UPS that automatically restart?

[Donald]

I have a few CyberPower UPS for the churches where I support the WIFI. I am moving away from the CyberPower because of them not restarting after a power failure. Like you describe. I also found it hard to tell what the actual condition of the battery was as the battery aged.

I have replaced some of the CyberPower with APC SmartConnect. I get email notifications about what is going on with the UPS.

In some cases the replacement batteries are near the cost of the UPS.

 

[Thermo1223]

I have a few CyberPower UPS for the churches where I support the WIFI. I am moving away from the CyberPower because of them not restarting after a power failure. Like you describe. I also found it hard to tell what the actual condition of the battery was as the battery aged.

I have replaced some of the CyberPower with APC SmartConnect. I get email notifications about what is going on with the UPS.

In some cases the replacement batteries are near the cost of the UPS.

Of all my limited dealings with CyberPower I was never impressed like you. APC is still the gold standard IMO.

 

[spackard]

Another thing to consider is LiFePO4 batteries. The name-brand LiFePO4 UPS are too high price - $3k entry point.
An anker powerhouse 555 is $900 on EBay. It’s LiFePO4 but marketed as a battery-powered generator. It can be used as an UPS.
“For power station model 511/521/531/533/534/535/545/555, the mains power can be automatically switched to the battery power and there is no transfer time”
It’s 1kw continuous output, and rated at 1024Wh of energy. You should be able to run close to 60 min at 900W, taking into account efficiency.

The APC Smart-UPS SMC1500C does 900W, but only 7.8min at 900W. It’s VRLA.
11Ah 12V (x2) is 264Wh of energy, if you could even pull those to zero at high current.

 

[SupremePossum]

The real solution here is to buy a standby generators! I mess with UPS batteries a lot less now that they only need 10 seconds of runtime

 

[Fordiesel69]

I could not read all the posts but there is something wrong with yours. The intent of any UPS is to run until battery dies, and most will have a usb port that when properly configured will shut down the PC. Then yes the battery will deplete. When the mains restore, it will power back on and charge the battery.

If yours is not powering back on, then there is a setting in your software (that you will need to download) and hook into it with usb, or there is a component failure.

Also, sealed lead acid batteries have a typical 3 yr lifespan and occasionally will make it 5yrs. Always replace by a time interval as when they die, they just up and die. Its not like they will give a good warning.

 

[JHZR2]

I could not read all the posts but there is something wrong with yours. The intent of any UPS is to run until battery dies, and most will have a usb port that when properly configured will shut down the PC. Then yes the battery will deplete. When the mains restore, it will power back on and charge the battery.

If yours is not powering back on, then there is a setting in your software (that you will need to download) and hook into it with usb, or there is a component failure.

Also, sealed lead acid batteries have a typical 3 yr lifespan and occasionally will make it 5yrs. Always replace by a time interval as when they die, they just up and die. Its not like they will give a good warning.

Mine is not powering a pc.

 

[OVERKILL]

Another thing to consider is LiFePO4 batteries. The name-brand LiFePO4 UPS are too high price - $3k entry point.
An anker powerhouse 555 is $900 on EBay. It’s LiFePO4 but marketed as a battery-powered generator. It can be used as an UPS.
“For power station model 511/521/531/533/534/535/545/555, the mains power can be automatically switched to the battery power and there is no transfer time”
It’s 1kw continuous output, and rated at 1024Wh of energy. You should be able to run close to 60 min at 900W, taking into account efficiency.

The APC Smart-UPS SMC1500C does 900W, but only 7.8min at 900W. It’s VRLA.
11Ah 12V (x2) is 264Wh of energy, if you could even pull those to zero at high current.

Depends on the load of course. My network equipment is on a SCL500RM1UC, which is a lithium-Ion battery based offering for under $500:
APC Smart-UPS, Line Interactive, 500VA, Lithium-ion, Rackmount 1U, 120V, 4x NEMA 5-15R outlets, SmartConnect Port, Short Depth - SCL500RM1UC | APC USA

Nowhere near the capacity of that Anker unit, but it fits in my network rack, and, given the low draw of that equipment, runs everything for about 45 minutes.

 

[Donald]

I could not read all the posts but there is something wrong with yours. The intent of any UPS is to run until battery dies, and most will have a usb port that when properly configured will shut down the PC. Then yes the battery will deplete. When the mains restore, it will power back on and charge the battery.

If yours is not powering back on, then there is a setting in your software (that you will need to download) and hook into it with usb, or there is a component failure.

