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Hi all

My APC UPS (Model BR1000G) has been running great for about 5 or 6 years now, no problems at all. The battery is about up to its rated life span so I wasn't surprised to see that on the display is now a blinking battery symbol with a cross. The manual states that the battery is coming to the end of its normal life and to replace it.

Okay, no problem. so I've ordered a new battery, genuine APC and cheaper than I was expecting, but it won't arrive for another week. In the mean time, I've noted that the UPS, which is normally silent now has a quiet but audible hum. At the moment I last looked at it the load is negligible, just one PC and a couple of monitors all on standby. The top is fairly warm, but not too hot to touch or anything.

Is it okay to run this in this mode? Basically until the new battery arrives it's running as a fancy surge protector, though the battery gauge still reads full charge. The manual doesn't mention anything other than the battery needs replacing.

Thanks!
srg

I don't generally like replacing batteries in the consumer/office models. For one reason, the batteries don't seem to last as long. For another reason, I know of multiple instances of them catching on fire. I know a lot of people do it without issues, but where I use them at work we put them in because we have really dirty power (and really bad storms this time of year). If you also have dirty power then it could be that some of the other components, such as the capacitors, are also going and that's where the hum is coming from.

If your battery is bad, the UPS could be trying to charge it continuously, but my UPS units don't hum noticeably except when the inverter is working.

Agree that the extra hum is probably a symptom of the UPS charger circuit compensating for the battery's condition. Probably harmless, and suggest waiting to see if it persists after the battery is replaced.

Then again, all cheaper UPSs I've dealt with make a bit of light hum or buzz while operating (a lot more while self-checking the battery at power-up, or while operating from the battery, but some noise regardless). Are you sure the unit really was completely silent in the past, and that you're not just noticing it now because you've been tinkering with it?

Like ludi suggested, I would wait to see if new batteries fix the hum. I recently had a 8-9ish year old APC lose its ability to detect A/C. That's kind of a problem, and it made really horrible noises while trying endlessly. If you need a replacement anyway though, Cyberpower seems to be the new darling.

We have a lot of APC UPSs at work and I've worked with a lot of them. I have replaced batteries in maybe 5 different units without issue.

You can "turn on" the UPS so that it is using the battery power even when it is plugged into the wall. For models that we have in our lab when you turn them on a fan will start to spinning and the batteries may heat up. Check that you didn't turn on the UPS while messing with the buttons. Try pressing the power button once and see if it stops making noise. Does the noise change if you unplug the UPS from the wall?

I'm not sure about all models but you should be able to run it with the bad batteries removed. Newer models may not like this, haven't tried it in a long time.

If you hadn't done so yet you definitely need check if they are bulging, the last APC UPS I bought had the original batteries bulging at just 3 years of age and I almost couldn't get them out without breaking the UPS housing. 5-6 years is a hell of a time, consider yourself lucky if they last 5.

APC branded replacements tended to last me 3 years tops, but I found a local shop that sells SLA batts and those are lasting much longer. Probably because they have rapid stock turnover and they are fresh batts I assume, they sell the same brand APC rebadges. If a local PC/tech shop doesn't stock them someone else should.

Something I learned the hard way a few years ago: Never by a "new old stock" UPS on clearance unless it is still a good deal after factoring the cost of replacement batteries. The batteries that come with the unit will likely last only a few months.

Thanks for the ideas guys, it does sound plausible that the charger circuit is compensating for the battery.

To be honest I'm not sure if the noise and heat is more or less than before, as I never really noticed it until now. That said if the charger curcuit is working overtime, I can see why it could be warmer and noisier than before.

The Unit I have I bought new and I know I've been lucky with it. Not only has it lasted a long time, but it's been up and down the country with me, so I got a good one. Only a few months ago, I knew it held enough charge to run a PC for a reasonable amount of time to shut it down. The battery I've ordered is not "new old stock" as far as I'm aware, but a new APC branded battery. Here's the Amazon page just in case I got that wrong:

https://www.amazon.com/APC-APCRBC124-Replacement-Cartridge-SMC1000-2U/dp/B004FV7XJG/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1493813428&sr=8-3&keywords=apc%2Brbc&refinements=p_89%3AAPC&th=1

In the mean time. I will remove the unit from my setup (replacing with one of our trip-lite surge protectors) and inspect it to make sure the battey is not bulging or leaking at the terminals etc. I think the charger circuit needs a rest . I'll report back when I get the battery.

