Changing UPS battery backup

joelw135

joelw135


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I have an APC battery backup on my system, but the battery is weak and I ordered a new backup by Philips (Power Sentry). How do I change to the new UPS?
 
hughvane

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If I were you, I'd make sure I read the instruction manual before you do anything else. Does the Philips UPS come with its battery full-charged? If not, then you'll have to do that first.

Set up the new UPS the same way you did with the APC. You'll need to shut all devices down first, and then, after powering on the UPS, plug them back in and power them on one-at-a-time.

Incidentally, could you not simply replace the APC battery? [I know old UPS units were not designed for user-maintenance.] The reason I ask is because APC are industry leaders in UPS. The batteries are deep-cycle, lead-acid gel type, readily replaceable.
 
chscag

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I have changed batteries in an APC unit before. Usually, you can purchase a replacement battery for about one half the cost of a new unit. Typically, a battery in an APC backup UPS will last three years if you take care of it. Letting it deep discharge and recharge every so often will extend its life.

Regards.
 
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joelw135

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hughvane said:
If I were you, I'd make sure I read the instruction manual before you do anything else. Does the Philips UPS come with its battery full-charged? If not, then you'll have to do that first.

Set up the new UPS the same way you did with the APC. You'll need to shut all devices down first, and then, after powering on the UPS, plug them back in and power them on one-at-a-time.

Incidentally, could you not simply replace the APC battery? [I know old UPS units were not designed for user-maintenance.] The reason I ask is because APC are industry leaders in UPS. The batteries are deep-cycle, lead-acid gel type, readily replaceable.
Click to expand...

When you refer to shutting down all devices what are you refering to? I am new to all this. Also the battery for the APC was $80.00 plus $10.00 shipping and the new Philips was only $32.00 shipped. I did wahat worked for my pocket.
 
hughvane

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joelw135 said:
When you refer to shutting down all devices what are you refering to? I am new to all this. Also the battery for the APC was $80.00 plus $10.00 shipping and the new Philips was only $32.00 shipped. I did what worked for my pocket.
Click to expand...

Fair 'nuff. I understand such circumstances only too well.

Shutting down devices: I take it you've got a number of devices connected to your present APC UPS (oh lawdy, all these acronyms).
1. You need to shut them down one-by-one, just make sure that you've saved any work in progress on your computer.
2. Then disconnect all power cables from the UPS. ie. pull the plugs.
3. Switch off and unplug the UPS from the wall socket. That will cause its battery to kick in but that doesn't matter because you've got nothing connected to it anyway. You can discard that APC (but see later).
4. Plug your new Philips unit into the wall socket - but make sure you've read the instructions about First Use, because there is a correct procedure to follow eg. the order in which you switch things on and connect devices etc.

The APC unit - as I said earlier, that brand is an industry leader with superior battery technology, which is one reason why their stuff is more expensive. In due course, and it's entirely over to you, you might consider replacing the battery and perhaps selling the unit to defray the costs, perhaps even replacing the Philips with the refurbished APC.
 
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joelw135

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hughvane said:
Fair 'nuff. I understand such circumstances only too well.

Shutting down devices: I take it you've got a number of devices connected to your present APC UPS (oh lawdy, all these acronyms).
1. You need to shut them down one-by-one, just make sure that you've saved any work in progress on your computer.
2. Then disconnect all power cables from the UPS. ie. pull the plugs.
3. Switch off and unplug the UPS from the wall socket. That will cause its battery to kick in but that doesn't matter because you've got nothing connected to it anyway. You can discard that APC (but see later).
4. Plug your new Philips unit into the wall socket - but make sure you've read the instructions about First Use, because there is a correct procedure to follow eg. the order in which you switch things on and connect devices etc.

The APC unit - as I said earlier, that brand is an industry leader with superior battery technology, which is one reason why their stuff is more expensive. In due course, and it's entirely over to you, you might consider replacing the battery and perhaps selling the unit to defray the costs, perhaps even replacing the Philips with the refurbished APC.
Click to expand...

Thanks, yes I plan to replace the battery as soon as possible, or maybe use their trade in resource and get a new updated model. Things have been expensive here. First my Windows notebook blew the HD, then my Dell tower which is two years old had the Motherboard go and you know what Dell charges for a replacement. So I went to Apple and ordered a new top of the heap iMac and a new wireless keyboard and mouse (Microsoft) as I love the ergonomic keyboards. Then the APC battery died and today another one bought 3 years ago had the battery die. I hope all the Voodo is out of the house.
 
hughvane

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joelw135 said:
Things have been expensive here ... I hope all the Voodo is out of the house.
Click to expand...

It never rains but it pours, Murphy's Law etc, etc.

It's interesting to me, way down/out here in New Zealand, the number of Americans, assuming you're there, who don't know about or use online retailers like Superwarehouse or Radioshack for shopping. The reason I know about them is because for about two years the dollar exchange rate between the two countries was such that buying stuff in the US was good economics, especially if one had the fortunate services of friends traveling out here. It's not good practice currently because our NZ$ has dived against the US$.

Very recently I had two jobs advising on the purchase of UPS units, which is how I learned about the APC brand. The best place to buy in terms of cost was in the US (at S'Warehouse), followed by Australia, and of course the shipping from Aus was a good deal less. NZ retail price was too high.

Enough rambling from me. Good luck with your new setup.
 
Dysfunction

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battery units on UPS's don't tend to last more than a year or two. Three would be a long time for one. APC is an incredibly well respected name in the industry, probably THE default in datacenters.
 
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joelw135

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Dysfunction said:
battery units on UPS's don't tend to last more than a year or two. Three would be a long time for one. APC is an incredibly well respected name in the industry, probably THE default in datacenters.
Click to expand...

I have had a number of APC backups and the longest that a battery lasted was three years. That is when the Replace Battery light came on.
 

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