A Sad UPS story

We have a APC UPS which is dead.
Luke Siemaszko wrote on :

We have a APC UPS which is dead.

So we thought we'd better fix it. So we 'phone APC:

US: Can we have a circuit diagram please? APC: No, because it's proprietary information US: So is there somewhere we can send it for repair? APC: No US: Do you have an in house repair facility then? APC: No US: So what are we supposed to do then? APC: Throw it away and buy a new one

I think that's VERY poor. I'd expect cheap kit to be disposable. But a few hundred quid's worth of UPS should not, IMHO, be disposable. The whole philosophy is obviously deigned to make you buy more UPSs. But for me, next time round it won't be an APC one.

Thought y'all would like to know.....

Woody replied on :

In article X8idnZyZypgYrebfRVnyrQ@redacted.invalid, no.spam.for.me@redacted.invalid says...

We have a APC UPS which is dead.

So we thought we'd better fix it. So we 'phone APC:

APC: Throw it away and buy a new one

I think that's VERY poor. I'd expect cheap kit to be disposable. But a few hundred quid's worth of UPS should not, IMHO, be disposable. The whole philosophy is obviously deigned to make you buy more UPSs.

Obviously that would be their preferred option.

However, if you have the facilities to fix one yourself then I doubt it would be too hard to work out what was wrong with it and fix it.

Also a quick search of google with 'uk apc ups repair' seems to produce a list of people that do fix them that look like reasonable companies.

but for me, next time round it won't be an APC one.

I can understand that, although for me even in the same circumstances it would be one for me as I have had no problem with APCs

Matthew Sylvester replied on :

Luke Siemaszko no.spam.for.me@redacted.invalid wrote:

We have a APC UPS which is dead.

Is it definitely dead? At work we've resurrected a couple of APCs that the IT dept assumed were defunct and had skipped, whereas they only needed a new set of batteries.

Tim Gowen replied on :

Luke Siemaszko no.spam.for.me@redacted.invalid wrote:

We have a APC UPS which is dead.

So we thought we'd better fix it. So we 'phone APC:

US: Can we have a circuit diagram please? APC: No, because it's proprietary information US: So is there somewhere we can send it for repair? APC: No US: Do you have an in house repair facility then? APC: No US: So what are we supposed to do then? APC: Throw it away and buy a new one

We've just bought a UPS from APC that cost almost £6000...

    Tim
Luke Siemaszko replied on :

Matthew Sylvester wrote:

Luke Siemaszko no.spam.for.me@redacted.invalid wrote:

We have a APC UPS which is dead.

Is it definitely dead? At work we've resurrected a couple of APCs that the IT dept assumed were defunct and had skipped, whereas they only needed a new set of batteries.

That's a couple of people that have told me that dead batteries can mean an apparebtly totally dead unit, so worth investigating. Problem A is getting the batteries out without breaking them..they are so warped they are wedged in. Problem B is identifying them, they seem black and annonymous, which doeesn't help identify replacements. Hopefully we can aat least count cellss, an dd that pluss dimensions should heelp identify a non-APC replacment.

thanks for the post

Matthew Sylvester replied on :

Luke Siemaszko no.spam.for.me@redacted.invalid wrote:

Problem A is getting the batteries out without breaking them..they are so warped they are wedged in.

That definately points to death by overheating. This type of battery is sealed, and the electrolyte is a gel, so they are pretty safe to handle even when damaged.

Problem B is identifying them, they seem black and annonymous, which doeesn't help identify replacements. Hopefully we can aat least count cellss, an dd that pluss dimensions should heelp identify a non-APC replacment.

They'll be Sealed Lead Acid batteries, often made by Yuasa. CPC http://cpc.farnell.com/jsp/home/homepage.jsp stock a good range. From memory, APC often use the 12V 7Ah version <http://cpc.farnell.com/jsp/endecaSearch/partDetail.jsp?SKU=BT00578&N=41 1> but if that's not the one, click on the "Catalogue Page" link and you'll get a table that cross-references the various types and their dimensions.