UPDATE: Original battery ship date was May 9, but now its supposed to arrive tomorrow.

If you're not comfortable with replacing the batteries themselves, the local Batteries + Bulbs store near me will do it for free if you purchase the replacement battery through them. Didn't have a problem with the replacement battery until it too was near the end of its life span. By then, I simply decided to get an entirely new UPS but it is an option. I'm still casually looking for a good rack mount UPS (or two) second hand with the intention of having the batteries immediately replaced by Batteries + Bulbs.

the wrote:

If you're not comfortable with replacing the batteries themselves, the local Batteries + Bulbs store near me will do it for free if you purchase the replacement battery through them. Didn't have a problem with the replacement battery until it too was near the end of its life span. By then, I simply decided to get an entirely new UPS but it is an option. I'm still casually looking for a good rack mount UPS (or two) second hand with the intention of having the batteries immediately replaced by Batteries + Bulbs.

Battery replacement on this UPS is really simple. Through a trap door in the bottom of the case the battery just slots in, no disassembly of the UPS required. The battery is also shaped that for safe shipping, you pull it out, flip it around back to front and slot it back in. Then repeat when unpacking.

Some passing thoughts on UPS systems and UPS batteries....

I have operated 1 or more UPS at home for almost 20 years. I have used Best Power, now part of Eaton, Cyberpower, APC, Eaton, and some brand I don't remember that I got at Newegg.

The brand I can't remember was a UPS that I would never buy again because it became nothing but a problem after replacing the batteries.

The remaining models are all suitable for use in a small office setting; none of them are rackmount models as I do not have any racks. None of the units are the lower end "consumer grade" units because I look for the "line interactive" feature in the UPS systems that I buy, so that means I have to spend a few more $$ than a typical UPS home user. That feature is important to me because my local power isn't as "clean" as it should be. Sometimes a good wind storm causes issues in the power lines that is reflected in the quality of power delivered to homes. That's why I started using UPS systems in the first place.

As for battery replacement I find the local Batteries+ stores, and I have 4 within 10 miles of me, to be satisfactory for my needs. I can get the cells that I want and return the old cells for recycling. I like to use "high rate" batteries in my UPS systems since they are specifically designed for the heavy discharge loads found in UPS systems and similar uses, so they claim. They do cost more, around $5 to $10 more in my area, but you should get more discharges/deep-draws at higher current rates compared to the "everyday" cells that you can buy. I have proven that fact in my own experiences. And "No, a 'high rate' cell is not the same as a cell used for a wheelchair or golf cart or whatever."

I have found the typical replacement battery should last it's warranty life if it's not subjected to constant "deep-draw then full recharge" cycles and not used in extreme temperature environments. If your local power is so bad that your UPS seems to "trip on" almost constantly and you know the batteries are good, then you ought to consider an onsite generator and electrical transfer switch assembly, or perhaps some other less costly form of stable electrical power.

I choose UPS systems that I can monitor using "nut" and benefit from having systems automatically perform a "graceful shutdown" when "nut" reports the battery level is getting too low. In my case the systems are Linux-based so using "nut" is fairly easy to install, use, and upgrade. I use a web application called "monitorix" to monitor the available UPS values over time. The "monitorix" application sorts out the values that it can understand and presents them in graphs using a web interface and it's own built-in, but also defeatable, web server function. The "monitorix" application has helped me understand my local & household power quality a lot better.

As a interesting side note: I find my UPS systems record far fewer electrical disturbances on the input AC side now that I have changed out almost all of the lights in the house to LED. It seems the older high wattage incandescent bulbs could cause "spikes" when turning them off and on, especially the multiple large 150w "flood" style lights in my kitchen ceiling. After the changeover to LED I find the electrical spikes are now due to heavy motor loads turning off and on, like the washing machine and the occasional power delivery disturbances. YMMV

The only time I've actually had to disassemble a UPS was to replace a failed internal fan.

