How to know the UPS is actually working?

[jraju]

How to confirm the UPS is working. I have been frequently changing the UPS battery, only battery whenever i notice that the UPS stops when power failure occurs. I do not know the mechanism, of how to know that it is other than battery that needs attention. For example, if you buy battery, the battery is always coming precharged. Am i correct, if not correct me. So, how to know that my UPS is not failing. Sometimes, it seems that it works. But at times of sudden power failure, the computer session also ends abruptly. Pl explain in detail how could this be ascertained.
I ask this question because, one or two unexpected power failure is enough for corruption in writing of rams and failure of booting process and ultimate failure of OS altogether. Please inform me.
The battery costs about 800 Rs and the entire UPS is available for 1500. As i do not have previous history on this and as i possess a UPS which is lasting more than 10 years, APC ups, i am not contemplating buying one.
The main concern is if it is precharged then it also discharges when power on. Pl expain

[Shane]

Batteries die all the time. And most battery backups cant tell how bad the battery is until it wont hold a charge at all.

The best way to test a battery backup is to have it powering something that wont get hurt if the power dies, so instead of your computer plug a fan or some other things into it, have them running and then pull the power from the wall. if the battery works they should stay running. If the battery is dad or holding very little charge they will all power off right away or shortly after.

Shane

[jraju]

Hi, shane,
                     But i changed the battery only a few days back. I was given to understand that apc ups, the once famous backup ups system is not working with other batteries. Is it true?
                                 I am having 12V ah7 batteries in the ups.
                                            Now i know that battery could not die as early as few days.
                                                      Is it correct?
                                                         Moreover, i would be happy to know how many years that ups actually works. It is since 2004, i am using this ups with change of batteries frequently for one reason or other. whenever, i go to repair shop, they immediately change the battery which is half of the cost of the ups.
                                                            How many minutes that this battery would last if power failure occurs?
                                                                   I am thinking of changing the ups itself, now.
                                                                            What should be the correct procedure to use this.
                                                                                  1. I am keeping the power always, irrespective of use of computer hours. is it correct?
                                                                                   2. Should i have to discharge it even when there is no power failure or having continuous power supply.
                                                                                     I am asking these questions, as it damages the start of the computer, by popping up message pc not shut down properly screen  for two or three times and then no boot at all, because of the sudden failure of RAM writing as boggins said in some other thread which was a valuable advice.
                                                                                         Then self chkdsk and risk of loosing the OS.
                                                                                         I think the ups is more than electrical than electronics. Pl your views

               

[Shane]

It is possible for anything new to die fast, could have been part of a bad build batch or suffered damage in shipping, its hard to tell. It is also possible the unit itself is just bad.

I dont replace battery very often, for my customers they normally buy a new battery backup unit or they go to the local battery replacement store and get a proper replacement.

It wouldnt surprise me if UPC only works with certain batteries since they offer a warranty of hardware on somethings, so to protect that they may only allow certain batteries they know can do the job.

Shane

[jraju]

Hi, Thanks for the reply,
                                         I replaced the ups itself as a last resort. I was using apc ups for more than 11 years, by changing the batteries. I could have bought on those times instead of changing the battery.
                                             When i write this information to a friend, he laughed at me. 10 years, ups? and he told me that the ups last only 3 to 5 years at the maximum,
                                                       Sometimes, some rheostat and inner parts  have been changed and ups is not actually working. It just passes on power without any back up.
                                                          I could imagine the saving of electricity bills through out these years.

[Article_86]

Here is another point:  most UPS will detect when a battery is replaced.  It is true that batteries are fully charged when they leave the factory, but they will lose charge just sitting on the shelf, believe it or not.  It may be going through an initialization by discharging the battery completely, then recharging the battery fully.  This is referred to conditioning to provide a fully charged system.  Modern rechargeable batteries develop a "memory" which limits the amount of deliverable power it can provide.  It is always best to completely discharge a battery before recharging it.  This will greatly increase the life of any battery ... cell phones, cordless razors ... anything that is rechargeable.  My UPS has a "conditioning mode" that does this automatically upon selection.  I'm not saying that there isn't something wrong with the UPS, but it is more likely that with many power interruptions in your area your older UPS may not have a conditioning mode.  It will only partially discharge before power is back, then charge back up from that point.  The next time it has a power interruption, the battery will not be able to give you a full discharge cycle.

See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charge_cycle  and  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memory_effect .  Good luck.  - Art

[jraju]

Hi, Is it not funny that a device is there with use, but without any help manual about the process. Yesterday, i bought numeric ups, said to be good one, but there is no help manual of how to use it or what those beeps meant. apcups, when switch on, shows blinking yellow light to become green to show that it is working.
                             numeric on the other hand if switch on, creates a medium beep sound to become green.
                                       Normally users are advised to keep the power on the socket connecting the ups, but who knows whether it is working properly maintaining its conditioning .
                                              So, the electricity charges are increasing even on static conditon, when the ups is not used, but merely charging.
                                                      Normally mobile batteries show the battery position to recharge and it is normal that it is to be recharged. But there is no indication, whether the ups has received the maximum current it requires . Thus it keeps on charging whether the maximum it reached. It could be that a mechanism is there to cut the power supply once it reaches maximum, but the main power is on so the electricity consumption is going on. Is it correct, Shane
                                                              Should one charge it continuously, without break? there was no clear answer as to how many hours it should be charged.
                                                                   Does the battery back up is working when we are using the computer?. Is that enough if we power on the ups and power off the ups , including the main switch only on use? I do not find any articles on those trickier things. Even digital ups does not have any indicator other than the main switch.

[Article_86]

I refer you to this site:  http://www.tomshardware.com/  - Art