UPS hack possible?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Pflueger
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Pflueger

If anyone knows of a more appropriate NG for this, please advise.

My APC UPS has been screaming at me to get another replacement battery. I
have replaced it before, it is a piddly 12V.

Today as I was readying my boat for winter it came to me that I have two big
expensive Deep-cycle 12V batteries going to waste all winter, while if I
could use a jumper to hack into the UPS they could possibly be used instead.
It would provide much more of a backup source and would be of help in
maintaining them through the winter as well.

I would be interested in hearing any feedback about it. Thanks,

pflu
 
Pflueger said:
If anyone knows of a more appropriate NG for this, please
advise.

My APC UPS has been screaming at me to get another
replacement battery. I have replaced it before, it is a
piddly 12V.

Today as I was readying my boat for winter it came to me
that I have two big expensive Deep-cycle 12V batteries
going to waste all winter, while if I could use a jumper
to hack into the UPS they could possibly be used instead.
It would provide much more of a backup source and would
be of help in maintaining them through the winter as
well.

I would be interested in hearing any feedback about it.
Thanks,

pflu
Click to expand...

You have to tell it that you replaced the battery. The message most likely
has nothing to do with the state of the battery. Did you tell it to do a
self test?
 
Pflueger said:
If anyone knows of a more appropriate NG for this, please advise.

My APC UPS has been screaming at me to get another replacement battery. I
have replaced it before, it is a piddly 12V.

Today as I was readying my boat for winter it came to me that I have two big
expensive Deep-cycle 12V batteries going to waste all winter, while if I
could use a jumper to hack into the UPS they could possibly be used instead.
It would provide much more of a backup source and would be of help in
maintaining them through the winter as well.

I would be interested in hearing any feedback about it. Thanks,

pflu
Click to expand...

I work for a major battery manufacturer and also have worked on my share of
UPS's over the years...so I feel qualified to answer your question.

The answer is not as clear cut as you might imagine.

Since the charger is designed to charge a smaller battery
there is of course the possibility the batteries may not charge fully...
however a problem might only occur is there was a very long power failure
and the batteries got deeply discharged.

The real danger is in the emission of hydrogen gas...which of course is
explosive!

The battery that's in the UPS now should be a VRLA battery.
That stands for valve-regulated lead-acid. It's designed to allow a
negligible amount
of hydrogen gas emission under all but a thermal run-away condition.

The deep-cycle batteries you have, could be the "wet" type which would emit
hydrogen
and could therefore be potentially dangerous.
Since VLRA deep cycle batteries do exist the ones you have *might* be safe
to use...but be sure to
find out if they are the "wet" type (with liquid acid inside) or "sealed"
VLRA's

The VLRA is a fairly expensive battery and can cost over $200 each!

The good news, is that since the charger is going to be undersized for the
batteries
the chances of a dangerous emission of hydrogen is minimized...but that is
not to say it would be safe.

Since you will be using the deep cycle batteries in the summer (presumably
in your boat)
you are going to have to replace the internal battery anyway...
So you might as well not bother with the deep-cycle batteries you have.

When in doubt err on the side of caution.
 
philo said:
I work for a major battery manufacturer and also have worked on my share of
UPS's over the years...so I feel qualified to answer your question.

The answer is not as clear cut as you might imagine.

Since the charger is designed to charge a smaller battery
there is of course the possibility the batteries may not charge fully...
however a problem might only occur is there was a very long power failure
and the batteries got deeply discharged.

The real danger is in the emission of hydrogen gas...which of course is
explosive!

The battery that's in the UPS now should be a VRLA battery.
That stands for valve-regulated lead-acid. It's designed to allow a
negligible amount
of hydrogen gas emission under all but a thermal run-away condition.

The deep-cycle batteries you have, could be the "wet" type which would emit
hydrogen
and could therefore be potentially dangerous.
Since VLRA deep cycle batteries do exist the ones you have *might* be safe
to use...but be sure to
find out if they are the "wet" type (with liquid acid inside) or "sealed"
VLRA's

The VLRA is a fairly expensive battery and can cost over $200 each!

The good news, is that since the charger is going to be undersized for the
batteries
the chances of a dangerous emission of hydrogen is minimized...but that is
not to say it would be safe.

Since you will be using the deep cycle batteries in the summer (presumably
in your boat)
you are going to have to replace the internal battery anyway...
So you might as well not bother with the deep-cycle batteries you have.

When in doubt err on the side of caution.
Click to expand...


Thanks for the info. The deep cycle batteries are the wet type. I would bet
neither would need any charging from the UPS all winter as you say,
especially if hooked up in parallel. I use the UPS almost exclusively only
for the voltage-leveling attributes, not document preserving -- if they keep
my automatic bilge pump going all summer, they would probably only need the
usual amount of monitoring over winter.

If I decide to try it I will take care to provide plenty of venting.

Once I got the jumpers in place I could forsee even using one of my handy
portable 12V jump-start power packs for backup as well -- they are VLRA
types.
 
Thanks for the info. The deep cycle batteries are the wet type. I would bet
neither would need any charging from the UPS all winter as you say,
especially if hooked up in parallel. I use the UPS almost exclusively only
for the voltage-leveling attributes, not document preserving -- if they keep
my automatic bilge pump going all summer, they would probably only need the
usual amount of monitoring over winter.

If I decide to try it I will take care to provide plenty of venting.

Once I got the jumpers in place I could forsee even using one of my handy
portable 12V jump-start power packs for backup as well -- they are VLRA
types.
Click to expand...

Considering the batteries will be a much higher Ampere-Hour than the
charger,
the amount of gassing will be negligible...but I just wanted to sure you
were fully cautioned.

Basically, no smoking or flames near the batteries!

BTW: There are several possible charging methods...but if the voltage
remains below 14.2 volts while on charge,
the gassing is next to nothing.


I see I also made a few typos, valve regulated lead acid is VRLA <G>
 
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