UPS died, now what?

[richard13]

So after many years of faithful service my APC ES 750 started chirping tonight. A look under the desk showed a blinking red light. Turning the unit off and on caused the chirp to become an annoying whine. Even unplugging the unit didn't turn off this sound. Removing the battery was the only way.

If I understand correctly, the red light blinking is telling me that the battery needs to be replaced. Ok, I have no idea where I would get a battery for such an old UPS.

I use the UPS to power my iMac, rMBP, Time Capsule, Cable Modem, Scanner, etc. so it's job is pretty significant.

I think I have three options:

1. Plug everything directly into the wall. This kind of sucks because I now have wires all over the place across three outlets in my room. I also have no battery backup in case of a power outage (happens a couple times a year).

2. Replace the battery. Maybe I can find someone to sell me a new battery but wouldn't it cost as much as a new UPS? How do I even know the battery is the only problem?

3. Get a new UPS. Seems the most straight forward and would get me back to where I was. But I don't know which UPS is appropriate for this equipment. Does it matter?

What would you do? Or what are you currently doing with your equipment?

 

[DeltaMac]

A replacement battery is easy (Google is your friend!)
http://www.amazon.com/APC-Back-UPS-750-12V-Battery/dp/B00A82MUNU

 

[westrock2000]

Yep, most of those UPS units use standard 12V batteries. You can even get them locally from Batteries Plus stores.

 

[richard13]

A replacement battery is easy (Google is your friend!)
http://www.amazon.com/APC-Back-UPS-750-12V-Battery/dp/B00A82MUNU

I can assure you Google is *not* my friend. Google is possibly one of the most evil corporations I've ever had the displeasure of coming into contact with.

That said, thanks for the idea of looking on Amazon for a battery. And it does seem to be the least expensive option to go with. My concern here is that the UPS makes this noise even if the battery is disconnected leaving me wondering if the unit itself has problems.

Yep, most of those UPS units use standard 12V batteries. You can even get them locally from Batteries Plus stores.

Another good suggestion, thanks. I had no idea these stores existed. Unfortunately, the replacement batteries here seem rather expensive. At that price I might as well replace the unit. On the happy side it does appear they also do recycling which is a plus.

 

[glenthompson]

You can take the battery out and test it with a multimeter. Best way is to charge it fully, let it sit for a little while then check the voltage. Then apply a good load to it like a headlight bulb and measure the voltage under load. If it didn't start at 12.4 or higher or dropped significantly under load then it's bad.

The Amazon price us good as it includes shipping which is high for batteries.

 

[Pitmaster]

I can assure you Google is *not* my friend. Google is possibly one of the most evil corporations I've ever had the displeasure of coming into contact with.

Wow, um, ok. That seems a bit juvenile. Care to elaborate?

 

[DeltaMac]

I guess I need to be more generic….
Google is not the only search available, SO ---
How about "Your search engine is your friend"?
(Nah, that doesn't have the same ring )

Anyway, these days I use DuckDuckGo more often than Google.
https://duckduckgo.com/about

So, a simple search for APC ES750 replacement batteries gets this.
https://duckduckgo.com/?q=APC+ES750+replacement+battery

 

[richard13]

I guess I need to be more generic….
Google is not the only search available, SO ---
How about "Your search engine is your friend"?
(Nah, that doesn't have the same ring )

Anyway, these days I use DuckDuckGo more often than Google.
https://duckduckgo.com/about

So, a simple search for APC ES750 replacement batteries gets this.
https://duckduckgo.com/?q=APC+ES750+replacement+battery

LOL... ok, I'll give DuckDuckGo a try. I usually use Bing as I find it just as accurate as Google and don't feel like I'm selling myself out by using it.

I hope you didn't think my comments yesterday were in any way directed at you. I appreciate your help here. I do actually dislike Google quite a bit but perhaps there was a bit of hyperbole to what I said yesterday.

On the project, I measured the output of the "dead" battery and it was only showing 7.25V so yea, it's not up to the job anymore. I just so happen to have another APC UPS (even older than this one) so I temporarily borrowed the battery out of that unit. It measured 13.25V, so in spite of being older, its in good shape. With this battery connected up the unit it shows a green light and no longer screeches. I guess the UPS doesn't like having no battery hooked up and was letting me know.

So with that mystery solved it looks like I just need to get a replacement battery and all will be right again.

Thanks to you and everyone else for your help!

 

[mmomega]

3-5 years is the typical lifecycle of a UPS battery.

 

[mmomega]

I guess I need to be more generic….
Google is not the only search available, SO ---
How about "Your search engine is your friend"?
(Nah, that doesn't have the same ring )

Anyway, these days I use DuckDuckGo more often than Google.
https://duckduckgo.com/about

So, a simple search for APC ES750 replacement batteries gets this.
https://duckduckgo.com/?q=APC+ES750+replacement+battery

I've been using it as my default search engine through Safari