UPS battery going bad?

shok47shok47
edited September 2008 in Hardware
I have had this Energizer UPS for at LEAST a year now. I did a google on UPS batteries and found that the batteries need replacements at some point. I have the electronics that connect to it shut off at random times, so I was wondering, can the battery be dieing?

Comments

  • LeonardoLeonardo Wake up and smell the glaciers Eagle River, Alaska Icrontian
    edited August 2008
    All UPS batteries, without exception, will eventually degrade and fail.

    As for your UPS, do you have any reason to believe the UPS is not performing the way it should be? Does it have a test utility to run? Does it have a battery charge indicator?
  • _k_k P-Town, Texas Icrontian
    edited August 2008
    Um the easiest way to find out if your batteries are dead, some have a LED bar for life, is to get hold of a multimeter that will test up past the max AMP of the batteries and test them sepertly how man amps they will hold currently. Plus then you have a uselfull meter.
  • bullzisniprbullzisnipr Topeka, KS
    edited August 2008
    Im not sure if what im about to say is true for laptops, so dont hold it against me. But i know that laptops to extend and help maintain the battery they do need to be used every now and then. Leaving the battery plugged in all the time without using the battery will degrade it MUCH faster. Now, im not sure if thats true for all batteries. But it's just a theory that it applies to UPS batteries as well.

    I dont think having the components that are connected shutting of at random times is necessarily the battery. However, as the guys above said, you need to test the battery and check its amperage output. You can always do a simple check by plugging in a couple lights to the battery and unplugging it. Most of the time those UPS's come with an estimate on battery life depending on the wattage draw. Compare the times, and see what you get.
  • LeonardoLeonardo Wake up and smell the glaciers Eagle River, Alaska Icrontian
    edited August 2008
    I have the electronics that connect to it shut off at random times, so I was wondering, can the battery be dieing?
    Oh sorry, I don't know why, but I had read that thinking you were intentionally turning peripherals off to save power. doh

    I did have one UPS that had one bad port. If the wall power would go off, whatever was connected to that bad port would turn off, too, even though it was a battery-backed port.

    But, as was posted above, just hook up some things (low power) to the UPS and unplug it from the wall. You can observe if the battery is still powering those devices.
  • shok47shok47
    edited August 2008
    alright, that sounds like a good test technique. Whenever it does go off, I have to hold the button and it will sound "DEEEEEEEEEE," stop, then the power comes back.
  • LeonardoLeonardo Wake up and smell the glaciers Eagle River, Alaska Icrontian
    edited August 2008
    There should be no break in power delivery when the AC is off. The transfer to DC (battery) should be instantaneous. If it's not instant, your UPS is not working correctly.
  • shok47shok47
    edited August 2008
    So I unplugged it and let the battery run. It does run, boots up my receiver and everything, but still its been shutting off randomly

    Im planning to get a new UPS. To me Energizer just doesn't seem to be part of the UPS industry because I NEVER hear/see them around. APC a good choice?
  • BuddyJBuddyJ Dept. of Propaganda OKC Icrontian
    edited August 2008
    You don't need a new UPS. You probably need a new battery. Most of the time, the batteries are replaceable. You should be able to remove it, and take it to a place like BatteriesPlus or whatever local battery store you have to get a replacement. They aren't too expensive, compared
  • MrBillMrBill Missouri Member
    edited August 2008
    shok47 wrote:
    I have had this Energizer UPS for at LEAST a year now. I did a google on UPS batteries and found that the batteries need replacements at some point. I have the electronics that connect to it shut off at random times, so I was wondering, can the battery be dieing?
    If devices connected to the UPS are shutting off while a/c power is still on, it sounds like the electronics in the UPS are going bad.

    And yes, in my opinion, APC is a good choice.
  • BuddyJBuddyJ Dept. of Propaganda OKC Icrontian
    edited August 2008
    Ah. Yes, if the electronics are crapped out, it's best to get a new one. My bad. And yes, APC is nice. I'd go for them. You should be able to find a good deal here.
  • isudadyisudady
    edited September 2008
    Energizer will shut down once in a while when the battery life is getting short. I complained to Energizer about this and they said it is a "feature" to let you know the UPS needs new batteries. That is about as worthless a feature as I can imagine, the deliberate design of having an appliance fail to do what it is designed for just as a means to tell you that it is getting to the end of its life cycle. A blinking light or intermitent beep would have been better. I am buying another brand now. Oh, the "feature" kicked in at about 3 years which I believe is typical battery life for a consumer style UPS.
  • LeonardoLeonardo Wake up and smell the glaciers Eagle River, Alaska Icrontian
    edited September 2008
    Energizer will shut down once in a while when the battery life is getting short.
    In my opinion, that's a UPS that should power a radio, a low power TV, or something else relatively unimportant. If the UPS powers down ports when the battery is at low level, that's rather odd. All devices connected to the UPS should be powered by AC power as long as your wall connection is good. "Feature?" If that's a feature, it's not really a serious UPS but a 'me-too' gadget.

    Do yourself a favor: Don't spend any money replacing the batteries in your UPS unit. When your UPS no longer provides adequate service for you, use your money instead towards the purchase of a Tripp Lite or APC UPS. Both of those brands are very reliable and good quality. APC has excellent customer support. I know that from experience with them. Also, APC's software is very good. (I refer Tripp Lite only from its reputation. I have only limited use with their products.) A few years back, I had two Belkin UPSes. Both of those experienced early battery failure. The Belkin software was also amateurish, in my opinion.
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