New battery or APC ?

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Gabe3

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I have a very old APC Back-UPS 400. Its over 5 years old and has been through several batterys. None of the replacement batterys have lasted much longer than a year. Its been out of commission for probably 8 months because of a dead battery and I have all my stuff plugged into the wall and surge protected power strips.

Heres the stuff I need to have battery backup and what I rate the power usage.

computer w/500watt PSU- high
dual lcd monitors: low-medium
voip phone base: low
cable modem: medium
router: low

I don't really need the lcd monitors on battery backup, but I would like to have at least one on battery and both surge protected.

just as I'm typing this the power went out. I knew I would have to spend some cash when summer storms down here in florida arrive and their here!
 
I almost always get a new unit. Turns out that unless you hunt down the batteries from a 3rd party source, it is usually as cheap or CHEAPER. Happened to me last time my computer UPS went out. It was about $100 total to get a new battery for it (shipping was a non-trivial cost). So I went and checked Costco. Well sure enough, there was a similar UPS on sale for $100. So I got that.

Why replace just the battery, when you can replace all the electronics (which can go bad too) for the same price?

In your case this goes double since a battery should last well more than a year. I don't recall how old the UPS on my desktop is, but the UPS on my servers is over 3 years old and I just tested it (real test, as in I killed the power going to it) this week and it still works fine.

Last I checked Costco still was selling little Tripplite UPSes for $100. I think they are 1000VA thereabouts. They'd work just fine for holding all your gear. Come with a voltage readout on the front too which is kinda nifty.
 
if you live in florida i would recommend hooking up a few boat batteries to that sucker lol

no seriously its time to retire that guy i think, your batteries should be lasting you longer than a year unless you often get blackouts that cause complete battery depletion...

i live in south florida so i feel your pain, but my SmartUPS 1400's batteries are about ~3 years old and they are still running fine... ive replaced the batteries in it every 3~4 years since i got it (with dead original batteries)
 
I have a very old APC Back-UPS 400. Its over 5 years old and has been through several batterys
Click to expand...
I have exactly the same UPS and replaced the battery some years ago for less than $40.
It still works wonders and saved my PC from nasty mains cycling here in the UK during the recent strong winds.
The battery has lasted maybe 4 years with no sign of giving up.
Maybe yours had a faulty charging circuit?
 
Nenu said:
I have exactly the same UPS and replaced the battery some years ago for less than $40.
It still works wonders and saved my PC from nasty mains cycling here in the UK during the recent strong winds.
The battery has lasted maybe 4 years with no sign of giving up.
Maybe yours had a faulty charging circuit?
Click to expand...

maybe thats what the problem was.
 
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