Many of them require you to disconnect/reconnect spade lug wires to the battery, and in one case I had to use some double-sided foam tape because I refused to pay APC's inflated prices just for them to assemble the "pack" (which consisted of two standard gel cells glued side by side) for me.

just brew it! wrote:

The only time I've actually had to disassemble a UPS was to replace a failed internal fan.

Many of them require you to disconnect/reconnect spade lug wires to the battery, and in one case I had to use some double-sided foam tape because I refused to pay APC's inflated prices just for them to assemble the "pack" (which consisted of two standard gel cells glued side by side) for me.

Yeah I ended up doing the same thing for my old APC UPS. It lasted another 3 years before it started having issues with the relays constantly switching between live power and battery several times every 10 seconds. When I have some time, going to open it up and see what failed inside, but cant complain, got over 13 years out of it with only one battery replacement.

I've now had a chance to look it over.

Removed and inspected the battery, no obvious bulging or or leaking, I had left it off for an about an hour and it was still very hot to touch, not surprising if the UPS has been constantly trying to keep it topped up.

The UPS otherwise seemed fine. I turned it on without the battery and with a small laser printer connected to it and it was fine, none of the louder hum. You can hear it if you put year ear right up to it, but that's how I always remember this unit.

So all that's left now is to try it with the new battery.

srg86 wrote:

The UPS otherwise seemed fine. I turned it on without the battery and with a small laser printer connected to it and it was fine, none of the louder hum. You can hear it if you put year ear right up to it, but that's how I always remember this unit.

That laser printer isn't normally connected to one of the battery backup plugs, is it? Most UPS devices I've seen explicitly warn against it, as the conversion circuitry can't handle the power requirements of the fuser.

We exclusively use the BR1000G units at our client sites. I can't add anything additional as it has all pretty much been covered but I would second the opinion of having Batteries+ do the replacements. Even as simple as the BR1000G batteries are to replace, I still use them because of the "new old stock" issue as JBI put it. Buying replacement batteries online has never really ended well for us, they never last very long. Since these are unique kits, their turn is much slower than the actual batteries would see in the market. It's hard to know how long they've been sitting around. It's not to say they are guaranteed old, it's just more likely.

I definitely wouldn't plug the laserjet into it, but I'm assuming it isn't normally connected because it would beep at you each time you printed. Even the lowest end HP laserjets are too much for a BR1000G.

ludi wrote:

srg86 wrote:

The UPS otherwise seemed fine. I turned it on without the battery and with a small laser printer connected to it and it was fine, none of the louder hum. You can hear it if you put year ear right up to it, but that's how I always remember this unit.

That laser printer isn't normally connected to one of the battery backup plugs, is it? Most UPS devices I've seen explicitly warn against it, as the conversion circuitry can't handle the power requirements of the fuser.

Oh no, I wouldn't normally run a laser printer on a UPS, this was just a test to make sure the humming wasn't something other than a dieing battery,

In future, I'll look at using Batteries+, I think there's one not that for away from me.

Outside of running its tests, my UPD hardly ever uses its battery, so I wonder if that's why I'd had good life out of it so far?

looks to me like your model is of the type 'Line Interactive'... http://www.apc.com/us/en/faqs/FA157448/
It looks like, even if the battery does fail it can run without it. But I'm guessing that impending battery failure would not produce the hum. That said, I have the BackUPS NS1350 in my home and business. When they are unplugged from the wall but still loaded, a fan comes on and they make quite a hum running only on battery.

Thanks for all the info guys.

I've had the new battery for a few days now and so far so good, the extra hum is gone and the UPS feels much cooler on the top, so it was just trying to prop up a dieing battery.

Generally, if the battery is getting questionable, the determining factor for whether it is safe, for me, is if it is hot or not. If the UPS/battery is getting very hot, then I would shut it down. If not, you should be OK.

I'm surprised you got that long out of it. My batteries generally last around 3 years or so.

Here is where I usually go for my batteries:
http://www.provantage.com/~HOME.htm

I've tried all their non-APC brands, generally with good results, and much cheaper than the APC-branded batteries.