Found UPS shut down. Then it wouldn't power up.

Old UPS: APC Back-UPS Pro model BX850M (850VA/510W)
New UPS (on order): APC Back-UPS Pro model BX1000M (1000VA/600W)

I went to use my main desktop computer today (Saturday) but found it powered down. I found that strange because I left it powered on yesterday (Friday). Pressing the power button would not turn it on. I then noticed that there were no LEDs lit up inside the computer.

I then checked the UPS and found it powered off. I pressed the power button but it wouldn't power up. I unplugged everything connected on the back and tried again. It still wouldn't power up. Pressing the Circuit Breaker on the back did not help.

I then removed the battery. After that I tried pressing the power button again. This time the UPS powered up. After about 5 minutes I put the battery back in. After that I tried pressing the power button again. The UPS powered up.

I plugged everything back into the back of the UPS. This time the computer and everything else powered up.

I ran the self-test using the APC PowerChute app. It passed.

I checked the event logs for the last couple days using PowerChute Serial Shutdown. Nothing seemed unusual to me. I have attached a text document showing the event log for the last couple days.

I then remembered a thread I participated in a couple weeks ago, UPS Battery Backup software--PowerChute Serial Shutdown. The last thing I did then was have both the new PowerChute Serial Shutdown app and the old PowerChute Personal Edition app installed at the same time. Was it just a coincidence or could both of them installed at the same time have been related to the strange shutdown today? I just uninstalled PowerChute Personal Edition since I really don't really need it anymore.

I really need to have this computer running every day This computer is important because it has two external hard drives attached which are for backing up three of my computers. Because of this I ordered a new UPS for it. Note I am limited in how tall the UPS is because of where I have the UPS set up. Otherwise, I would have bought one with a higher VA rating.

Note I will keep the old UPS and hope it continues to work. I will use it on one of my other desktop computers.

I've had that happen to me on two APC UPS units. It was because of the batteries were dead. I bought the factory replacements from Amazon.

I dimly recall that I replaced the batteries in an old UPS when it showed that it wouldn't take much of a charge.

I had several failures with APC, I use CyberPower UPS now. My issue with the APC boxes was the battery would be dead, but when replaced it turned out twice that the actual UPS was dead, so I wasted money on a new battery!

My last Cyberpower lasted around 8 years and two batteries. My current 1500VA model has been in service for about a year, no issues at all.

The battery is obviously not dead since it still passes the manually started self-test. I realize that doesn't mean anything about what might happen in the future.

The UPS has an APC RBC17 battery. The equivalent battery from American Battery Company is cheaper. Has anyone tried batteries from this company?

I've used the manufacturer's batteries and 3rd party batteries. I haven't noticed a significant difference in lifetime, I usually get about 4 years out of a battery. We have five UPS units scattered around, so I'm typically replacing around one battery a year.

MisterEd said:

The battery is obviously not dead since it still passes the manually started self-test. I realize that doesn't mean anything about what might happen in the future.

The UPS has an APC RBC17 battery. The equivalent battery from American Battery Company is cheaper. Has anyone tried batteries from this company?

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Just because it passes a self-test that doesn't mean it'll maintain power for any length of time.

MisterEd said:

The battery is obviously not dead since it still passes the manually started self-test. I realize that doesn't mean anything about what might happen in the future.

The UPS has an APC RBC17 battery. The equivalent battery from American Battery Company is cheaper. Has anyone tried batteries from this company?

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That's the same battery my units use. There are cheaper batteries available but I'd rather pay a little extra and buy the OEM batteries for safety sake.

MisterEd said:

The battery is obviously not dead since it still passes the manually started self-test. I realize that doesn't mean anything about what might happen in the future.

The UPS has an APC RBC17 battery. The equivalent battery from American Battery Company is cheaper. Has anyone tried batteries from this company?

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Without checking your specifics, I ended up getting an OEM battery for my old Cyberpower UPS.

The electrical connections for third-party batteries would have required some additional effort.

FWIW, all the 3-party batteries I've purchased were drop-in replacements for the OEM batteries.

gunrunnerjohn said:

Just because it passes a self-test that doesn't mean it'll maintain power for any length of time.

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You would have to challenge that. That means I had to do a real test.

The UPS is still out in front of my desk because I had been testing it yesterday. To test it I simply unplugged it. The status said it estimated the runtime on battery to be 20 minutes. Note the computer was probably drawing about 100 watts.

