UPS questions APC-650

[etc]

I have this UPS unit, made by APC, model is 650.

It was made in '99 and apparently not used since then, sat new in the box. When I connected a computer workstation to it, and gave it ample time to charge (2 weeks should be more than enough). A power outage came and it did not work. The unit appears to be completely non-functional.

Question, do they go bad, is there a lifetime to them? Or did it get discharged so badly it could be recharged?

There is a test button on it which I pressed and it supposedly passed, it buzzes when it does.


http://www.targetpc.com/hardware/ups/apc_650/

Edit: I need to check if the battery is connected. . . per above.

 

[macforsale]

*

 

[matrixshaman]

Most often the battery is not connected or dead. I've got 3 of them and they all work fine. We used to have many at work and ocassionally I saw one go bad but normally it is just the battery.

 

[HCaul]

If it's 8 years old, the batteries are probably dead and almost certainly significantly degraded. Small UPSs (that is, anything you can install without an electrician and that's connected via a power cord) use SLAs, which degrade after about 4 years.

Fortunately, most of the APC-brand UPSs have easily replacaced batteries (replacing them is significantly less expensive than buying a new unit, although make sure you consider shipping costs if you can't find them locally).

H Caul

 

[HCaul]

Load may have been greater than UPS could support. Another possibility is the batteries went dead in storage or they need a couple of charge/discharge cycles to rejuvenate. I never thought a UPS without a built-in battery cycle function had as much utility as given credit for. They sit for months on trickle charge and then are expected to deliver rated capacity. That does not seem reasonable without a battery cycle during off peak usage.

SLAs (as used in small UPSs) don't benefit from periodic in-service cycling the way NiMH and NiCad cells do. However, they DO need to be kept charged; if allowed to dischage beyond a certain point or stored without trickle charge for long periods, they die.

H. Caul

 

[macforsale]

*

 

[Eugene]

I have a 600 from around that time. Last summer it died in the middle of the night so I had to unplug it. It has a small pair of 6v SLA batteries inside and those had swelled a little bit to where I couldn't get them out of the battery door in the bottom and had to completely disassemble it.
See if there is a batteries plus near you, they have the ones that fit mine for $20 each.

 

[etc]

Update: It was NIB but the cell was disconnected at the negative terminal.

I connected it. Haven't tried to test it out yet but will shortly.