Fixes in the Field: UPS Battery Replacement

by Lee Hudspeth
(This article appears in The Naked PC #6.06, March 13, 2003)

** 04. Fixes in the Field: UPS Battery Replacement
       (by Lee Hudspeth)

A few weeks ago the battery failed in the Uninterruptible Power 
Supply (UPS) that protects my primary PC in my home office 
(American Power Conversion model Back-UPS Pro 420). In a failed 
battery scenario, the unit continues working, it simply passes 
potentially dirty power directly from the utility on to my 
equipment. Once or more every day the UPS would dutifully emit a 
very loud beeping sound for 60 seconds to remind me that things 
weren't to its liking. Due to time constraints I kept putting the 
task off, but I am happy--and relieved--to say that the battery 
has been replaced and I've once again got clean power feeding my 
primary PC and its peripherals. Here are some issues to keep in 
mind if and when this happens to you.

First, change the battery as soon as it fails (I should have). 
It's easy to order and easy to swap. Once the unit arrived it 
took me all of about 12 minutes to put in the new battery, 
including re-packing the old battery for proper disposal (more on 
this in a moment). I went back to American Power Conversion, the 
manufacturer of my UPS, and they indicated they were temporarily 
out of stock on the proper battery for my unit.
http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/606/tr.cgi?lee1

They referred me to Insight, an alternate battery supplier. 
Insight had my battery in stock and offered me a good price and 
quick turnaround.
http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/606/tr.cgi?lee2

Be sure you follow the battery manufacturer's instructions for 
proper--and environmentally friendly--disposal. In APC's case, 
they provide free (pre-paid) freight for shipment back to the 
factory for proper disposal.

While you're tweaking your UPS, might as well make sure you have 
the latest version of the power-management software that commonly 
comes bundled with it. This software lets you view the UPS's 
device status, run diagnostics, read logs, and program the device 
on how to behave when power goes away, i.e., how long to wait 
before gracefully trying to save and close any open files and 
shut down any running applications. (In my case it's a program 
called PowerChute plus.) Use APC's Software Downloads wizard to 
help you select your UPS model, operating system, and power-
management software flavor to see if an upgrade is available.
http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/606/tr.cgi?lee3

(c) 2003, Lee Hudspeth
You can reach Lee Hudspeth at:
mailto:LeeHudspeth@TheNakedPC.com

You can reach Lee Hudspeth at:
leehudspeth@TheNakedPC.com

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