I have an APC SmartUPS unit here which, as of today, is indicating that the battery needs changing. There may be an issue with the UPS hardware other than the battery - I wouldn't rule that out by any means. Who is reliable and experienced at UPS servicing in Melbourne? It's a home office environment if that makes any difference.
On Fri, Oct 12, 2012 at 6:05 PM, Jason White <jason@jasonjgw.net> wrote:
I have an APC SmartUPS unit here which, as of today, is indicating that the battery needs changing. There may be an issue with the UPS hardware other than the battery - I wouldn't rule that out by any means.
Who is reliable and experienced at UPS servicing in Melbourne?
If it is just a battery you could do that yourself, just remove the cover and unplug the Sealed Lead Acid battery (SLA) measure it and get a replacement from a local battery supplier or Jaycar has them as well, also as well as size confirm voltage but in most cases it is 12 volt That would save you money if it is just the battery if not then you could look at a service/repair Of course this is reliant on your skills with electronics, if you dont feel comfortable dealing with electronics then a company is the way to go, I cant help with one as I repair that sort of stuff myself YMMV
It's a home office environment if that makes any difference.
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Hiddensoul (Mark Clohesy) <hiddensoul@twistedsouls.com> wrote:
If it is just a battery you could do that yourself, just remove the cover and unplug the Sealed Lead Acid battery (SLA) measure it and get a replacement from a local battery supplier or Jaycar has them as well, also as well as size confirm voltage but in most cases it is 12 volt
Are there any local suppliers who know about UPS batteries and who could make sure I get the right one? I'll connect the UPS to power again today and run a battery self-test. The UPS shut down twice yesterday, the first time due to a power failure (the battery may have been dead or nearly so), and the second time possibly due to low line voltage that caused another transfer to battery. I was out at the time. So I'll run a test and will then almost certainly need a battery supplier. It's an APC SmartUPS 1500 (purchased originally via Dell, as I recall), a pure sine-wave unit - the battery dates from 2007.
Hello Jason, On Fri, 2012-10-12 at 18:05 +1100, Jason White wrote:
I have an APC SmartUPS unit here which, as of today, is indicating that the battery needs changing. There may be an issue with the UPS hardware other than the battery - I wouldn't rule that out by any means.
I have a couple of UPS's, one is true sine wave and runs my clock radio, the mains up here is prone to dropouts that will unset the cock. The battery slowly failed, and gave almost no backup time for even a minor load. I bought the right replacement sealed lead acid battery from Jaycar and put in myself with ease. The second is modified sine wave, and the clock ran fast when the power failed, too fast even for brief outages. I was using it for a PC, but it has "failed" in some fashion. I will try replacing the battery on that in the near future also. It will cost, but much less than buying a full UPS will.
Who is reliable and experienced at UPS servicing in Melbourne?
As commented, it is not unduly difficult, but do ensure that it is fully turned off and unplugged, and whomever is changing the battery only goes near the 12 volt stuff, and nowhere near the 240 volt output or the inverter. Since they are in a sealed enclosure, apart from possibly connections to the output sockets, that is not difficult.
It's a home office environment if that makes any difference.
For my home environment, I was well able to do for myself, but then I was brought up on electronics, and electrics, both low voltage and mains. It is the current that does the damage, but it needs the volts to drive the (micro)amps to do damage. Also you need two connections and a current path. My father related how some colleagues in the UK had to work on a live switchboard, at high voltage. They put a wooden table there, with a sheet of glass on the top. Thus they were well insulated from any ground connection. The work was all conducted with one hand only, so no current path. They were able to touch a single live connection, and their body would "float" at that voltage, but as stated, no current path, no current flow, no harm. It does require considerable discipline and attention to detail to get it right, and considerable suppression of reflexes. Regards, Mark Trickett
On 12/10/12 18:05, Jason White wrote:
I have an APC SmartUPS unit here which, as of today, is indicating that the battery needs changing. There may be an issue with the UPS hardware other than the battery - I wouldn't rule that out by any means.
Who is reliable and experienced at UPS servicing in Melbourne?
It's a home office environment if that makes any difference.
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OK, I can't answer your specific "who" question, but I can answer the "what" that everyone else is chatting about. (For those who aren't aware, Jason is blind, so DIY is out.) From APC's site, the replacement battery is RBC7 costing around $230 plus shipping. CPL and Scorptec list them, but I'd pre-order if I was picking it up. The change-over is just a matter of opening the side, sliding the old one out and unplugging it, then reversing the procedure with the new unit. There may be some recalibration needed - info is on the APC site (pdfs). For those who wish to try the cheaper route, RBC7 appears to be two smaller batteries stuck together and given a Molex style connector. A bit of digging around (and experience from being there before) The equivalent SLA is 12V 18Ahr, such as the DiaMec DM12-18, available from Jaycar for $75 each, so you could save a third of the cost by DIY. http://www.jaycar.com.au/productView.asp?ID=SB2490&form=CAT2&SUBCATID=997#12 (sorry about the line wrap) In summary, any competent PC repair house should be able to do it if fed the pdfs from APC and the relevant Replacement Battery Cartridge. Personally, I have had satisfactory results from Laptopzone, 332 Racecourse Rd, Flemington near the Newmarket R.S, but I think they farm the serious work out elsewhere. -------- Wandering a bit off topic... I have a dislike of the above "line interactive" style of UPS because they pass through the mains until it drops too low, so if you have need to supply locally generated power for continued operation, you need one of those expensive sine wave output generators. I feel that a dearer "double conversion" style UPS and a cheap-but-square-wave higher power generator that will also boil a (small) jug a better approach. eg http://www.socomec.com.au/characteristics-ups-itys_en_AU.html The model ITY-TW020B costs around $1000
Allan Duncan <amd2345@fastmail.com.au> wrote:
From APC's site, the replacement battery is RBC7 costing around $230 plus shipping. CPL and Scorptec list them, but I'd pre-order if I was picking it up. The change-over is just a matter of opening the side, sliding the old one out and unplugging it, then reversing the procedure with the new unit. There may be some recalibration needed - info is on the APC site (pdfs).
Thanks. That's expensive (but see below).
In summary, any competent PC repair house should be able to do it if fed the pdfs from APC and the relevant Replacement Battery Cartridge. Personally, I have had satisfactory results from Laptopzone, 332 Racecourse Rd, Flemington near the Newmarket R.S, but I think they farm the serious work out elsewhere.
So if I can find a supplier who does this regularly and reliably, it may well still be less expensive than the $230.
On 13/10/2012 4:16 PM, Allan Duncan wrote:
OK, I can't answer your specific "who" question, but I can answer the "what" that everyone else is chatting about. (For those who aren't aware, Jason is blind, so DIY is out.)
I'm not so sure it rules out DIY .... if he had that attitude, then I guess he wouldn't bother with lots of things, including running Linux. Many people with a disability of any kind often do more than those without any disability. Cheers A.
Andrew McGlashan <andrew.mcglashan@affinityvision.com.au> wrote:
I'm not so sure it rules out DIY .... if he had that attitude, then I guess he wouldn't bother with lots of things, including running Linux.
Yes, and I could probably do it with practice and experience - not worth it for such an infrequent task, but it's likely to be achievable in principle.
FWIW, when my UPS's batteries were in a really sorry state, I got replacements from Jaycar too - has been running smoothly ever since. (Upsonic 1000VA - uses 4x12V SLAs in series)
participants (6)
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Allan Duncan -
Andrew McGlashan -
Anthony Hogan -
Hiddensoul (Mark Clohesy) -
Jason White -
Mark Trickett