What is the expected life of a battery backup?

[aob]

I may be in the wrong forum, but just yell at me and I will go away.

Two or three years ago, at least, I purchased two APC battery backups for three computers, printer, monitor, etc. The units have functioned flawlessly during the years; whenever there is a power outage, 3 or 4 times a year, I have time to wrap up and shut down, without a problem. I have no idea where the manuals are and not sure if I would believe the manufacturer, anyway.

What is the expected life of these units? Should I expect 3-5 years, or 5-10 years, or what? Just curious.

[dneilson]

3 to 5 is more likely. If you can't find your manuals you can probably find find them on the net. Usually it's the battery that goes away. Depending on your UPS(s) it may be replaceable.











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[Midknyte]

3-5 would be normal. Different APC models use different amounts of cell packs.

I purchased two APC battery backups for three computers, printer, monitor, etc

Do NOT connect printers to the battery section of your UPS. That's one of the A+ exam questions.

[jerryctx]

Mine lasted 7 years. Take the old one to a motorcycle shop or Batteries Plus. You can probably get it cheaper than from APC.

However, surge protection degrades over time so I replaced the whole unit. The local utility is operated by escapees from the state home for the bewildered.* Jello is more stable. Just last night I was treated to a one hour outage that began with a one minute demonstration of how many shades of yellow an incandescent bulb can produce,

* Thank you, Tom Learer

[aob]

Per your advice, I have just removed the printer from the backup.

There is a battery store located nearby. Will inquire about the cost of replacing the batteries, when the existing units start to degrade, as opposed to purchasing a new backup.

Thanks guys.

[SuperSparks]

I've never got longer than 3 to 4 years from the batteries, though my oldest UPS unit itself is 9 years old. Replacements are easy to find, as they are just standard sealed lead acid batteries, and can be had for a reasonable price if you shop around. Yuasa is a good brand, though they tend to be a bit pricey.

[BulletTony]

I may be in the wrong forum, but just yell at me and I will go away.

Two or three years ago, at least, I purchased two APC battery backups for three computers, printer, monitor, etc. The units have functioned flawlessly during the years; whenever there is a power outage, 3 or 4 times a year, I have time to wrap up and shut down, without a problem. I have no idea where the manuals are and not sure if I would believe the manufacturer, anyway.

What is the expected life of these units? Should I expect 3-5 years, or 5-10 years, or what? Just curious.

High quality UPS batteries should last you 3-5 years, depending on abuse. With little abuse, they can last the 5 or more. The units themselves are good for many years. We have units backing up our shipping department that are over 12 yrs old. We replace the batteries every 4 or so years and they keep on going. UPSs don't have moving parts inside, they last a very long time.
I just replaced some of the batteries in our office, units are all between 4-8 years old.

[jerryctx]

Surge protectors wear out. Over time your UPS may provide power backup with little or no surge protection.

A surge is far more dangerous than a power outage. It can kill your equipment (either in a single large surge or repeated surges over time). A power failure does no more than scramble data and that should be limited to writes in progress at power failure with modern file systems (NTFS. Linux' ReiserFS).

The problem is that most surge protectors and UPS'es give no trustworthy indication of protection loss. I use an APC UPS that logs anomalies. When the number and size of surges becomes excessive, I replace the unit.

And before someone asks, DO NOT plug a UPS into a surge protector. Depending on design, it may shorten the life of the UPS and possibly overheat causing a fire danger.

[BulletTony]

Surge protectors wear out. Over time your UPS may provide power backup with little or no surge protection.

A surge is far more dangerous than a power outage. It can kill your equipment (either in a single large surge or repeated surges over time). A power failure does no more than scramble data and that should be limited to writes in progress at power failure with modern file systems (NTFS. Linux' ReiserFS).

The problem is that most surge protectors and UPS'es give no trustworthy indication of protection loss. I use an APC UPS that logs anomalies. When the number and size of surges becomes excessive, I replace the unit.

And before someone asks, DO NOT plug a UPS into a surge protector. Depending on design, it may shorten the life of the UPS and possibly overheat causing a fire danger.

Can you give an example of a unit that had the surge protection fail? How do you determine that the surge protection components have been compromised?

[jerryctx]

Can you give an example of a unit that had the surge protection fail?

No. Nobody pays a repair shop to test the MOVs in their suppressor or UPS when their hard drive or power supply commits suicide. In fact even fire or catastrophic failure prompts no research into cause.

How do you determine that the surge protection components have been compromised?

As I said in my last post

The problem is that most surge protectors and UPS'es give no trustworthy indication of protection loss.

My rule of thumb is to toss the protector/UPS when surge joules total 1000.

[jerryctx]

I've been told that high-end TrippLite suppressors have/had a meaningful indicator. A quick Google search didn't confirm that. If they do, plug your CPU and monitor into a UPS and all other equipment into a TrippLite suppressor,

TrippLite also makes UPS'es. Again, I can't determine from their web site that they report protection status.

Also, if you are not familiar with MOV's look up "metal oxide varistors" in Wikipedia.

[SuperSparks]

Do all UPSs use Metal Oxide Varistors though? I've been trying to find out and I can't. There are other types of surge suppression that don't have a limited life, and I would have thought that at least the better UPS models might use those.

[jerryctx]

Sorry for the delay in answering, Nick. Christmas and all that.

I believe that some UPS'es use gas discharge arrestors as well as MOV's but I can't confirm that.

Let me clarify some points:

• Nothing I can afford will protect against a lightening strike in the neighborhood. It doesn't have to hit your house or the power line. Unplug your computer when weather threatens. If you live in Florida check the coverage provided by your home owner or renters insurance policy. It may be possible and cost effective to buy additional coverage. Lightening can destroy every appliance in your home.
• If we ignore lightening, surges large enough to damage your computer are very rare. It is the cumulative effect of repeated small surges that cause components to fail. (There are exceptions, of course. Squirrels stepping from one power line to another often cause surges and even fires. Doesn't do much for the squirrels either).
• Commercial buildings often have surge protectors/line conditioners where the utility enters the building. Smaller units are available for homes starting, I believe, at about $150. Unfortunately, they wont stop surges that originate inside the building. Your air conditioner probably does more damage than outside surges.
• So, should you replace your UPS? Probably not. At least not very often. If the UPS cost $100, you can replace a disk drive, PSU, etc, for less money. I have some very expensive security modules that I can't afford to risk.

Don't forget to connect your phone/cable line through a surge protector.