PC Peripherals Whats wrong with my APC UPS

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dreamCatcher

dreamCatcher

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Its been a few days since my APC BE650Y-IN 650VA acting funny and every time there is a power fluctuation it shuts down instead of going into the battery mode. Thats not all, it constantly switches from green light to orange and vice versa with accompanying beeps, something like this ...beep beep.......beep beep.......beep beep... with an interval of 2 seconds in between.

Called APC support and did all the basic checks like plugging into a different socket and pressing the circuit breaker etc. But nothing conclusive could be derived.
The UPS is directly connected to the wall socket and not at all overloaded. The user manual has no explanation either for this kind of beeps and lights. Battery does not seem to be the problem, as it was replaced an year ago and the UPS is out of warranty. Another thing is, it does not do the self test when I switch it on, just goes into the above mentioned beeping pattern.

Guys what could be the problem here, is it the board inside the UPS that has gone bad?? Has anyone faced similar problem?
 
So, it works fine when there's no power fluctuation, right? Does it give proper backup if you disconnect mains? If yes, send your UPS for repairs, if not, replace battery. A year means nothing to a battery. Usage patterns and brand/ build quality matters a lot.
 
well the voltage is going above or below the ups AVR capabilty hence its switching to battery ,if the UPS is shutting down the battery must be out of charge .So you could adjust the low voltage transfer point to the lowest,while doing adjusting the high voltage transfer point to higher setting isn't recommended.The ups can also shutdown if the main voltage has exceeded the voltage threshold limit of the UPS.
in all the case the power company is to be blamed.
 
Naga said:
So, it works fine when there's no power fluctuation, right? Does it give proper backup if you disconnect mains? If yes, send your UPS for repairs, if not, replace battery. A year means nothing to a battery. Usage patterns and brand/ build quality matters a lot.
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Well, the UPS completely shuts down be it fluctuation or power failure and even when unplugged from mains. It completely refuses to operate as intended. :(

adder said:
well the voltage is going above or below the ups AVR capabilty hence its switching to battery ,if the UPS is shutting down the battery must be out of charge .So you could adjust the low voltage transfer point to the lowest,while doing adjusting the high voltage transfer point to higher setting isn't recommended.The ups can also shutdown if the main voltage has exceeded the voltage threshold limit of the UPS.
in all the case the power company is to be blamed.
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No mate it is not the problem with the voltage, the UPS in totality is a fail here. :(

UPDATE : Had never used parachute software and installed it for the first time, it says "the battery is unplugged, please reconnect the same". And like adder said the voltage is something like 248 volts, but that's not causing the problem. It failed to do the self test as well.

Took it to the repair centre, and the sealed battery had become fat and bulged, was also cracked and I could see the internals of the same. Never had I seen a SMF battery crack like this and the UPS was never dropped or mishandled. But the multimeter reading of the battery terminals still reads 11.6 volts, even though it was damaged. Also the UPS board had a problem as it did not show any reading on the multimeter when tested.

I will buy a 9Ah amaron quanta SMF for the replacement once the UPS comes back from repair. Is there any harm in using non APC battery? It has same dimentions and rating as APC battery.
 
dreamCatcher said:
I will buy a 9Ah amaron quanta SMF for the replacement once the UPS comes back from repair. Is there any harm in using non APC battery? It has same dimentions and rating as APC battery.
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I am using a 9 Ah Exide PowerSafe battery with my APC UPS, its working as normal.
 
No nothing wrong with using a Quanta battery.

Self test can be enabled or disabled via powerchute,the APC won't trim if the voltage if its just 248v,so the problem is a kaput battery.A battery should read a voltage above 12v mostly around 12.5v ,if it was 11.6v even after charging its EOL.
 
I checked with both Exide and Amaron battery sellers and they say that only 7Ah and 12Ah Batteries are available, 9Ah don't come at all. What do I do??? :(

@ varkey

How long has it been since you purchased that bat.
 
^ I bought it towards April end.

Even I couldn't find Amaron 9 AH, only 7.2AH was available here. Exide PowerSafe 9AH was available, but had to check many stores to finally get one. If you are getting the Exide, buy only the PowerSafe series and not the Chloride series.
 
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Finally got hold of Exide Powersafe 1234W 9AH battery for Rs 850 + tax, installed it and the UPS is working normally for the past 5 days.

People looking for 9Ah batteries from now on will have to get it only from APC, AMCO or Local unbranded, as Amaron and Exide have stopped manufacturing these. I called both Amaron and Exide offices in Bangalore and got it confirmed about the non availability of 9Ah. I was just plain lucky to get it from one of the distributors, who happened to have a few pieces left.

About the UPS light going from green to orange together with abnormal beeps, regarding this I sent a detailed mail to APC tech team and they say that, since the battery was cracked, the electrolyte might have evaporated and rendering the battery useless. As we all know SMF batteries have liquid soaked sponges in between the plates, the absence of electrolyte led to the gradual lowering of voltage in the battery and therefore the UPS failed to accept it. Like I said in the above post, powerchute gave a message saying "the battery is unplugged, please reconnect the same". So their explanation holds good.

Thank you guys for all your help, appreciate it. :)
 
same thing happened with me with my apc, did lotsa research, showed it to some experts, got fed-up so later took the battery off, brought the same battery from the nearest exide store & it is running absolutely fine, its been 2 years since.
 
Sorry to bump up an old thread!

Does anyone know how much APC demands for a battery replacement for the 650VA model? And reading through the thread, it seems that the 9AH batteries are hard to find. Is it okay to get a lower/higher AH battery for the BE650Y-IN model?
 
My 650VA APC's battery is also giving up!

battery backup reduced to 3-5 mins from well over 20 mins(when I first bought it)
 
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