When the power goes out, a UPS keeps your devices running for a while. It gives you some time to save the work you've already done. On a UPS, the battery stores electricity as DC. Then, during a power outage, DC is turned into AC and sent to your device. So, if the battery is terrible, the UPS won't work.
On the other hand, a good UPS battery usually lasts between 3 and 4 years. A high-quality one lasts even longer, but a cheap one lasts less than a year. So, it's hard to know when the battery will run out.
In this part of the article, you will learn to tell if an online ups battery needs to be changed.
A UPS can last more than ten years, but most batteries only last for 3 to 5 years. Depending on how vital the systems are that the UPS is helping to run, it is best to think about replacing the batteries every 3 to 5 years. The best thing to do is replace the UPS unit when the second battery needs to be changed. For online and line-interactive units, this is usually 6 to 10 years after the bought date. When the power goes out, the last thing you want is for the battery to stop working because it has reached the end of its useful life. This is an error you could have avoided.
When a UPS battery is about to die, it will make a sharp beeping sound or show amber warning lights or symbols on its digital display. If either of these is true, the batteries should be tested right away and, if necessary, replaced.
If the battery loses power or doesn't live up to what the manufacturer said it would do or how long it would last, the battery may need to be replaced, or It's possible it was never supposed to work correctly. Many things can shorten the life of a battery, such as flaws in the materials, changes in temperature and humidity, and many other environmental factors. If the battery doesn't work as expected during your testing cycles, it might be time to replace it.
As lead-acid batteries get older, they can start to bulge, which can cause the chassis to warp. If you see leaking or discoloration from acid or heat, you should instantly replace the batteries in that unit. If you don't fix the acid leak, it could damage other essential systems, or, in the worst case, the battery could explode and catch fire, which could be very bad.
If the power goes out and the ups amc doesn't keep your systems running, it's clear that the battery needs to be checked and replaced. This assumes that the devices that went offline were adequately connected to the UPS or PDU connected to the UPS. If you use a regular preventive maintenance program to check on the health of your UPS, this should never happen.
If you haven't been doing regular maintenance on your UPS units from Universal Power System, this could signify that it's time to replace the batteries. Test those units as soon as possible to ensure they work the way they should. Routine maintenance can prevent a lot of problems and make sure that your UPS will be there to protect your equipment when you need it most. We do this for people.
During your maintenance checks and tests to ensure you're ready for a disaster, if the UPS gives you different voltage readings or acts in strange ways, make sure it's not the battery. When a technician tests a battery, they will get voltage and impedance or resistance readings. Most UPS systems won't test for impedance and resistance independently, so make sure to test for them during your testing cycles.
Heat can shorten the life of batteries by a lot. Temperatures that stay above 80 degrees Fahrenheit for a long time can significantly shorten the life of batteries and other technology. If the place where your UPS equipment is consistently above 80 degrees, you should get thermal management and cooling equipment as soon as you can. Also, test the battery or ask one of our service technicians to come by for preventive maintenance to ensure the battery life hasn't decreased. Don't count on the 3-to-5-year battery life that a UPS in a warm building is supposed to have.
Because technology keeps improving, it is possible to overload the UPS load capacity as it can overload the power ports on a device. This happens when the needs for new or extra systems that draw power from the UPS in the rack are too high. Make sure to compare how much energy you use to how long you need your system to stay on, and then adjust your battery or UPS types to meet your needs. If you have two UPS units for redundancy or if your equipment is powered by both UPS power and "house" power, make sure to use Monitored or Metered PDUs so that the UPS doesn't get too much power when the power goes out.
A bonus tip has to do with the new batteries made from lithium. If you're still using lead-acid-based units, switch to lithium to help the environment, reduce your carbon footprint, and get more uptime, longer battery life, and a better return on your investment
A UPS has been shown to help both routers and desktops. But if the battery is dead, it is useless. On the other hand, getting a new UPS is expensive, while replacing a battery is much cheaper and more accessible.