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UPS won't power on after being turned off

I

imanidiot

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
May 1, 2011
746
618
Denver, CO
I have an APC UPS (ES 550G). If I turn it off for any reason, it will not power back up unless I unplug it, open it, disconnect the battery, and reconnect it. The software does't indicate anything wrong. I was about to order a replacement battery, but now I'm wondering if there is not a problem with the unit itself, and maybe I should replace it? Apparently power supply problems do happen with these units.

Thanks.
 
How old is the power supply?

I had a problem a year or so ago with an older one and found out that you can't even order replacement batteries for older units - they will give you credit towards a new unit instead.
 
old-wiz said:
How old is the power supply?

I had a problem a year or so ago with an older one and found out that you can't even order replacement batteries for older units - they will give you credit towards a new unit instead.
Click to expand...

The unit is 3 years old with the original battery and power supply, and it is still in production and replacement batteries are available. I just don't know whether I shouldn't just replace the unit. The problem has persisted for a year, and I haven't done anything about it simply because I rarely have occasion to shut it down. But when I do, as I said, I have to unplug it, open it, disconnect and reconnect the battery, then plug it back in, and then it will power-on. I do know that the typical projected lifespan for these batteries is about 3 years, but I'm not sure that the battery is the problem.
 
Not much recourse except trying it out with a new set.

You could try disconnecting them and putting a constant power source on the leads. With the same voltage as the batteries themselves give off. That way the unit will think the batteries are okay and fully charged.

Problem is that these batteries themselves also could contain electronics. So if they have some firmware there as well, it's much more complicated than described above.
 
imanidiot said:
The unit is 3 years old with the original battery and power supply, and it is still in production and replacement batteries are available. I just don't know whether I shouldn't just replace the unit. The problem has persisted for a year, and I haven't done anything about it simply because I rarely have occasion to shut it down. But when I do, as I said, I have to unplug it, open it, disconnect and reconnect the battery, then plug it back in, and then it will power-on. I do know that the typical projected lifespan for these batteries is about 3 years, but I'm not sure that the battery is the problem.
Click to expand...

I think I would replace it, if only to make sure your equipment is protected and not take chances. If you are using a UPS, you are trying to protect something important, so protecting it is probably worth the cost of replacing.
 
If you have a store like BatteriesPlus around, you could try a new battery and see if that works. If it does, there you go, if not simply return it.

If it's not the battery and the UPS is 3 years old, that might point to getting a new UPS.
 
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