APC Replacement Battery

[Michael]

Hello all,

 

I was asked to take a look at an APC Smart UPS 1000 which was occasionally beeping and flashing red. The UPS itself is fine, however it requires a new battery.

 

I noticed there are official APC replacements and APC compatible replacements which appear exactly the same, are much cheaper and still come with a one or two year warranty.

 

Do you buy official replacements or compatible replacements? If you bought compatible, which make did you buy and have you experienced any problems?

 

I'm curious whether it's like compatible ink toner - great quality at a cheap price, but never looks as good as the official toner? I suspect batteries can be manufactured at different levels of quality too.

[joe90bass]

I've only ever bought official replacements. TBH I didn't know there were compatible ones around, doesn't surprise me that there are though!

 

I'd be wanting to know if the UPS monitoring hardware and software picks up how much charge and run time the battery has okay with the compatibles. I don't see why it shouldn't but you never know if APC have tied it down to their own batteries.......

[mattx]

Same here, only ever bought the proper replacements - don't drop one on your foot though like I did a few years back.......Still suffering now from that.

Could be worse, could have a cabinet fall on me, on hang on a minute, that happened only a few months ago.....

[Andrew_C]

You do need to check that the battery TYPE is appropriate, not just voltage and capacity. Car batteries for example are designed for a huge, short discharge and then a long charge. UPS batteries need to stay at full capacity, trickle charging forever, unless there is a fault. The UPS that I will be ordering batteries for on Monday has no fancy detectors, it reads battery voltage etc through the load connections.

 

APC = £100

CPC = £34

 

Cheaper to replace the unit than pay APC prices.

[kmount]

I'd stick with the original, Misco sell them for £79.99 ex VAT which isn't a bad price all things considered.

[kmount]

Cheaper to replace the unit than pay APC prices.

 

Not in the OPs case, £234 for the UPS, £79.99 for the battery.

[imiddleton25]

I thought of saving some money last summer buying the cheaper alternatives.

 

In my annual ups check I noticed that the cheap batteries has distorted.

They had overheated and the outer casing was warped also voltage was down from 6v to 2-3.6v each.

 

So I personally will only now buy genuine replacements for the ups battery's.

[everton4europe]

We have used wheelchair batteries before. they are same voltage etc the only thing we had to alter was put a link between the two batteries.

[Michael]

Thanks all for the useful replies, much appreciated.

 

I think official APC replacements are the answer and although expensive, it's not me paying the final bill!

 

I've only ever bought official replacements. TBH I didn't know there were compatible ones around, doesn't surprise me that there are though!

 

I didn't know they existed either, hence me asking the question. Have a look here how much prices vary!

 

Could be worse, could have a cabinet fall on me, on hang on a minute, that happened only a few months ago.....

 

How on earth did it fall? I hope you didn't sustain serious injury from that, but even small cabinets are heavy.

 

You do need to check that the battery TYPE is appropriate, not just voltage and capacity.

 

The model number I am after is RBC6 (see above link) which supports a range of UPS's.

 

In my annual ups check I noticed that the cheap batteries has distorted.

 

This is exactly what I am afraid of! Thanks for confirming your experience. I presume you always buy official replacements now?

 

We have used wheelchair batteries before.

 

I never thought about doing that, but I don't have a wheel chair to hand! It's a good idea though in theory.

[kmount]

Very welcome indeed Michael.

[Andrew_C]

We have used wheelchair batteries before. they are same voltage etc the only thing we had to alter was put a link between the two batteries.

This is exatly what I mean by "using the right type" above. These are not designed to work as UPS batteries on float charge for long periods.

[Sylv3r]

Only use official APC batteries here as well. UPS is a critical piece of equipment and I wouldn't penny pinch with something like this.

[localzuk]

I stick to official APC batteries myself. A UPS is far too important to skimp on a few quid here and there for batteries.

[laserblazer]

All of the lights started flashing on one of ours, so I replaced the battery with an equivalent. The lights still flash but the voltage seems fine. The lights continuing to flash after battery change is well documented. I tired all of the fixes which didn't help. As the UPS is getting on for 10 years old, I think I'll change it when I have a bit of spare cash.

[maniac]

APC batteries are made by Yuasa, who are possibly the largest manufacture of batteries in the UK (possibly the world) They make everything from little cell batteries, car batteries to industrial batteries and everything else in between.

 

Every battery has a battery type number, normally stamped into the case of the battery somewhere, there are only a certain number of these. APC batteries are normally made from 2 or more batteries clamped together to form a battery pack, wired in series with a fused link at once end, and the supply cables coming off the other. As long as you source a battery that is the correct type (meaning it will have the same amp hours, voltage etc.) then there is nothing wrong with using non-APC batteries, and you will save yourself a shedload of cash.

 

NPC Range is one of many places that sell Yuasa batteries. Their NPC range is normally used in UPS devices I seem to recall, but check the batteries you have, there will be a battery type stamped on them somewhere!

 

Mike.

[Daleus]

I ordered a new battery from misco for the APC SmartUPS 1000 last wednesday, it hasn't arrived yet, grrr and the bleeping on the UPS has got faster! yaaay