Also, sealed lead acid batteries have a typical 3 yr lifespan and occasionally will make it 5yrs. Always replace by a time interval as when they die, they just up and die. Its not like they will give a good warning.

All the UPS I have mentioned are powering a router or switch. No PC involved.

The APC SmartConnect has a RJ45 jack to connect it to a network which I do.

CyberPower has replaced one or two that did not power up after a long power failure. But who wants to go through that. Just go with APC.

 

[dogememe]

Until the UPS overheats in a power outage because it was designed to be run off a 9AH battery that will go dead before that happens.

I've had a CyberPower PFC sinewave unit hooked up to an AGM car battery for years. Let it run for hours after power failure with no issues. It's clearly confused because runtime estimate is all over the place but it works fine. Nothing has melted yet.

 

[Thermo1223]

Depends on the load of course. My network equipment is on a SCL500RM1UC, which is a lithium-Ion battery based offering for under $500:
APC Smart-UPS, Line Interactive, 500VA, Lithium-ion, Rackmount 1U, 120V, 4x NEMA 5-15R outlets, SmartConnect Port, Short Depth - SCL500RM1UC | APC USA

Nowhere near the capacity of that Anker unit, but it fits in my network rack, and, given the low draw of that equipment, runs everything for about 45 minutes.

I just got 3 of these for another local warehouse. They previously had just plain old desktop units laying the in the IDF cabinet. Interested to see if the battery makes it 5 years.

 

[brianl703]

I've had a CyberPower PFC sinewave unit hooked up to an AGM car battery for years. Let it run for hours after power failure with no issues. It's clearly confused because runtime estimate is all over the place but it works fine. Nothing has melted yet.

That either has a fan in it or you're not loading it to anywhere near full load.

 

[dogememe]

That either has a fan in it or you're not loading it to anywhere near full load.

Load hovers around 80W. Not full load.

 

[thastinger]

Soooo, what are the components of an in-line UPS?
1. A converter to take wall power to the Voltage and Amps required to charge #2
2. A set of batteries(pick your chemistry here) that supply the rated output...when healthy
3. An inverter to change the DC power from the battery bank to the AC power needed by the supported equipment.

3-5 years on a sealed battery is a good run, you can't equalize them and take care of them as wet batteries require. Replace the battery pack.

 

[brianl703]

Load hovers around 80W. Not full load.

That won't be enough to make it overheat. I have a 600VA APC that's connected to a 17AH battery, which is twice the size of the stock battery, and it'll run for at least a couple of hours powering the 50W worth of stuff plugged into it. It doesn't overheat. But I know it would if I tried to pull 500W out of it.

 

[brianl703]

3-5 years on a sealed battery is a good run, you can't equalize them and take care of them as wet batteries require. Replace the battery pack.

You can break the top cover off of them and add water to them. I've heard of someone doing this and making them last twice as long. That cover isn't hard to remove, either, and you can just tape it back on. But you can't wait till the battery is going bad to add water. At that point it won't help.

 

[thastinger]

You can break the top cover off of them and add water to them. I've heard of someone doing this and making them last twice as long. That cover isn't hard to remove, either, and you can just tape it back on. But you can't wait till the battery is going bad to add water. At that point it won't help.

How to you equalize them?

 

[brianl703]

How to you equalize them?

I've never needed to do that when using flooded deep cycle batteries, why would an AGM be any different?

 

[thastinger]

I've never needed to do that when using flooded deep cycle batteries, why would an AGM be any different?

Why would they be AGM batteries when they are in a stationary location? FLA would be much less expensive and I suspect that sealed FLA batteries are what is used in these.

 

[brianl703]

Why would they be AGM batteries when they are in a stationary location? FLA would be much less expensive and I suspect that sealed FLA batteries are what is used in these.

Because AGM batteries do not leak, even when the case is broken open. FLA batteries have this tendency to leak if they're laying upside down or on their side. People who buy UPSs probably don't want that.

Small FLA batteries, outside of ones intended for motorcycles and ATVs, aren't even commonly available. If you buy a 7AH 12V battery, it's going to be an AGM battery. Decades ago it might have been a gel cell instead, but my understanding is that AGM technology is better/cheaper than gel cell technology.

 

[Rand]

Default cyberpower action:

If the batteries don’t have enough power to complete the battery test, it will not start up until the power button is pressed.

You need a smart ups that has a setting to auto restart when its charged to X% or higher.