UPS replacement

Phil2008 · 26 Apr 2011 at 12:14

Im amazed as most UPS are only 320 joules as Ive been looking the net for a replacement of my belkin 1200va UPS. But even most of the APC ups are 320 joules and my belkin is 420 joules. So Im prob best to replace the batteries then downgrade myself on the surge protection side.

You can buy the batteries But I don't think they are very easy to get out, so I'll remove the batts before I order new ones, incase I brake the UPS getting them out.

Phil2008 · 26 Apr 2011 at 14:56

Ah yeah now I remember,, to figger out the surge protection you have to x the amps the volts to get the max watt surge it can deal with. My UPS can kill a 39.000.000watt surge apparently.

So how meny secs or milliseconds is 420 joules before my ups dies??

Phil2008 · 26 Apr 2011 at 21:24

Energize said:
Joules is just a unit of energy, it has no time component. Anyway changing a UPS battery is very easy, they just pull out. Surely you put the battery in the UPS when you first used it?

I wish, it not nice and simple like APC UPS to change the batts, look........

You have to remove every thing around them and then try to get them out on the metal frame..

Also you have to be very careful taking off the metal case as the circuit board on top is only millimetres away from the case, so if you touch the board while taking off the case, bye bye ups. But Ive read if you slide the case back just enough so you can disconnect 1 of the bat leads, and then it dont matter what the case touches.

But you must be able to replace them some how, as you can buy the batteries for the UPS.. But Im not sure how I will be able to get the batts out of the metal frame :eek:

Phil2008 · 26 Apr 2011 at 23:54

AtaRo said:
Looks like a Plexus unit and looks like a 500VA unit.
I have removed some battery from a 1500VA unit but have not tried a 500VA unit yet but it looks like you need to removed the 2 transformer bolts at the bottom to removed the metal panel that holds the battery.
This type of UPS does not have an overtemp protection on the battery which is not good as if the battery becomes faulty/leaky the charger will continue to charge it continuously which in turn makes the battery very hot (learned it the hard way) which could cause the battery to leak acid or worse.
Where do you intend to get the batteries from? as I also got a few units for battery replacement.

My UPS is the "Belkin 1200va with AVR" and that pic was a belkin 800va, but Im guessing the insides look the same. I can buy the batts from ebay or from here.......

http://www.hardwarexpress.co.uk/belkin-f6c120-ups-battery-replacement-168-p.asp

These are the pics of the both sides of the 800va ups, as I should have put them both on before

Energize said:
Jesus, you might as well buy a new APC.

Yeah thats what I was going todo, but my belkin ups seems quite decent after browing the net for a new one.

Phil2008 · 27 Apr 2011 at 00:01

bremen1874 said:
There's a useful looking battery replacement guide here that might be applicable.

Looks quite tricky, and you need steady hands by the looks :eek:

Phil2008 · 27 Apr 2011 at 06:30

About 5yrs ago,, we had a sudden storm,, a huge bang of thunder, our mains tripswitch went off, but it didnt go off fast enough to save my pc.. dammit...

That wasnt the main reason I got a ups tho. A few yrs later our mains tripswitch started tripping randomly and would go off like 2-3times a day, so thats was the main reason of getting 1. Mum thought the whole house needed rewireing, so she put it off for about a yr before doing anything about it, ans in the end we only needed a new tripswitch,, hehe. but during that year when the power was off and on like a yoyo, the UPS didnt fail once to kick in and keep my pc going.

Im hoping my ups is faster then our tripswitch was and protect me against another 1 of those sudden thunder storms and protect my pc during a storm, when Im not at home to unplug everything, like it did a few days ago, I wasnt at home and we had a short sharp storm.

Its a piece of mind if anything tho, that your pc is slightly protected against storms, when your not there to unplug everything.

Phil2008 · 27 Apr 2011 at 11:59

AtaRo said:
If your in the near vicinity of the lighting strikes then not any form of surge protection will save your equipment unless it is not plug in.
Also as the lighting travels along the power lines this is where lightning arrester and surge diverter in the power lines comes in, its not like when the lightining hits point A and travels along to point B it will still have the same amount of power when it reaches Point B, some of it will be reduced/absorb by the lightning arrester and surge diverter and also by the consumer equipment that is connected to the line.

