sundance-communications.com/forum Forums Wiring - Telecom Carriers - Trunks & Services Telephone Repairs & Equipment APC UPSs

The company I work for has more UPSs than people. Constantly replacing batteries. Occasionally they stop working. I have two on the workbench right now. A SmartUPS 1000 and SmartUPS 1400 (rack mount).

Is it worth getting them fixed?

Absolutely! I found a great place in Texas that consists mainly of former APC technicians who really know their stuff. I highly recommend them:

Power Protection Partners
6068 I-30 West
Royse City, TX 75189
(972) 635-2999
Contact is Cameron

Royse City, TX ... close to Dallas, I'm familiar with it.
Thanks for the heads up Ed

Ed, what kind of defects have you sent them that they've been able to repair?

That's been one frustration I've had with APC UPS's. They either end up cooking the batteries, or they report that batteries need replacement when the batteries are actually new. These are costly units to just throw away, simply because they are out of warranty!

Justin

So far, I've just been getting parts from them. Their prices on battery packs is much better than from APC. They claim that they can fix them all the way down to the transformer itself which is a lot more than APC is willing to do.

By the way, the new contact there is Mike.

Justin, I've had that problem as well when new. This 1st I sent back to my supplier. The very next one did the same thing, so I just left it "charging" for a couple of hours and has worked every since. Had several now do that; same solution.

The battery/packs will not be fully charged and the APC 'assumes' that it has a bad cell. Same is typically true on a whole new APC UPS. But the instructions say charge for 8 hours for a reason. Maybe I should mention that I got the job of rehabbing 600/650's that my last employer bought dirt cheap. 99 out of 100 just needed the dust blown out and the batterie(s) replaced. I'd run them thru 2 complete discharge/recharge cycles with a 500 watt load, disconnect the battery and stock them. John C.

I found out why. They have very powerful chargers--an APC SmartUPS 1400 has a charger capable of putting 10 amps into the battery, based on my measurements. When the battery is a small 7ah SLA it's easy to see why they don't last!

Justin, the 'cooked' batteries are usually at end of life and have 1 bad cell. Net result is that the charger keeps trying to get the terminal voltage up to 13 Volts and it ain't happenin'. Batteries warp, swell, and even split wide open. John C.

I think the fast charging rate of APC UPSs make a cell failure more likely. It's downright abusive to put 10 amps into a 7AH battery.

It's been a year, but I believe the 1400 has 2 12Ahr batteries in series. And keep in mind that the charger will not charge at 10 A rate unless the battery is WWWAAAYYY down. When the terminal voltage gets close to 12 volts, the rate will drop.
I've seen very few APC's with damaged batteries that had batteries under 3 years old. Then it's usually traceable to abuse. (I've seen idiots try to run 2HP hammer drills off APC 650's. Good way to destroy APC, batteries, and the drill)
The APC folks AND the battery folks will BOTH tell you that if you get 3 years out of a battery, you got all you can expect and it will go RAPIDLY downhill from there. John C.

The battery will be WWWWAAAYYY down after a power failure that lasts long enough for the UPS to completely exhaust the battery.

It is a fact, documented repeatedly in the body of literature which encompasses the subject of lead-acid batteries, that a higher charge rate reduces battery life. The optimum charge rate is somewhere around C/10, which for a 7amp hour battery is 700mAH.

A 10-amp charge rate is more suited for something like a group 24 deep cycle marine battery.

The float charge voltage on APC UPSs is also too high, which also contributes to short battery life.