Why do consumer UPSs go through batteries so quickly?

mainly 1 followed by 3.

There is usually no serious attempt to dissipate the heat generated within small UPS units, but the killer IMOE is usually overcharging. This doesn't always cause bulging, but can still completely root an SLA well inside 12 months.

The assumed rationale of the designers is:

1. we want maximum possible charge recovery after a discharge, and
2. we want the cheapest possible charge regime, because
3. the battery ain't under warranty.

Interesting....

I have four APC UPSs and they are all are on their original battery, two of them after four years of use. The other two are 1 year and 3 months old, but they are all still going strong.

Hi!

I suppose that I'd have to ask if your UPS is going on to its battery more often than you know.

UPS units in rural areas with bad power don't tend to live very long. A year or two might be all the internal battery can stand. (I have seen some exceptions to this that I cannot explain...)

I've got several UPS units in my home (and at work) that are not exactly new and still have the original batteries in place and working great. The power is by no means bad, but it does go out several times a year.

You might try observing the UPS more closely to see if it is going to battery excessively. Some units have adjustable voltage transfer points. Looking into a higher end model that can adjust line voltage without going to battery might also help.

Batteries are sometimes warranted by the UPS maker. I had an APC Smart UPS that decided its batteries were no longer suitable for use. The UPS was still under warranty, so I called APC and told them what happened. They did not give me the first bit of trouble and I had a new set of batteries within a few days.

William

The batteries should last about 2 to 4 years on the average. The life of a gel cell is difficult to predict. If you are going through them rather quickly, the charging circuit in the UPS may be faulty, or the batteries you are buying may be out of date, or have been kept too long in a discharged state.

--

JANA _____

Why?

Why do consumer level UPSs go through batteries so quickly? A gel cell battery generally lasts several years, but in a UPS they seem to die in around a year, sometimes even bulging and drying out (I guess THAT is due to continued overcharging. but that doesn't always happen.)

Generally the batteries are almost never actually discharged, unless of course the power goes out, which generally happens a few times a year, usually for only a few minutes.

I know that there's a few things that ruin gel cell/lead acid batteries --

In any event, it seems that with every UPS I've ever used (and I've used several, with all sorts of brands and ratings) the batteries tend to die in about a year.

Is there something I should be doing to prolong their life? Replacing them gets expensive ...

-- Doug McLaren, snipped-for-privacy@frenzy.com The death of one man is a tragedy; the death of a million is a statistic --Joseph Stalin

I have an ancient Tripp-Lite which came to me with a dead battery but I stuffed in a pair of somewhat undersized gel cells and it's been working great now for about 4 years. It was a fairly high end unit in its day though.

I've seen plenty of cheap ones kill batteries in short periods though. I'm not sure why they make them recharge so fast, they're rarely needed again for weeks/months at a time after they get used in a storm and the power comes back on.

I've got a 700VA UPS from Tripp-Lite and had it working well for about 5-6 years.. then very suddenly the batteries died.. actually there was no indication until the power went out.. So I could have been on dead batteries for a bit but it wasn't discharged enough to notice.

I replaced the batteries for just less than 1/2 what it would cost for another unit.

I agree with some of the other posts.. two options to seriously consider would be 1. you've got poor power and the UPS makes up for that.. or 2. you've either got a shotty UPS or a cheap on.

James Sweet wrote in news:ZY2Wf.5406$Od7.4853@trnddc06:

It might be that some L-A batteries were too deeply discharged,or some with too high/low a float voltage.

My Tripp-Lite has been in service for fifteen years. I bougth a new UPS yesterday just because of the price. I would be happy if it lasted half as long. I'ts a BELKIN 550VA.

"Rene" wrote in news:gHuWf.1612$ snipped-for-privacy@news20.bellglobal.com:

Do you mean on the original batteries? If so,how long does it run a load when line power is shut off? Is there a minimum time it's supposed to run on batteries?

If you could measure the voltage on the batteries during normal stand-by operation, then you could compare the voltage with the battery manufacturer's recommendation. If you post the results here that would be nice too. The Yuasa website for example shows graphs of life vs. float charge voltage and temperature.

Chris

Chris Jones wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@corp.supernews.com:

I wonder if installing a desulfator circuit would improve battery life?

Dunno, but installing a *good* charger certainly does.