Testing an uninterruptible power supply (UPS)

[John Doe]

I would like to buy a battery for my UPS which has failed. But there
is no clear indication that the sealed lead-acid battery is dead. How
do I test?

Should I hook a multimeter to the positive battery terminal? The 10
amp DC multimeter setting should do? Put the black multimeter probe
to the battery positive terminal and the red multimeter probe to the
UPS charging output? I expect that will measure charging current
flowing into the battery and provide an indication of whether the UPS
is attempting to charge the battery.

Any idea of how much charging current there should be?

This is the 12 V sealed lead-acid battery model number:
BP7-12 7AH/20HR
I guess "20HR" means that it takes 20 hours to recharge.

Thank you.

 

[Chris W]

John Doe wrote:

I would like to buy a battery for my UPS which has failed. But there
is no clear indication that the sealed lead-acid battery is dead. How
do I test?

Should I hook a multimeter to the positive battery terminal? The 10
amp DC multimeter setting should do? Put the black multimeter probe
to the battery positive terminal and the red multimeter probe to the
UPS charging output? I expect that will measure charging current
flowing into the battery and provide an indication of whether the UPS
is attempting to charge the battery.

Any idea of how much charging current there should be?

This is the 12 V sealed lead-acid battery model number:
BP7-12 7AH/20HR
I guess "20HR" means that it takes 20 hours to recharge.

Thank you.


The 7AH/20HR means that the battery will put out 7AH if it is discharged

at a 20 hour rate, 7/20 = .35 amps. If you discharge the battery with a
..35 amp load, it should be dead in 20 hours. In a UPS though they
normally drain them at a much higher rate. As for charging I would
estimate something less than 2 amps. maybe slightly more. As far as
testing the battery goes, if you want to spend less money than a new
battery would cost (about $15 for a 7AH), I would suggest taking a 12V
light bulb and hook it up to the battery and monitor the voltage till it
drops to about 10 volts. Then do the math and see how many amp hours
you got out of the battery. Then compare that to a similar energy curve
on the spec sheet for a new battery like this one....
http://lib1.store.vip.sc5.yahoo.com/lib/zbattery/bp7-12.pdf

If you don't know the wattage of the light you are using, you could use
your 10A amp meter to measure current draw and another meter to monitor
voltage. The current will also change as the voltage drops.

If you really want to know how all your batteries are doing you could
get this thing
http://www.powerwerx.com/product.asp?ProdID=3331&CtgID=3586

or this thing

http://www.powerwerx.com/product.asp?ProdID=3378&CtgID=3587

The second one is cheaper but you need to provide the load to discharge
the battery.

--
Chris W

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[John Doe]

Chris W <1qazse4@cox.net> wrote:

The 7AH/20HR means that the battery will put out 7AH if it is
discharged at a 20 hour rate, 7/20 = .35 amps. If you discharge
the battery with a .35 amp load, it should be dead in 20 hours.

Thanks.

That was my best wild guess.

As for charging I would estimate something less than 2 amps.
maybe slightly more.

I messed with it for a while, but the charging light in my Tripp
Lite UPS does not even come on (blink) now, like it did before.

Oh well.

It is being replaced with a line conditioner (APC LE1200). I think
that is what I want. I am not very concerned about loss of data (I
do backups frequently in Windows). I am concerned about possible
damage to my hardware caused by brownouts.

Ideally, I would like something without a battery that would
sustain my system for a few seconds. I am sure the LE1200 will not
do that, but hopefully it will help.

Thanks for helping me get on with replacing the thing.










As far as

testing the battery goes, if you want to spend less money than a
new
battery would cost (about $15 for a 7AH), I would suggest taking a
12V
light bulb and hook it up to the battery and monitor the voltage
till it
drops to about 10 volts. Then do the math and see how many amp
hours
you got out of the battery. Then compare that to a similar energy
curve
on the spec sheet for a new battery like this one....
http://lib1.store.vip.sc5.yahoo.com/lib/zbattery/bp7-12.pdf

If you don't know the wattage of the light you are using, you
could use
your 10A amp meter to measure current draw and another meter to
monitor
voltage. The current will also change as the voltage drops.

If you really want to know how all your batteries are doing you
could
get this thing
http://www.powerwerx.com/product.asp?ProdID=3331&CtgID=3586

or this thing

http://www.powerwerx.com/product.asp?ProdID=3378&CtgID=3587

The second one is cheaper but you need to provide the load to
discharge
the battery.

 

[John Doe]

I wrote:

Chris W <1qazse4@cox.net> wrote:

The 7AH/20HR means that the battery will put out 7AH if it is
discharged at a 20 hour rate, 7/20 = .35 amps. If you discharge
the battery with a .35 amp load, it should be dead in 20 hours.

That was my best wild guess.

No, I was thinking it might mean 20 hours to charge, as in "hour
recharge". Thanks for the correction.