IT pros - where do you buy your replacment UPS batteries?

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michael517
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29 Dec 2014, 4:54 pm

I have had some bad luck with replacement batteries in APC brand UPSes.

Some time ago (2011???) I bought direct from APC, they sucked.

At home, I was bought some used APC UPSes, replaced the batteries with third party ones from Arizona Battery, and got some life out of them.

But at work, they just didn't seem to work - maybe it was when I bought them. It might be because the room can hit 100F in the summer time (I can't change that). One set lasted only six months in a Cyber Research UPS. In desperation I just bought a new APC for that computer, and so far so good.

Presently I have a Smart-UPS DLS1500, supposedly the "D" is for Dell but I have no clue how that happened. Its battery is NFG. I could chicken sh!t again and buy a new UPS, but I thought maybe I should try another third party battery supplier one more time - after all, even the new UPS will become old eventually. I also want to give APCUPSD a chance - I actually prefer the simple GUI of the Back-UPS square wave over the password requiring one of the Smart-UPS series.

The computers are NOT servers, but on test stands that have 24 VDC relays on them that can destroy product if they all open up at one time, instead of the ordered shutdown of the software, which is what happened while I was gone during Christmas.

And the government inspector is coming next week, this will be fun. He's so thorough, he must be an Aspie.



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Tufted Titmouse
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29 Dec 2014, 5:47 pm

Any SLA battery is not going to last long at 38degC, it is one of several factors that shorten their life span. You might as well use cheap batteries and replace them more frequently if you cant keep them cooler.

As for the relays opening due to loss of power and causing damage, you should not be using a UPS to compensate for crap electrical design. This is why shutdown systems are always fail safe, either by safe non energised states or generative breaking on rotating machines.



michael517
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31 Dec 2014, 6:33 pm

It is testing military alternators, and the field side topology is dictated by the specification; I can do what I want on the control side. I can't just go adding over voltage devices on the circuit - the OV capability of the UUT might be that which is being tested.

If the UPS is working, everything is fine.

What gets me is that the military, or even car, batteries that are part of the circuit can easily take the temperatures, but for some reason the UPS batteries can't.

The thought has crossed my mind of hooking up automotive batteries. Hmmm - a Google search. Some UPS have auxiliary battery inputs.

I have thought about latching relays. Some company in Germany makes some sweet ones.

Back to the original question. Anybody have a recommendation on where to buy third party batteries for UPS?