UPS Question

[Illum]

I have an old Cyberpower 325VA and contained in it as a dead 12V 4.5AH SLA with only about 1V between the terminals at OCV:green:


Since I needed a UPS, I was wondering I can drop a bigger battery in...like a 10AH maybe? It seems that the small capacity ones aren't getting any cheaper



Battery dimension L x W x H [5-9/16" x 1-13/16" x 4"]

My primary concern is on the built in battery charger/conditioner...of three UPSes I've bought over the years all of them seem to fail at this one point, so the battery self discharges from a healthy 13.5V down to about 9V and the electronics does nothing:candle:. By the time the "check battery" lights on, the battery is already in an unrecoverable state:shakehead

I figured hey, even if this doesn't work I'll extend the cord out and add a battery externally, slap on a battery disconnect switch and charge the battery by external means...if that is workable

 

[reptiles]

I went through a similar experience with a Best Power UPS.

Since I could not determine the specs of the internal charger, I thought it prudent to just replace with the same size and chemistry battery.

Batteries can react funny (overheat, offgas, explode, etc.) if their charging parameters are not met.

You probably don't have to get the replacement batteries from the manufacturer, but definitely stick to an equiv replacement.

If you eventually buy a new UPS, look for one with a 12v "external source" for extended run-times. It doesn't charge the external, but a cheap golf cart battery on a solar charger or battery minder can be a lifesaver.

Regards,

Mark

 

[Illum]

:thanks: for the reply, I sort of left this thread for awhile and since then ordered the exact battery for it through portable power online

Its back in service now
I've been eyeing several old UPSes the campus is replacing, but I'm unsure of the conditions of those devices and yeah, I'm listening very intently on the " Batteries can react funny" part:candle:

I had an incident in the past charging gel cells...once was enough

 

[tommylight]

You CAN use the bigger battery, it will take longer to fully charge from empty, but otherwise don't worry . I have an APC 1400 SMART UPS PRO connected to 4, count 4 car batteries 100AH each 2P2S, and never had a problem for 3 years now, except their capacity is nearly dead ( from 9 H run time it got to 40 minutes ) so i will have to fork out 400 euros (600 US$ ) soon. I feel violated already !!!

 

[Illum]

UPSs ironically do not have a regulated battery charger...

batteries seem to lose more capacity as they age held within a UPS then out of it...like my jump starter, and I don't think its because of trickle charging:shakehead

 

[Light Sabre]

I have had several brands of UPS's over the years. Seems like they only last about 5 years before they quit working. Put a label on it with the install date. I used to do a once a year UPS test with the computer and monitor together. Turn on the computer, let it boot to the desktop, no other programs running, then remove the AC from the UPS and time to see how long it lasts. I started doing this when one of my first UPS's gave no indication that the battery was bad and it only lasted about a half second when the power went out one time. Which reminds me, time to do it for this year.

 

[tommylight]

UPSs ironically do not have a regulated battery charger...

batteries seem to lose more capacity as they age held within a UPS then out of it...like my jump starter, and I don't think its because of trickle charging:shakehead

All of mine do have fully controlled battery charging and voltage regulation and protection etc. But then again i only use PRO series from APC. Where i live those are lifesavers, we have loooooong power cuts almost daily so without them it would be unbearable. Those 9H run time i mentioned above are with 2 32" TV's, 2 WiFi AP, modem, 1 laptop, and one home entertainment center at low volume, and some CFL lights on.