Can I use a UPS just as a battery pack?

tronator

kwikbreaks wrote: »

First make sure it's working. IME the batteries in a UPS don't last forever and replacing them is often uneconomic.

Why is it uneconomic? The cost of the battery is only a small part of the whole UPS. I bought a replacement battery for £15 for my UPS, where a new one would have cost me between £50 and £100.

kwikbreaks

I don't know about your UPS but when I checked battery pricing on the one I had they cost almost as much as I'd paid for the unit. That was a long time back though so possibly things have changed now that everything costs 5p or less from China. Still worth testing it though rather than assume it will work properly.

===

Checking pricings on the one the OP mentioned I see they can be bought for ~ £75 and the battery is ~ £20 so not uneconomic as you already suggested.

gterr

Thanks all. Yes, it's just the router I want to run. I have made other arrangements for tablets/smartphones in the event of a power cut.


It's an APC ES700. I'd like to disable to buzzer. Anyone done this?


Thanks for your time.

tronator

gterr wrote: »

It's an APC ES700. I'd like to disable to buzzer. Anyone done this?

My APC Back-UPS 500 has a button/switch for that, but yours doesn't seem to have one. This might help you

http://forums.apc.com/spaces/4/back-ups-surge-protectors/forums/general/1045/disable-beeping-without-a-computer-es750

In short, install PowerChute on a computer and disable the beep.

Strider590

kwikbreaks wrote: »

I don't know about your UPS but when I checked battery pricing on the one I had they cost almost as much as I'd paid for the unit. That was a long time back though so possibly things have changed now that everything costs 5p or less from China. Still worth testing it though rather than assume it will work properly.

===

Checking pricings on the one the OP mentioned I see they can be bought for ~ £75 and the battery is ~ £20 so not uneconomic as you already suggested.

APC do a good job of hiding the battery type they use, their battery packs have stickers on them (or shrink wrap) to stop you working out what type they are and who makes them.

They're just standard SLA batteries, easily available and cheap, but APC charge the earth for them.

APC are obviously the biggest name out there, but other brands also use this practice.

spannerzone

tronator wrote: »

My APC Back-UPS 500 has a button/switch for that, but yours doesn't seem to have one. This might help you

http://forums.apc.com/spaces/4/back-ups-surge-protectors/forums/general/1045/disable-beeping-without-a-computer-es750

In short, install PowerChute on a computer and disable the beep.

Thanks for that, I also unsoldered the buzzer on my 500 as it scared the daylights out of me in the middle of the night when a power cut occurred! - I never noticed that option in the software D'oh

Strider590

spannerzone wrote: »

Thanks for that, I also unsoldered the buzzer on my 500 as it scared the daylights out of me in the middle of the night when a power cut occurred! - I never noticed that option in the software D'oh

I just de-soldered and replaced with an LED.

I'm sitting there using my PC and suddenly all the lights go off in the house, I DON'T NEED A F***ING BUZZER TO TELL ME THERE'S A POWER CUT!!!!! :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

spannerzone

Strider590 wrote: »

I just de-soldered and replaced with an LED.

I'm sitting there using my PC and suddenly all the lights go off in the house, I DON'T NEED A F***ING BUZZER TO TELL ME THERE'S A POWER CUT!!!!! :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

Yeah, it's pretty obvious usually

I can hear my UPS buzz slightly when it's actually working on battery power, there's a litle click then a faint buzz, that's all I need to know that it's working, along with my PC still working while the wife's has gone off with the rest of the house

virgo17

Strider590 wrote: »

Off the top of my head it's an APC ES350. Used to !!!! me right off until I took it apart and replaced the buzzer with an LED

Sorry for the slight delay in replying and thank you for the info.