Time to replace power modules and PDB on SC836 chassis?

Notice: Page may contain affiliate links for which we may earn a small commission through services like Amazon Affiliates or Skimlinks.

lpallard

Member
Aug 17, 2013
276
11
18
Hey guys, long time since I posted on STH!

Recently one of my APC SMT750RM2U UPS started behaving in a weird manner. First of all I had to empty my SOHO for some remodelling. Upon relocating all equipment, I saw that the run-time on this UPS was < 1 min and battery was <10%... I wasn't sure why since relocating equipment took less than 5 minutes and all servers/switches were shut down/powered off.... Also the UPS'es never runs on batteries (power here is extremely reliable). Anyways, I didn't think too much of it, and re-plugged everything and waited a good hour for the battery to recharge before powering up everything. The battery went up 100% and all was good.

Then a few later, I hear an intermittent beep coming from the UPS. Sure thing, the replace battery light was ON. I ordered a new battery and I am waiting for it. Sounds like the battery was bad after all??? Is it normal after only 5 years? This specific UPS was bought on January 14th 2015.

This incident worried me for a Supermicro SC836 chassis which runs as a storage node. This chassis was purchased used back in 2014. Most of the hardware has been replaced (motherboard, CPU, RAM, etc) but the power system (modules and PDB) are, I believe, from 2008 which makes them 12yo!!

With your experience, am I running a chance of seeing a failure soon? Should I preemptively replace the modules and PDB? Looking on the web, the total cost would be around $500USD...
 

pricklypunter

Well-Known Member
Nov 10, 2015
1,708
515
113
Canada
You are over-thinking this. 5 years out of a sealed Gel battery is more than good. It is just at the end of its life, it's time to replace the pack. The PDB and power supplies in the chassis, I would only replace as and if I needed to, but it might be handy to have a spare supply on hand, if you are really worried about it :)
 
  • Like
Reactions: Aestr

lpallard

Member
Aug 17, 2013
276
11
18
I agree with you, I tend to overthink pretty much everything, but I've been bitten more than once... Murphy loves me :D

While at it, I've been wondering for a while now, would a PSU or PDB failure grill the server or are they protected in any ways?
 

pricklypunter

Well-Known Member
Nov 10, 2015
1,708
515
113
Canada
The PDB and Power Supplies are enterprise class designs and purpose built for the role, they are robust in every way, including their failure modes. The server they are designed for, is very well protected against failure of these components. The whole point of the setup after all, is to allow a supply failure, without taking down the server. You simply pull the bad one, and replace it. But like everything else in life, being able to predict something happening, or not, may not necessarily hold true in real life. Obviously there's no accounting for someone poking around with a sharp object, or dropping a tiny screw in there, for example, when that happens things become more unpredictable and all bets are off :)