Re: APC UPS 100% Failure Rate (American Power Conversion)

Find one using Sanyo cells in the battery. Sanyo make the best quality IMHO. Not sure who uses them though!

After serveral years of service all 6 of our APC UPSs have failed due
> to dead batteries. The models included: Back-UPS 450, Back-UPS Pro
> 600, Back-UPS Pro 650, two Back-UPS 900's and Back-UPS Pro 1000. Could
> someone recommend a more reliable UPS brand based on reliability after
> serveral years of operation?

What do you expect for a lifetime for those batteries anyway? What does "several years" mean anyway?

As for myself, I pick up replacement batteries at an electronics flea market for $4 each. No problemo! At a cost of about 20cents a day for two batteries for a year, I have no problem with that. And the replacements have lasted for "several years" already.

Al

All batteries will fail after "several years."

Some UPSs (including some from APC) will periodically, or on command, do a load test. Even then, all they can do is warn about a possible battery failure, they can't prevent it.

Rather than buying new UPSs, just replace the batteries and recycle the old ones.

How is it that a good car battery can work for 5 years or more, and under harsh conditions to boot?

One difference: Car battery is always being discharged/charged. Standby battery is always being trickle charged.

Second difference: Standby battery is usually gel cell. Car battery is liquid electrolyte.

Probably a lot more I haven't thought of.

Al

Regarding APC supplies, I've actually had NO failures of this brand at all, except for battery replacement. We must have about 40 of them, most in the

Though APC doesn't recommend replacing the batteries on their older Back-UPS models without the battery compartment door, I do it anyway. Average battery life for the small units is 2-2.5 years, and on the large units, 3-4 years.

Doug Moore

So exercise is good for batteries too? ;-)