Do I Need A New Battery Backups System Or Just A New Battery Replacement?

Hello. I am looking into getting a battery backup system for my computer. I already own one [APC Back-UPS ES 725] that I bought approximately 5 years ago. I never used it for any power failure over the course of time (I live in the city with rarely ever a power outages.), but just tonight I cannot get it to run without it beeping, flashing green led, and alarms going off with plugs into the outlets and when I turn it on. I figure the battery is dead. I assume the battery backup unit is fine. I never really even tested the unit right after I bought it, so I never got any time on how long the system was up and running before the battery was depleted. However, I performed a power failure test about a year ago (a 4 year old unit at the time), and it only lasted 20-30 seconds then the battery died. Wow! That is terrible, not enough time to do anything. Now, I know the unit is old at that point and the battery may be dying and very little juice left in it when that happened. But, like I said, I never used it for its backup features before. People tell me that your current is being power conditioned with a unit like mine even if the battery goes dead. Well, unfortunately, when the battery goes dead; the unit doesn’t work and goes nuts with those sounds and lights.

Now I will add that when I did that test about a year ago, there may be a reason for the fast depletion of the battery. Let me give you a quick summary what I have: I have a 800W power supply, with a ASUS P5Q (the regular board) motherboard, Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 processor, (2) Corsair DIMM XMS2 4GB DDR2 (2x2GB) 800 (PC2-6400) dual channel memory, 2 LG DVD Burners, floppy drive, media card reader for camera cards, 5 hard drives ( 1 IDE drive and 3 SATA hard drives), 2 92mm non-LED fans, 2 adjustable twist flex fans with LEDs, 19’ Samsung Sync Master 930B LCD monitor, several PCI cards for various functions (one is a Creative high end audio card), EVGA e-GeForce 9600GT Superclocked 512 MB DDR3 video card, and some small other things. Now, I am not sure if my system has that much wattage running so that could be the reason for the quick loss of backup time or my battery power is poor.

So, I am not sure if another new battery replacement for the current UPS ES 725 is good enough (save money) to get me at least 5 minutes of battery run time (Reason: It was the battery that is causing your unit not to run longer.), or I need to be looking at something more powerful for a battery backup because I am drawing too much power for this particular unit? I know my computer power supply is rated at 800W and I know it sounds HUGE! However, I know most of time, the system is NOT drawing the full or near 800W of power. So I am told that even lower wattage power backups will work with my system because you do not have everything running at the same time. However these same people who I have spoken with really do not know all the stuff my system either.

Here is a link to my unit at APC: http://www.apc.com/resource/include/techspec_index.cfm?base_sku=BE725bb

Any thoughts on the issue and what I should do – buy a battery replacement or a new unit. I can get a battery replacment for this unit for a small cost.

Please share your ideas, facts, and opinions. If it is just the battery, then I am making out cost wise and I am back in business. If it is too much power drawing down on the power backup, then I have to get a new unit.

Any questions? Please ask.

Thank you!

 

A quick look here shows you're probably ok as far as power supply headroom - you might want to check me on that. I'd guess you could most likely find a replacement battery fairly easily (just don't wait too long to pull the connectors - batteries can start corroding real quick if they're not powered).

Be advised: the standard Army UPS mantra was to remember that a battery backup was not to run a system for any length of time, but for giving you a chance to perform an orderly shutdown in case of power failure. Most Powerchute-type UPS software can connect to Windows (usually via USB, but there are still serial units out there) for such timed shutdowns.

 

Hello. Thank you for your reply.

I have to let you know that I used the online tool link (Thank you!) and I received 458 Watts recommended when I plugged in my hardware. I know it is an approximate, but it is pretty close -- I think it seems pretty close. Oh, I need to add my LCD Samsung 19 inch monitor (38 Watts) that it does not figure in and of course that would be plugged into a battery backup... ...so I am looking around 496 Watts total. Now, my current battery backup is rated at 450 Watt. Okay, this may be the cause for the fast drop in battery runtime??? I am over the Watts by a few.

When the online tool link you provided gives a number in Watts (like my 458 Watts), is this when everything is running at the same time -- are they saying that "Recommended PSU Wattage" is "the maximum" PSU Wattage???

I see one figure is called "Minimum PSU Wattage" is 408 Watts.

Please reply to this comment. Thank you!

