Uninterrupted Power Supply (UPS) Decided to Quit On Me

[Sojourner]

My experience: APS units will beep with low battery. Cyberpower just shut down with no warning.

I recently replaced the battery in my APC ES-550 after I noticed that it failed to keep my PC running through a brief (3 second) power outage. Prior to that failure, it never once beeped or gave any notice that the battery was weak. I bought a generic replacement battery on Amazon for ~ $17, and everything seems to be working fine again. Considering the APC-brand replacement battery retails for $45, I figured the generic was worth a try since I could buy nearly 3 of those for the price of the OEM battery.

 

[JoeWras]

I recently replaced the battery in my APC ES-550 after I noticed that it failed to keep my PC running through a brief (3 second) power outage. Prior to that failure, it never once beeped or gave any notice that the battery was weak. I bought a generic replacement battery on Amazon for ~ $17, and everything seems to be working fine again. Considering the APC-brand replacement battery retails for $45, I figured the generic was worth a try since I could buy nearly 3 of those for the price of the OEM battery.

Maybe it is just a general issue then.

Basically, you have to replace these every 3 years.

 

[camfused]

Perhaps that metal piece is a part of the receptacle assembly, that has broken, and actually needs to be pushed in rather than pulled out.

 

[statsman]

I've replaced the batteries in my Cyberpower UPS a couple times now. I don't recall getting any kind of warning the battery was dying. It wasn't until the power went out and the UPS only lasted a couple minutes that I realized the batteries were failing.

That might be the case because of a feature CyberPower offers. The warning beeps can be disabled in some of their UPS units. A lot of people get annoyed with the constant beeping when the UPS is supplying power during an outage, so that can be disabled. Unfortunately, that also disables the warning when the UPS is about to lose power.

 

[NW-Bound]

My plan is to reroute the power from my off-grid solar storage system to run more electrical outlets and lights in the house. A UPS with 22-kWh storage.

Forget about bitty sealed lead-acid batteries. You will need 20+ automotive batteries to have the same energy. Eat your heart out.

 

[steelyman]

This thread got me to look at the manual for the APC UPS I bought this year to see what it says about expected battery life. 3 to 5 years depending on usage (is your power going off frequently?) and ambient temperature. That seems in line with what others say.

 

[easysurfer]

I'm back to going naked again with no UPS at the moment .

I recently bought an Amazon Basics UPS. Nothing fancy, but hopefully adequate. Well, today, I had my desktop on sleep mode. When I woke the PC up, everything that was connected to the UPS powered off, then about seconds the power came back on. I don't think there was an actual power outage a the outlet.

Next I read closer the Amazon reviews of this UPS and see there are complaints about the unit randomly powering off on it's own.

So, next I called Amazon. After an "eventual" verification (person almost said she couldn't take may call as I wasn't a recognized person on the account (what? I'm the only person on the account). Ended up she couldn't put 2+2 together that my informal namelike "John" should also work for "Johnathan". Guess not according to her .

At least I ended up getting refund for the non-working UPS.

So, looks like either I'm back to UPS shopping again or rationalizing that I really don't need one as much as I think .

 

[catii]

As the former owner of a computer consulting company, what I told (& sold to) my clients was eitherm APC or Tripp-Lite, in that order. Don't play with the consumer-level UPS units!

 

[statsman]

So, looks like either I'm back to UPS shopping again or rationalizing that I really don't need one as much as I think.

I guess it depends on how often you experience power outages or even short power glitches. The house we moved into six months ago has had several outages, most short-lived, but they would have been enough to shut down my PC and mess with the fiber optic equipment.

We've had least one instance of a power drop where I heard the UPS click to battery power, then back to live, then back to battery power, and then finally back to live, all within a 10-15 second span. It hadn't noticed the clicking before or since, except during outages.

Hopefully once the remaining houses are built in our new-ish tract (started back in 2016, I believe), the power lines should be more stable. Then again, this is central Texas, so what we've experienced is apparently not unusual. I don't think I could live without the UPS units we now have.

 

[statsman]

As the former owner of a computer consulting company, what I told (& sold to) my clients was eitherm APC or Tripp-Lite, in that order. Don't play with the consumer-level UPS units!

I've had a couple of APC UPS units in the past back in California. One was fine; the other constantly switched in and out of battery power, whereas the other unit didn't do that. That said, the non-clicking unit died after 2.5 years.

We have CyperPower UPS units throughout the house, and so far (5 months) they've done exactly what we've needed from them. I would put them there with the APC units. The rest of our electronics not on an UPS are on Tripp-Lite surge protectors (printer/scanner, clocks, chargers for cell phones, etc.).

 

[Sunset]

I'm back to going naked again with no UPS at the moment .
......

So, looks like either I'm back to UPS shopping again or rationalizing that I really don't need one as much as I think .

I've been on the computer naked for decades
I do have them plugged into a surge bar as that is more of a concern for me.
When I do something important, I just save often.
Only a few times did the power go out, when I was on the computer, but since I save often or was simply browsing, nothing important was lost.

 

[easysurfer]

I guess it depends on how often you experience power outages or even short power glitches. The house we moved into six months ago has had several outages, most short-lived, but they would have been enough to shut down my PC and mess with the fiber optic equipment.

We've had least one instance of a power drop where I heard the UPS click to battery power, then back to live, then back to battery power, and then finally back to live, all within a 10-15 second span. It hadn't noticed the clicking before or since, except during outages.

Hopefully once the remaining houses are built in our new-ish tract (started back in 2016, I believe), the power lines should be more stable. Then again, this is central Texas, so what we've experienced is apparently not unusual. I don't think I could live without the UPS units we now have.

