UPS is rubbish

[uk_sam]

I've had the Plexus V 500VA for 7 months and just late night had a powercut. Needless to say, my PC just went off and the UPS did absolutely nothing. My question is does the UPS battery become less effective over time and therefore failed or is it because it is not sufficient for my PC (550w PSU, Core 2 Duo 6300 and three hard disks)?

(I had a similar problem at work where the UPS did not last the 5-15 minutes that I've read about on forums.)

 

[EsaT]

Considering what Googling showed about them it looks much like those Plexus UPSes are some cheap basic Chinese eBay products.
Without any good specs it's sensible to assume it's capable only to 300W output power but even with display that PC should draw around 250W at most and in case of overload UPS should give at least some "shrieks" as warning.
But they still shouldn't shut down instantly even with degraded battery and be able to show if battery is unconnected.

Have you tried without any load what UPS does when it's on and you pull cord from outlet?

My question is does the UPS battery become less effective over time

Just like car's battery.
Lot depends on use, if UPS is often running battery flat and then charging it when power comes back battery wears faster. (limited recharging times)
Also quality affects to it... And in this case it might be well some cheapest possible Chinese junk with very overrated capacity to start with.

 

[DigitalReaper]

I have a 1000va belkin UPS (not the one OCUK currently sell though) and can't fault it if you're looking for recomendations. IIRC belkin say you should replace the batteries every 3 years, but i'm sure that's got nothing to do with them playing it safe/wanting more money . Probably closer to 5 years before they need replacing.

Powers my rig inc. monitors (see sig) just fine in a power cut, hasn't let me down yet.

edit: I have this one: http://catalog.belkin.com/IWCatProductPage.process?Product_Id=153813

 

[uk_sam]

Thanks for the reply guys. I'm gonna unplug the UPS from the mains socket tonight and see what happens with the PC.

 

[EsaT]

IIRC belkin say you should replace the batteries every 3 years, but i'm sure that's got nothing to do with them playing it safe/wanting more money

From batteries whose price gets tripled when brand of UPS sticker is put onto it.

Powers my rig inc. monitors (see sig) just fine in a power cut, hasn't let me down yet.
edit: I have this one: http://catalog.belkin.com/IWCatProductPage.process?Product_Id=153813

Power factor of 0.55? Well, that's new low record for what I've seen.
But that 550W is still well enough for your system which should stay well below 400W even with monitors.

 

[power_hungry]

United Package Smashers

 

[Liquidfox]

United Package Smashers

Fail at thread reading eh?

We've been supplying Belkin ones for a while, can't fault them at all... usually use them for servers, and Liebert for workstations, both have had no reported issues, other than a battery needed replacing after 5 years, but that's to be expected.

 

[Deadude]

Our supplier of UPSes recommends changing batteries every 3 years but i think the chances of that being needed is unneccary they generally last 5-6 years...

 

[EsaT]

but i think the chances of that being needed is unneccary they generally last 5-6 years...

That's the general lifespan of lead acid batteries when some capacity loss is allowed.
More precide dying again seems to depend on heaviness of work, in tractors small 120Ah batteries go through "homestretch" quite fast while 180Ah ones last lot longer after starting to show signs of age. So apparently capacity with high discharging current (in relation to specified max current) drops very fast after certain aging but lower discharge rate capacity holds better.

And like vehicle batteries neither should sealed lead acid batteries of UPSes be allowed to go flat and then left in that condition because that kills lead acid batteries very effectively. So after deeper discharge it's best to allow UPS to charge battery as soon as power is back.

Fail at thread reading eh?

Something against abbreviations?

 

[sb_]

I've got a few of the cheap Plexus UPS for my non critical boxes and they seem to be ok. For the important boxes I only use APC UPS, superb pieces of kit!