UPS Fault

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ZollyMonsta

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# 50347 24-Nov-2009 17:54

Howdy gang..

I have a Fenton PowerPal 660 UPS.

This morning found The Cheese off air (shock, horror). Turns out there was a power cut this morning and my UPS failed.

Testing it, it seems that the UPS shuts off when power is removed, with or without any load.

I pulled the sealed lead acid battery out and tested it with a multimeter.. 13.2volts.

I can get a new battery for $52 which is my preference as it's cheaper than replacing (and kinder to the enviroment by throwing the unit out). But I don't want to go and waste money buying a new battery only to discover its the UPS itself.

So the question is, can a lead acid battery voltage dip like that even without load? Or should I suspect the UPS itself has developed a fault.

Any advice appreciated :)

Check out my LPFM Radio Station at www.thecheese.co.nz

soleil24

124 posts

Master Geek

# 275933 24-Nov-2009 19:35

A UPS that needs a power supply - must add one to my xmas list...

Along with emergency powdered water (just add water !)

Anyway, if a UPS output fails to 0 on input power loss then there's obviously a fault. The battery voltage you quote is only that - a voltage across the terminals; what's of more importance is the discharge rate. Can you rig up a 12V DC drain source rather than just a voltmeter - see how the battery behaves - e.g. Car headlamp bulb - should run for maybe an hour without dimming; car starter motor, maybe a minute or three continuous.

If the battery hasn't been properly conditioned then it may be failing but a failing lead-acid battery probably wouldn't hold close to ideal voltage. Other possibility is a fault in the surge protection (assuming the device has some) that is inconveniently tripping the output when the input fails - totally defeating the object of the device.

IG

soleil24

124 posts

Master Geek

# 275938 24-Nov-2009 19:43

Just another thought:

Not wishing to cause offence but have you rtfm on this device?

Reason I ask is that more sophisticated "UPS" devices often have multi-mode operation and they can be switched to use just as supply smoothers/surge protectors so effectively the "backup" output is switched off. In that scenario the device wouldn't do anything with no input power - it wouldn't be expected to.

IG

cisconz

cisconz
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# 276154 25-Nov-2009 11:55

Mine did this, it was the inverter output fuse.

Hmmmm