Question about UPS batteries

[On_Point]

Hi guys, I recently had to replace my UPS batteries due to power cuts. And I got two 12v9Ah which were working fine for about a month but now within 2 months the UPS shuts down within 1 hour, even when the PC is shut down. So all the UPS is fully powering is my router.

Does anyone know why this might be?
Is there any way to check the remaining capacity of the UPS? I looked in the software that came with it, but it doesn't show capacity in watts. It just shows capacity as a percentage.
Do UPS batteries loose capacity as they age, like other rechargeable batteries?
If so, is there anyway to check how old the batteries are when you buy them?

 

[BugFreak]

Yes thy do lose the ability to hold the charge as they age. At least in my experience.

Are the replacement batteries you bought after market? I've found the aftermarket don't last nearly as long as name brand.

 

[don256us]

Yeah. As batteries age, they loose thier ability to hold a charge. Different battery types loose it for different reasons. What UPS do you have? Where did you get the batteries? What router do you have plugged in to it? Any other gear? Your computer: Do you have Wake on LAN enabled? Do you have anything like a USB port set to "Charge" where it pulls power to charge your phone or tablet. Lots of the new MBs have this as a feature. These types of things can pull power you didn't intend to pull.

 

[On_Point]

I got a PowerInspired VIS2000B which had 2 12v10Ah batteries initially, but I changed the batteries twice before and the last ones I had were 12V 9Ah. New ones were also 9Ah.
But the previous batteries didn't lose charge like this in a few months.
I have my PC, 5.1 speakers and router plugged in to my UPS. But when there's a power cut I turn off the PC and I don't have a bunch of USB devices pulling power either.
The only thing that is running is the router which uses 15v
There is no way this UPS can't run a router for more than a hour lol

So is there no way to check the remaining capacity of these batteries?
And is there no way to tell how old the batteries are when buying? (like check the manufacture date)

 

[EarthDog]

I'm not sure about the batteries/checking them for capacity. For this situation, I wouldn't buy used and stick to the exact same size/capacity it calls for. I don't think a 'born on ' date is going to tell you much about what's left in them.

Clean up those loose batteries! I'd hate to lose them.

 

[On_Point]

I'm not sure about the batteries/checking them for capacity. For this situation, I wouldn't buy used and stick to the exact same size/capacity it calls for. I don't think a 'born on ' date is going to tell you much about what's left in them.

Clean up those loose batteries! I'd hate to lose them.

The Ah really doesn't affect anything other than how much capacity the battery has. As long as the V is the same it works and I checked this before replacing UPS batteries in the first place.
And only a moron would buy used batteries lol
The reason I asked for "born on" date is because I know rechargeable AA or AAA batteries loose like 20% capacity after a year of storage. And the capacity lost is also effected by the storage temperature.
And many of those batteries have a code which indicates the year of manufacture. But it's usually in code which you have to look up.
I actually got some AA batteries that said 3000mAh but could only hold like 500-600mAh (according to my charger) Which means that was a very old batch of batteries.

 

[EarthDog]

Right. I understand the concept of how a battery works (though there are several other variables involved than simply storage/age for capacity loss). Im not 100% convinced that's the issue here.

Maybe consider reaching out to support for the UPS and see what they have to say. Perhaps it's a problem in the device causing it to lose (not loose!l) charging capability? I'd imagine this UPS is several years old if this is the third battery replacement...you can only test with another set of batteries.

Maybe I'm barking up the wrong tree, but feels like several charge discharge cycles (your outages over the last three months) shouldn't be the cause of lower capacity. Don't these get more life with use than sitting charged all the time?

 

[don256us]

Lead acid really don't loose capacity over time. They wear down if you let them discharge or through vibration like in a car. Li** batteries tend to loose capacity due to age. NiCd were just the worst for me as a kid. They make me curl into a ball and sob while rocking myself just thinking about them.

I would look at the supplier of your latest battery purchase. My guess is that they are mislabeled and that may not have been an accident.

 

[On_Point]

Yea there is no way a two 9Ah batteries can't run a 15v router for more than 1 hour lol
Wish the stupid software would show the actual capacity in watts instead of just saying it's 100%
The only way for me to test this is to pay out for another 2 batteries
And I really need this sorted because I'm still facing daily power cuts.

 

[torin3]

When I was doing IT work in a machine shop, I would usually have to replace UPS batteries after about 3 years. We had a store we worked with and recycled them. I think we had a 6 month warranty on them.

So, I'd see if there is a dedicated battery store near you that handles a wide variety of batteries from AA to car batteries. They should have equipment to test your batteries. If you buy from them, make sure they provide a warranty that is more than 30 to 60 days.