 

If you pile more stuff on like your LCD, modem/router, all it will do is shorten your uptime, maybe down to 4 min. with a full load for you, like playing a game or calcing a large spreadsheet. Since it hasn't been touched in basically 5 years, I would get a new one as these batteries are just like car batteries corrode, batteries should be checked every 6-12 mths. for leakage and kept charged. Also, batteries are some %80 of the total cost of the unit.

Since you're in the city then I'd re-consider getting one but if you get regular brownouts etc. then definitely do get one.

Don't worry too much about splitting hairs here about minimums etc. as that refers to the power supply in your machine. Here's an uninterruptable power supply close to your specs.

BTW, batteries only last max 3 years.

 

Hello. Thanks for your ideas. I NEED YOUR HONEST OPINION AND EVALUATION!!!

I tell you what I did after doing some online research. I found a product that has high favorable reviews and it does work per other people who have used this product. I REALLY NEED TO KNOW what your TOTAL computers Watts are for my power. Let this be a revelation to all of you!!! I purchased a rather new electrical tool (about 9-10 years old now since it first came out!) called Kill A Watt EZ Electricity Usage Monitor. You may of heard of it or maybe not. IT IS AN AWESOME TOOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!... Everybody has to have one of these. It does a TON of stuff!!!!!!!!! I will let you look it up for yourself. I LOVE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!... Not too expensive too.

Anyways, I needed to know how many Watts I need to have the right size battery back-ups unit in order to purchase or just replace the battery. What this electricity usage monitor usage provides in electricity measurements (coming from the principle components I need to have running during a power outage – monitor and tower) is what I should need for a battery backup system. This electricity usage monitor provides all the electrical measurements you need.

Now I have received readings on my desktop alone tower in terms of Watts. I get a spike when I first turn on the computer around 228 Watts, but this only lasts for a split second, and then it backs down to 160's while the programs are loading, then it averages between 138-142 Watts while I am not doing much of anything with the computer (Just like I am typing on my keyboard right now -- kind of like at idle.). I have plugged my power cord from the power supply into this electricity usage monitor and plugged the electricity usage monitor into a wall outlet. NOW, this does NOT include my 19 inch LCD Samsung Monitor (Sync Master 930B) for this rating. Obviously I have to have to monitor connected to a battery backups system. Therefore in order to do this I have to plug both the monitor and the tower into a good quality strip plug and then connected the strip plug’s plug into the electricity usage monitor. From there I plug the electricity usage monitor into the wall outlet. Now, this time the spike was at 236 Watts. While the programs are loading I am getting around 170’s, then at idle the range is 158-159.

On the surface comparing with and without monitor, it seems logical. Comparing to what the online Watt usage calculators are demonstrating (link: http://extreme.outervision.com/psucalculatorlite.jsp), this is WAY LOW!!!! That is a difference of 337 Watts (496 Watts (from online Watt usage calculator) – 159 (from the electricity usage monitor). WOW! Quite a difference! Another thing, the rating for my monitor is 38 Watts. Now to figure out how many Watts my monitor is drawing by using the electricity monitor when Watts are at idle is (158 - 140 =) 18 Watts. That is 20 Watts difference from what Samsung rates my monitor! WOW!!!! As you can see everything is lower!!! It seems correct in other ways by looking at the other electrical measurements.

These are the results that seem realistic (based on connecting monitor and tower plugged into a good quality power strip, plugged into the electricity usage monitor, plugged into the wall outlet):
163 VA, 60.0 Hz, 120.5 Volts, 1.35 Amps, 158 Watts

I have checked the household voltage against my good quality Greenlee multi-meter (by checking the wires in a wall outlet) and it is accurate.

QUESTION: Would you rely on the actual readings from the unit? I mean these are ACTUAL or near actual readings to determine my true Wattage from my computer equipment, correct? Your thoughts?

Okay, back to the battery backup issue… …I would only need a rather low wattage battery backup… ….even the one I have now should be fine with a rating of only 450 Watts. …or just get another battery replacement for my current unit? I could get something like the APC Back-Ups ES 550VA that has a Wattage rating of 330 Watts. This should be enough, correct? Even if this electricity usage monitor was slightly off, a new APC Back-Ups ES 550VA would be enough, correct? But why then only about 30 seconds backup time from my current APC Back-Ups ES 725 when I have way over the required Watts??? Is my 4 year old battery at the time the CHIEF culprit for such a short backup time when I tested a year ago?

Please comment on anything I said. I need some input!

THANK YOU!!!

 

Most UPS batteries are of the gel lead-acid sealed type, needing little or no maintenance and therefore do not leak or corrode the terminals. UPS batteries should be replaced about every 3 years.