I got in contact with belkin about my ups and they said,, if you got a direct hit, everything will be screwed, as no surge protector can save your stuff. But if a storm is nearby, the ups should protect you from that. How unlucky do you have to be to have a direct hit :eek:

Phil2008 · 28 Apr 2011 at 12:44

During a thunderstoms the house electric voltage goes up and down, so its not necessary the lightning that kills stuff, its your own power supply that does the damage during thunderstorms, and we all know that most appliances in your home will stand a bit of a battering in a storm, but a computer wont take meny surges and the changing of the voltage. Its like a few yrs back when my pc was killed during the storm, it never killed anything else in the house and that just proves how sensitive pc's are and they cant take much of a battering with the power supply..

So Im guessing with a ups/surge protectors your pc can withstand more of a battering before the pc gives up the ghost

Phil2008 · 28 Apr 2011 at 21:40

A pc doesn't take much upset from a abnormal power source,but Im guessing pc power supplies are better then they were when my pc died about 6 yrs ago. But Im guessing pc's still are not as robust as you tv or refrigerator are.

So my question is... if a ups or surge protector is infront your pc, will your pc be as robust as your everyday household appliances during a storm are??

Phil2008 · 7 May 2011 at 02:41

I dont know how bad the storm was tonight, as I was out, in town but it looked quite bad from out of the bar/pub window , and my pc is still alive and kicking,,,,, yay

Phil2008 · 11 Jun 2011 at 19:37

Tomorrow Im going to have ago of removing the batts as the UPS goes straight to low batt power when the mains supply fails

Which batts are the best to go for out of these 2, I wont be ordering them until Ive removed the old batts, just incase anything goes wrong :eek:

http://www.hardwarexpress.co.uk/belkin-f6c120-ups-ritar-battery-replacement-1825-p.asp
http://www.hardwarexpress.co.uk/belkin-f6c120-ups-battery-replacement-168-p.asp

Phil2008 · 11 Jun 2011 at 20:29

bremen1874 said:
FWIW APC always seem to use CSB batteries.

Thanks.. I tried killing the power just, and the batts lasted about 3sec then pc went off :mad:

Phil2008 · 11 Jun 2011 at 23:23

I running the batts right down with a lamp,, so hopefully if I do catch the case on the top board, the UPS might survive. But I will disconnect the batts as soon as I can see the leads.

But with trying to run the batts down with a lamp its constantly making its low batt beeping sound, driving me mad..... ahhhhhhhhh Its just died peace and quiet at last, but the bulb was still bright when UPS died, so that idea might not work.

Phil2008 · 12 Jun 2011 at 13:20

Managed to get the batts out without damaging the UPS and Ive ordered the CBS batts.

So all good so far

Phil2008 · 13 Jun 2011 at 14:38

My UPS looking sorry for its self waiting for the new batts.
Im amazed how heavy it still is, without the batts installed.

Phil2008 · 14 Jun 2011 at 15:23

Recieved the batts today, will put them in tomorrow.. It has a date on the box says 02.06.2011, so Im guessing thats when the suppliers got them?

The old batt specs........

The new batt specs...........

The new batts has a higher "Ah", so does this mean they have a higher storage capacity, so they will last a bit longer before running out of juice?

Phil2008 · 18 Jun 2011 at 12:42

Well Ive just installed the new batts, put it all back together and all went well. But when I connected it to the mains, Im greeted with a solid red light, that means...........

So just hope it means the batts are just weak, as theres no beeping and after a few hrs or a reset, the light will go out. But I will leave it charging till at least 12 tonight before messing or connecting things back up.

So cross fingers and toes, that it will work :mad:

Phil2008 · 18 Jun 2011 at 14:26

Well Ive just connected usb cable up,, and everything looks fine. Its even saying its fully charged and I think it might be as the ups was warm but now its cold.

Phil2008 · 18 Jun 2011 at 17:27

UPS back in service once more, I gave it 4hr recharging time as the batt was reporting fully charged within a hr. I ran the test and it passed, and no more red light.

The ups is only 23% loaded with all my stuff, so the UPS will be cope with a few more pc upgrades/builds yet, before it gets overloaded.

Phil2008 · 19 Jun 2011 at 12:08

I have killed the mains power today, to see how long UPS run off batt power, and it last about 25mins untill the low batt beeping starts, thats 25% of batt power left.

I think thats good cos when I had my ati 3870 card and a 19"lcd, it was lasting about 20 - 25mins aswel,, but now I have upgraded to a ati 6950 and a 28" lcd and its lasting for the same amount of time. :cool:

Thanks guys for all your help, much appreciated.