I hope that helps, or at least provides a few data points.

 

[On_Point]

Just wondering...can this happen if batteries are "loose"?
@EarthDog
I didn't really get what you meant by "Clean up those loose batteries! I'd hate to lose them."

 

[EarthDog]

Sorry, lol. I was trying to show the difference between loose (something not tight - pronounced like goose or moose) and lose (becoming unable to find - pronounced like booze or choose). They are orthographically close, but very different meanings.

 

[On_Point]

I'm just shocked the UPS software has all the info like input voltage, output voltage, frequency in Hz, load level etc But it can't tell me the actual capacity of the batteries....all it has is a percentage for how full it currently is.
Either way, in today's power cut I was just watching YouTube, and it didn't even give me more than 1 min before the PC shut off. So I guess I have no choice but to buy new batteries.
I think I must have been sold used batteries, although the ad said NEW and the batteries had plastic wrapping stuck to it.

 

[The_Jizzler]

Easiest way to test the batteries is charge till full, then hook up a known load wattage (like a 100w light bulb for ex) and see how long it takes to discharge. 100w bulb is roughly 1 amp. If the bulb stays lit for 5 hours, you have 5Ah of capacity

 

[On_Point]

Do you guys know of a UPS that is well-designed, so you can easily replace the batteries?
The one I have was designed by a moron, or they wanted the batteries to not come out.
They have some casing inside to secure the batteries, but it's actually designed in a way where you have to force the batteries in, so they get stuck in place.
This is bad enough when you have to take them back out because pulling these out is much harder than pushing them in. But these batteries tend to expand slightly over time as they heat up, which means they get jammed even more.
I literally spent about 1.5 hours trying to get the batteries out this time and cut myself on sharp plastic

 

[torin3]

In my experience, the really small UPSs and the really big ones aren't too hard to get batteries out of. The 800VA to about 1500VA seem to be the worst. And the APC 1500VA I'm most used to dealing with weren't too bad most of the time, but expanded batteries were a pain to remove.

 

[On_Point]

In my experience, the really small UPSs and the really big ones aren't too hard to get batteries out of. The 800VA to about 1500VA seem to be the worst. And the APC 1500VA I'm most used to dealing with weren't too bad most of the time, but expanded batteries were a pain to remove.

I have the 2000VA one seen here.

VIS-B Series UPS Systems - Uninterruptible Power Supplies

Power Inspired VIS Series UPS Systems are line interactive units with sine wave inverter. LCD display, UK socket outlets. 1&2KVA models.

www.powerinspired.com

This would not be an issue if they took a bit of time to make a proper bracket to hold the batteries in place. One that lets you adjust the size to secure and reemove the batteries.
Instead, they literally designed it, so you push the batteries into a small space, so they get stuck in place

 

[don256us]

Sorry, lol. I was trying to show the difference between loose (something not tight - pronounced like goose or moose) and lose (becoming unable to find - pronounced like booze or choose). They are orthographically close, but very different meanings.

I don't understand some of those words so I'm going to take that as disrespect. (Kevin Hart)

 

[MaddMutt]

This may be totally unrelated for your situation BUT I had a bad experience on UPS battery replacement. I had a 850 (APC) that the batt had gone bad in. I took it to a reseller ( Batteries+ Here in the US ) to find a replacement. The clerk sold me one that was a higher rating than what I had. He said that it was better, would last longer, and was cheaper than the one from the OEM web site. I installed it and was happy for 2 months, then the UPS stopped working. It was designed with power plugs one side that where supported by the battery + surge protection. The other side was just surge protected and it was the battery + surge that stopped working :-( The whole side was dead ( MM showed no V on output ) so i have used that as a learning experience

 

[On_Point]

This may be totally unrelated for your situation BUT I had a bad experience on UPS battery replacement. I had a 850 (APC) that the batt had gone bad in. I took it to a reseller ( Batteries+ Here in the US ) to find a replacement. The clerk sold me one that was a higher rating than what I had. He said that it was better, would last longer, and was cheaper than the one from the OEM web site. I installed it and was happy for 2 months, then the UPS stopped working. It was designed with power plugs one side that where supported by the battery + surge protection. The other side was just surge protected and it was the battery + surge that stopped working :-( The whole side was dead ( MM showed no V on output ) so i have used that as a learning experience

Maybe something like that happened with my battery. Because the batteries seemed new...like sealed with plastic wrapping like most of them.
The capacity (AH) actually doesn't make a difference. As long as the voltage is the same, nothing should explode lol