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I don’t know why…possibly I’m only a “fortunate” man…nevertheless it at all times appears that units able to audibly alerting me when one thing’s flawed with them at all times appear to “hold forth” in the course of the night time, whereas I’m slumbering. It occurred final yr, when a carbon monoxide detector downstairs, plugged into an AC wall outlet, determined that it’d gotten too outdated and was due for retirement and alternative. I used to be so groggy, as you’ll see from studying my story of woe, that I at first thought the sound supply was the smoke detector wired up on the ceiling. I didn’t understand my error till after I unhooked it and nonetheless heard the beeping going off.
Extra lately, the din occurred once more, this time in my workplace subsequent door to the master suite. And this time it was a fixed and piercing tone, coming from one among my uninterruptable energy provides (UPSs) there, which if you happen to reference the person handbook, means one among two issues:
- A lifeless (or disconnected or in any other case not current, for what it’s value) battery, when the alert sound is accompanied by topside flashing lights, or
- An excessive amount of present being pulled via one (or a number of) of the machine’s battery-backed AC outputs, when the sound’s not accompanied by topside flashing lights
Once more, it was the midnight, and I (deludedly, because it turned out) aspired to get again to sleep. So, I manually shutdown any units linked to the UPS that wouldn’t reply properly to an abrupt energy outage, then powered the UPS itself off. The following day, I turned the UPS again on and…it was effective for a few days, when it once more woke me up in the course of the night time. At that time, I made a decision it was retirement-and-teardown time for this unit, albeit preceded by a bit extra experimentation (solely throughout waking hours, thoughts you…the continued noise was getting my spouse actually aggravated). The UPS would sit there stably buzzing away…so long as nothing was linked to any of the battery-backed retailers. However all it took was one thing as current-draw-diminutive as an LCD in backlight-off sleep mode to ultimately increase the UPS’ audible ire.
Our affected person, to be exact, is an APC (these days a model of Schneider Electrical) Again-UPS ES 550VA unit, the BE550G:
I used to be shocked to search out, whereas researching this writeup, that APC nonetheless sells it for $99.99 direct from the corporate web site. My e mail archives point out that I purchased three of those round a decade in the past, all from Amazon, the primary for $49.99 again in April 2012, the second for $55.99 the next (2013) February, and the third for $49.49 in October 2014. What I like about these items (and conceptually comparable ones from each APC and opponents) is that the batteries are user-replaceable, and so they’re standard-size and -spec. A Ni-Cd cell will sooner-or-later go kaput, whether or not it’s as a result of repeated premises energy loss dependency on it or simply prolonged trickle-charging-induced storage-capability decay, however you’ll be able to then simply pop in a alternative battery, and it’ll be good as new. That mentioned, finally the interior circuitry itself could fail, as appears to be the case with my machine, with the UPS then destined just for dissection-then-discard.
These batteries, by the best way, are an fascinating razors and blades story all their very own. APC conveniently hyperlinks, direct from the BE550G product web page, to a company-branded alternative battery, the APCRBC110, which sells for $69.99. Sure, you’ve executed your arithmetic proper…that’s solely $30 lower than what the corporate sells all the UPS (together with a battery) for brand spanking new. That mentioned, the cell used on this mannequin is a typical 12VDC, 7Ah mannequin additionally used for backup-power functions in dwelling safety programs, to energy electrical scooters and wheelchairs, and the like. At any time when I’ve wanted one, I’ve simply discovered third-party options on Amazon and eBay for round 1/3 that value; I even lately acquired six 12VDC, 9Ah equivalents in the very same kind issue for $48.99 on sale. You simply want to verify the output voltage matches, that the charge-storage spec is the same as or increased than that of what you’re changing, and that the size are the identical, together with the constructive and adverse terminal places (and talking of terminals, I’ve seen each F1 and F2 choices; adapters can be found to as-needed translate).
