the orange light will come on as well as the fan. This leads me to believe the battery is on. The UPS will do this regularly throughout the night and the alarm will screech. So, for the last couple of years I have had to switch it off at night.

Three questions, does turning it off at night prevent the UPS from doing its job? Second, what if I have to leave my pc on all night? I'd have to listen to the wailing alarm. Any solutions would be great. Third, can I buy a new UPS that is rated lower than my computer's PSU (Silverstone Decathlon 750w modular) or is that asking for trouble? I'm looking at lower-rated ones because at the moment I can't afford a higher rated one.

Thanks for any input, this has been troubling me for years.
 
Personally I think the electronics in those d@mn things lasts as long as the battery. I hate the under $500 UPS ... I think they are all cr@p cr@p cr@p. I am assuming the more expensive ones are better those have all been a problem for others.

Ok. That was the vent & I feel only slightly better .. but better.

To your question. Ass-uming that the electronics is properly functioning, what does that tell us? That the the mains (110VAC) are under or over Volting? Could that be happening? If you don't know, can you find out? Also, I wonder if the battery is good?

Last & to digress, I had a couple of the Costco cheap pieces of cr@p UPS's (guess I am still venting) that both failed catastrophically after a little more than a year and within a couple of weeks of each other. When they failed, they popped the house breakers! Of course I kept them, kicking them often, & stewing over them vowing never to get any electronics from Costco ever again. Finally one day I was dragged into a Costco by g/f ... to look at some electronic gizmo that she wanted (what else?) ... on the way out I had the presence of mind to ask at the service desk how their return policy worked for UPS's. Short answer, it doesn't end, just make sure that you have the receipt.

So that is my plan now. I buy Costco UPS' & make sure that the batteries in most of them are good for the couple of minutes while I run thru the house to throw the breaker back on. So far they have been the only reason I have needed a UPS. :-\
 
The mains are probably fine, I have another UPS in the same room (different outlet) that never has trouble. Too late for the receipt, it's been years.
 
Would it be possible for my older brick-and-mortar breed of APC to have a defect that would cause the alarm to sound starting around 2 am in the morning without fail?

I just want to know if I can fix this by buying another, better UPS.
 
crack it open and physically disable the speaker for the alarm. Because you dont really need the alarm on your UPS to tell you the power is out so it doesnt need to be there..
 
Any feedback on the Back-Ups 1500 XS model? If it's lousy I'd just as soon replace it. I know there are better ones out there, I just bought this one because it was at a local store.
 
Did you cycle it when you replaced the batteries ? Or did you just put in new batteries ?

UPS used to come preset knowing what the batteries were capable of and assuming that was the runtime. That changed about 7 years ago. Battery run time changes as batteries get older so it may be 20 minutes when new and 10 minutes 3 years later, to solve that they use a formula to determine what the runtime should be. That formula is determined by how long the batteries lasted at the last time they ran down. If the UPS ran until the batteries failed then hardware could be damaged, so they shut off when the formula tells them they should.

When you put new batteries in, it does not reset the formula for the old batteries. To reset it you have to plug in the new batteries. Let them charge for a day with nothing plugged into the UPS so the batteries are fully charged. Then plug in your normal devices into the UPS. Next unplug the UPS cord from the socket and let the UPS run until it is completely drained and shuts off. Plug it back in and it has now calibrated to the new batteries and should stop giving the alarm.


The back-ups 1500 xs is a good ups. I have one that I have used for years.
 
Eek, no, not that I know of. I had them replaced at a battery retailer. I'll do what you suggest. It's been a while since I got the new batteries, though, like months. Thanks.
 
Hey modelworks, when you say to plug everything back into the UPS after charging it, do you mean to just plug them in, or to switch them on also? Thanks.

I should also mention that the alarm doesn't always go off during the night, that's just when it forces me to get up and turn the whole thing off. Certain days it will go off at any time during the day. Thanks.
 
Dorkenstein said:
Hey modelworks, when you say to plug everything back into the UPS after charging it, do you mean to just plug them in, or to switch them on also? Thanks.

I should also mention that the alarm doesn't always go off during the night, that's just when it forces me to get up and turn the whole thing off. Certain days it will go off at any time during the day. Thanks.
Click to expand...


What you want to happen is the UPS to be fully charged then plug everything in and have it running at the full load that you normally would need it to supply. Next unplug the power to the UPS from the wall outlet. Let it run down till it turns off. That lets it configure how much run time the current battery can provide and should stop the alarm.
 
Quick update, the alarm has been going off at certain points during the day for the last three or four days. I'm waiting for when I don't need the pc to try to fully charge the battery, but as it has been getting worse I'm not even sure that would fix it.
 
I started charging it with everything unplugged this morning. When you say 'charge for a day' is that literally 24 hours? Thanks.
 
why don't you run apcupsd and wire it up and see what errors its throwing.

i have my apc's run self test once a week to make sure they haven't been damaged.

imo its better to replace the unit after 3-4 years than just re-battery. thats quite a low cost unit if it was a liebert or something big then maybe.
 
I need to get a usb to rj-45 cable that doesn't cost 30 dollars. Or is that normal? If anyone knows where to get one let me know. Then I can test it. I'd love to replace it but only if I have good reason to. Thanks.
 
i'm pretty sure the apcupsd website docs include how to build your own. not that hard in most cases.

i threw a ton of those out. probably like $2 on ebay for one. the low end models all the use the same dealio usb using rj45 on the ups side.
 
Dorkenstein said:
I started charging it with everything unplugged this morning. When you say 'charge for a day' is that literally 24 hours? Thanks.
Click to expand...

Just needs to be long enough to give it enough time to be sure the batteries are fully charged.
It takes about 8-10 hours for one to bring the batteries back to full capacity after a discharge.

Then you can plug anything into it really, doesn't have to be a pc. You just want to put a load on it of some sort. I have used a couple table lamps in the past.
 
wonder if this was fully resolved ever. my XS1500 had been doing the random cycle on thing for a while and now it has decided that it needs to be supplying from the battery even when on the mains. batteries look to be in decent condition, though i'm not sure how old they are.
 
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