Power usually is pretty good and only goes out about once or twice a year during summer storms. My biggest concern is if the PC is on and the power goes out in the middle of something and corrupts data. But I do daily backups so if I got UPS less I probably could just restore from the morning backup if needed. Yet at the same time, I must admit that when the power goes out and the UPS kicks properly does have a rewarding feeling.

 

[easysurfer]

I decided to try again and ordered a not too fancy Cyberpower UPS. Hopefully better luck this time around. Was a toss up between that and just getting a decent surge protector and calling the job done.

 

[walkinwood]

I haven't used a UPS or surge protector for my desktop computer for years now. Our electric supply is quite reliable & the few times we've had a power failure, Windows behaves well and the computer comes right back up. Most of my software now automatically saves work too.

 

[easysurfer]

Got my new UPS today.

Wasn't easy and won't win any beauty contests, but ended up mounting the UPS to the side under the desk.

Now I have plenty of leg room .

 

[TromboneAl]

I wasn't impressed with Cyberpower's customer support. I had this one since 2017,

and it failed. They sent a replacement, but two things bothered me.

1. A rep tried to base the warranty period on the manufacture date, not the purchase date.

2. A rep implied that it failed because I had a printer connected. The manual says "no laser printers" but I have a small inkjet connected.

I didn't realize when I bought it that it doesn't have a replaceable battery.

 

[easysurfer]

My first choice as a replacement for the used Cyberpower that failed on my was a simple Amazon Basics model. Unfortunately, that one, within the first week of ownership has the problem of just turning off by itself taking everything plugged in off also.

I'm hoping the Cyberpower I bought (the battery is replaceable) won't give out too soon.

 

[target2019]

A few years ago, I bought a UPS at BJs. What a piece of junk, and it was returned. Not sure of the brand.

Other than that every APS model purchased worked as advertized. Never a problem.

 

[JoeWras]

Earlier on this thread I complained that my Cyberpower started glitching off for a quick second, without warning, when the battery got unable to take charge. My APC units didn't do that, they would start beeping when battery got bad, so I got a warning.

So recently, my gateway box from AT&T fiber started resetting about every 14 hours. It would cause internet and TV to drop for a minute or two. Actually, took me a while to figure out that it was this box going through a reboot cycle. I was ready to call AT&T and ask for a replacement, but I read their forums first and people reported they'll make you plug it directly into the wall if this is happening.

So I did that. And it is perfect. No reboots.

And the reason for the problem? My old reliable APC unit is now doing the quick "power drop out" trick just like the Cyberpower did. There's no battery warning. But I do know the battery is about 3 years old.

So... I'm starting to think of pretty much getting rid of ALL UPS units. I'm not sure of their value anymore. Windows has gotten much better at recovering from power hits, for example.

Why do I even need a UPS?

 

[statsman]

So... I'm starting to think of pretty much getting rid of ALL UPS units. I'm not sure of their value anymore. Windows has gotten much better at recovering from power hits, for example.

Why do I even need a UPS?

I guess it would depend on the frequency of your power dropoffs. Personally, they happen far too often where we now live to allow the various electronics to go through that. When they happen, they can sometimes power off and on multiple times a few seconds apart. We're only six months into our new CyperPower units (one large one for my PC, smaller thinline units for the TVs, DVR, STB, gateway, fiber box), so I have no idea how long they're going to last.

In the past, the power outages were infrequent, so we only had one UPS unit on our older LCD rear projection TV. These were powered by TV light bulbs. If the TV happened to be on when the power went out, the bulb would not be properly cooled down by the fan. Do this a few times, and the bulb would burn out faster. At what was around $250/bulb at the time, the UPS was worth the hassle.

 

[target2019]

I use an APC UPS with my desktop computer to cover the brownouts which seem to hit early in the morning on certain weekends.

Also have a UPS protecting cable modem and router for same reason.

I'm not spending a lot trying to get an hour of runtime. Just concerned about the brownouts.

 

[misanman]

FWIW - We haven't run into the "glitching" problem with the Cyberpowers. They are several years old and I've replaced the battery in one of them.

 

[JoeWras]

I use an APC UPS with my desktop computer to cover the brownouts which seem to hit early in the morning on certain weekends.

Also have a UPS protecting cable modem and router for same reason.

I'm not spending a lot trying to get an hour of runtime. Just concerned about the brownouts.

Yeah, I mean these are the reasons I use them.

But now that two brands have rebelled against me and actually CAUSED quick brown outs, I'm a bit unhappy.

The solution appears to be yearly replacement of the battery, before they get too old. That can get costly.

 

[easysurfer]

I've been using my new Cyberpower UPS for about a month. So far, so good, no random resets (like I had with the Amazon Basics model). Also, the power hasn't gone out either. As a test, I did cut the power to the UPS with a separate switch in between the plug and wall outlet and the UPS kicked in like it should.

I had thought about just getting a surge suppressor instead of a UPS as the power only goes out about twice a year during summer rainstorms. But the model Cyberpower UPS I have has a generous 12 outlets (6 battery backup/surge suppressor, 6 suppressor only). Plus, I like the satisfaction (though not frequent for me) of the computer not taking a dive when the lights go out.

 

[Car-Guy]

So... I'm starting to think of pretty much getting rid of ALL UPS units. I'm not sure of their value anymore. Windows has gotten much better at recovering from power hits, for example.

Why do I even need a UPS?

I guess it would depend on the frequency of your power dropoffs. Personally, they happen far too often where we now live to allow the various electronics to go through that.

A lot depends on where you live and the stability of the power. When we lived in a big city the power was pretty reliable. Out here in the country we take hit's all the time. Flickers at least once every month and outages several times a year. Last week it was out for 90 minutes. I have two smaller APS UPS's which keep the critical stuff up until the generator is running. Probably as important to me is the surge protection I get with the UPS's too.