A pair extra notes earlier than we dive in. As you will have already observed from the “inventory” photograph I confirmed earlier, the BE550G combines 4 surge-protected retailers alongside the highest edge with 4 extra retailers alongside the underside edge, these latter ones each surge-protected and battery-backed. Maybe clearly, the power to transform saved DC again into AC when premises energy goes down is a key attribute of a UPS. This explicit mannequin generates a so-called simulated (additionally generally known as modified) sine wave AC output; costlier fashions generate “pure” sine waves however value roughly twice as a lot. This information web page from Tripp Lite, a model of Eaton, offers a very good comparability abstract between the 2 AC output choices.
Notice, too, that the “550” within the product title refers to its DC-to-AC “VA” output spec, not its output wattage functionality (which, per the product spec sheet, is just 330W). In case you’re available in the market for a UPS, ensure you perceive the distinction between the 2 and choose correctly, to keep away from (as this Eaton information web page describes) under-sizing the UPS for the required connected- tools’s energy draw wants. Extra typically, I’ve discovered this Eaton information web page to be a very good FAQ overview of assorted UPS matters (I’ve no explicit affinity or different connection to Eaton; I don’t assume I even personal any of their stuff. I similar to their documentation!).
With the overview commentary out of the best way, let’s check out our affected person, proven right here as-usual alongside a 0.75″ (19.1 mm) diameter U.S. penny for dimension comparability functions (the BE550G has dimensions of 12 x 3.3 x 7 inches and weighs 13 lbs. with a battery put in inside):
Alongside one finish is a USB port for non-obligatory UPS monitoring and management by way of a linked laptop, “in” and “out” RJ-45 plugs to surge-protect an Ethernet connection, a circuit breaker “reset” change, and a standing LED:
Right here’s a “inventory” view:
The opposite finish and either side aren’t as thrilling (these aren’t air flow grilles, solely slots embedded within the plastic, which I’m guessing exist to finger-grip-assist in unplugging issues?):
Now for the bottom, and our pathway inside (word the 4 deep holes, with screws inside):
Closeup of the label:
Subsequent, let’s crack open that battery compartment:
A closeup of the 2 battery terminals:
Now let’s get these screws out and get inside, which ended up being easy:
Listed here are the 4 surge-only retailers, with a plastic defend between them and the insides:
Beneath the PCB (at left are the red- and black-color cables and terminals we noticed earlier within the battery compartment):
is one other plastic defend, this time with the 4 surge-plus-battery retailers beneath it:
The transformer, which dominates the panorama, lifts out simply (reflective of the extra common modular and simply undone unit meeting method):
Let’s look extra carefully on the top-edge retailers, whose defend is held in place by a single screw:
I used to be shocked to see, contemplating that these are supposedly surge-protected retailers, that they appear to be immediately fed from the AC cable (versus, for instance, having in-line circuitry between them and the surface world). That mentioned, I’m admittedly a “digital” man with no explicit energy electronics experience so I’ll depend on extra educated readers for training within the feedback:
Now for these different (bottom-edge) retailers, each battery-backed and surge-protected. Just like the transformer earlier than it, the PCB lifts out of the chassis with completely no fuss:
To totally take away the PCB and transformer requires first separating the cabling operating each between them and the 2 outlet units, a easy train given the simply indifferent connectors:
Listed here are some closeups of the now-standalone transformer (the pink wire originated within the battery compartment):
And the PCB (the black wire, this time, originated within the battery compartment):
Reiterating what I already admitted, I’m not a “energy” man, so I’ll depart it to you, the readers, to hold forth with issues that look fascinating within the feedback, together with noting swollen capacitors or different flaws that I could have ignored and would possibly clarify the UPS’ emergent misbehavior. I’ll maintain onto the disassembled machine for some time, so I can reply to incoming queries:
In closing, listed here are just a few extra views of the within of the chassis topside, with the PCB and transformer now eliminated:
And with that, it’s over to you in your ideas within the feedback!
—Brian Dipert is the Editor-in-Chief of the Edge AI and Imaginative and prescient Alliance, and a Senior Analyst at BDTI and Editor-in-Chief of InsideDSP, the corporate’s on-line e-newsletter.
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