Recommendations for a replacement UPS ?

[britinpdx]

It is time for me to replace the batteries on several of my UPS units, which got me thinking ...

The oldest one, an APC 1400 Smart UPS (SU1400RMXL3U) is one that supports 2 small servers and ancillary switches etc. It has a network management plug in card that works well for my needs. This unit is quite an old design and it wouldn't surprise me if its 15 years old, and probably is nowhere near as efficient as modern units.

I haven't paid any attention to UPS designs, its just been that lump in the bottom of the rack that chugs along and does it's stuff without fuss. My needs are simple ... when power to the house is lost, shutdown multiple servers in a graceful and controlled manner. I don't need 30 mins of operation and multiple kW load, my worse case scenario is shutting down a couple of E3 systems that probably have a typical total load of 600W + maybe another 100W max for ancillaries.

So do I just spend the $75 for 4x new batteries and be done with it for another couple of years, or launch into the UPS upgrade program.

If the latter choice, what would you recommend?

 

[pyro_]

i would be pricing out the batteries and going from there, most likely you will be looking at at least couple or three hundreed dollars to get a new UPS that can do everything that your current one does. and if you want rackmount even more. How much is the power saving worth to you?

 

[Blinky 42]

Unless your power requirements have changed a lot and you can scale down or plan to need more kVA in the near future, as long as the UPS is working and just needs new batteries, I would just swap the batteries out. For a UPS that is as capable you are looking at several times the price of new batteries.

You did mention "the oldest one" - if you have multiple UPS units in the same area you might want to consider consolidating to a single larger unit or pair of units if you have dual-fed equipment, but barring that stick with new batteries. I have APC's that are > 15y old trucking along with probably their 4th set of batteries, and I got some of them used to start with.

 

[britinpdx]

New batteries it is then !

 

[Terry Kennedy]

New batteries it is then !

You should probably check the battery float voltage once the new batteries are in and charged - the APC units tend to drift out of calibration (almost always to the high side) which reduces battery life. Search for "APC float voltage" and you'll find results like this one. Your UPS should be new enough that the voltage can be adjusted via the serial port. Note that you'll need to temporarily remove the management card, otherwise it will prevent you from issuing the config commands.

 

[britinpdx]

@Terry Kennedy - thanks indeed for the float voltage tip. Hopefully the PROG method is available on this unit !

 

[cheezehead]

Generally the only time I replace the UPS units at home is when the old units not only need new batteries but the cost for batteries is much higher than a similar model that would work. Small desktop ones, often are cheaper buying new on sale. Larger ones, generally I'd pickup a newer gen one used.