This is the status after 15 minutes:



I had planned on plugging the UPS back in next but PowerChute had already started the computer shutdown. One strange thing is that the UPS had never sounded an alarm until I tried to power up the computer again. I had to turn off the UPS and power it back on before I could power the computer again.

This is the status after I powered up the computer again:



One thing I noted was that while the computer was running on the battery its voltage had dropped down to 10.9 volts. After the computer was running on AC again and the battery was charging the voltage was up to 12.7 volts. Shouldn't that battery voltage have stayed above 12 volts when it was powering the computer?

I've seen some strange things happen with UPS units before. There was an incident a few years back where I had a power surge when I was not home and my neighbour validated this. I had three different UPS units (all different brands) and the PCs were off and the UPS units were also off. No alarms were sounding. I couldn't get any of them to turn back on. It didn't make any sense until I checked the breaker. I noticed the breaker was only in a sort of half on position. It turned out that I had a weak breaker. I wouldn't have noticed this if it weren't for those UPS units. Not saying that is the problem here but sometimes these units can exhibit strange behaviour given changes in external conditions.

If you're limited for space I found this particular unit very reliable:

Scannerman said:

I've seen some strange things happen with UPS units before. There was an incident a few years back where I had a power surge when I was not home and my neighbour validated this. I had three different UPS units (all different brands) and the PCs were off and the UPS units were also off. No alarms were sounding. I couldn't get any of them to turn back on. It didn't make any sense until I checked the breaker. I noticed the breaker was only in a sort of half on position. It turned out that I had a weak breaker. I wouldn't have noticed this if it weren't for those UPS units. Not saying that is the problem here but sometimes these units can exhibit strange behaviour given changes in external conditions.

If you're limited for space I found this particular unit very reliable:

Amazon.ca

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Thanks for your response but that unit is too tall. I should have been more specific.

My computer is under my desk. To the right of the computer under the desk drawers is the UPS. There is only about 9 inches of clearance under the drawers. Both the old and new UPSs are about 7.5 inches high. The UPSs can't be taller than that because they have vents on top.



My house is about 67 years old. The breaker box is maybe 50 years old. However, the main circuit for my computer room is one I had added about 20 years ago. I checked the breaker box. All the breakers look OK.

About 15 years ago a storm came through. The power went out after a few minutes. About 30 minutes later the thunder started getting really loud. I suddenly remembered that I had left my desktop computer on and it was being powered by a UPS. I went to my computer and started the shutdown process. During the computer shutdown lightning hit really close to my home. When the storm was over the UPS seemed OK but the computer wouldn't start anymore. Ironically the computer was named Lightning.

I didn't know which parts were good or bad so I rebuilt the computer with a new totally different motherboard and RAM. I kept the same CPU but should have replaced it because it failed a few years later. I should have learned a lesson but I called the new computer Lightning also.

A year later I was able to figure out the original motherboard and RAM were bad. I replaced them under warranty. I got the computer going again. The original computer name was already used so I called the rebuild Phoenix.

MisterEd said:

I didn't know which parts were good or bad so I rebuilt the computer with a new totally different motherboard and RAM. I kept the same CPU but should have replaced it because it failed a few years later. I should have learned a lesson but I called the new computer Lightning also.

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Have you considered a whole house surge protector? That's a useful addition to your electrical service if you're in a lightning prone area.

gunrunnerjohn said:

FWIW, all the 3-party batteries I've purchased were drop-in replacements for the OEM batteries.

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What's your UPS make?

bobkn said:

What's your UPS make?

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The batteries were purchased for CyberPower, APC, and Belkin UPS systems. All have been PnP.

gunrunnerjohn said:

The batteries were purchased for CyberPower, APC, and Belkin UPS systems. All have been PnP.

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I have a Cyberpower 1325VA model. It uses 2 batteries.

My memory is hazy on the issue, but I vaguely recall an issue with the connections to a pair of third-party batteries. Maybe it wouldn't have been a big deal.

I recently replaced the dual batteries in a CyberPower 1500VA model, they fit perfectly. I have to add, I actually search for compatible batteries with my model and buy something that claims to be compatible.

gunrunnerjohn said:

I recently replaced the dual batteries in a CyberPower 1500VA model, they fit perfectly. I have to add, I actually search for compatible batteries with my model and buy something that claims to be compatible.

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I probably just used Amazon. Their search has its limitations.