My first topic!
I read a topic by JHorton the other day (http:/
Some of my favorites included:
“possibly a pair of these pump pliers to get a grip on it”
“cut part of the front off the frame to remove the battery”
“My boss used a crowbar and a small piece of wood to lever it out.”
But I wanted to shake my computer monitor and scream *don’t waste your money on new batteries!!!*
**If your UPS has swollen batteries, it’s not the batteries that need replacing, it’s the charging circuit that needs some love.**
Swollen batteries in UPS units are probably the most common occurrence I see on a day to day basis (shameless plug: CoastTec is APC’s only authorized service center in the USA for single-phase UPS).
And here’s why:
During the normal heat up and cool down of the UPS (as it experiences brownouts, blackouts, or runs through self-tests every two weeks) the charging circuit eventually gets out of whack. Even a 1/2 volt increase or decrease will kill the SLA batteries in the UPS and cause them to swell. Leave it alone long enough and you may even get one to gas (who likes rotten egg smell in the morning?). This over/under charging diminishes the lifespan of your batteries.
Installing new batteries in the unit doesn’t solve the underlying issue; it just puts a Band-Aid on the problem. The only solution to ensure you get the full lifespan out of your new batteries, is to have the unit recalibrated (internally, not just a manual runtime calibration).
Understandably, budgets are tight, and squeezing another year out of the UPS on brand new batteries might make sense in certain situations. But in the long run, you’ll be spending more money replacing the batteries. Not to mention the added risk of having a UPS, whose job is to protect your data, failure-prone.
So I’m curious, what do you think the reasoning is for many IT professionals to just replace swollen batteries?
-Unaware that it’s more than a battery issue?
-Management won’t approve the costs?
-If it gets bad enough, just buy brand new?
Let me know your thoughts!