APC Smart UPS shows overload with no load attached

How do I deal with a Smart UPS 1000 that shows overload after self
test when no load is attached? The inverter sounds quite a bit louder
than usual.

This unit worked fine for a long time until it was unplugged for
precisely 2 weeks and moved...

<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed) oups.com...

> How do I deal with a Smart UPS 1000 that shows overload after self
> test when no load is attached? The inverter sounds quite a bit louder
> than usual.
>
> This unit worked fine for a long time until it was unplugged for
> precisely 2 weeks and moved...

Battery would be the first thought. Voltage under load?

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On Mon, 19 Feb 2007 23:09:10 +0000, Homer J Simpson Has Frothed:

>
> <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:(E-Mail Removed) oups.com...
>
>> How do I deal with a Smart UPS 1000 that shows overload after self
>> test when no load is attached? The inverter sounds quite a bit louder
>> than usual.
>>
>> This unit worked fine for a long time until it was unplugged for
>> precisely 2 weeks and moved...
>
> Battery would be the first thought. Voltage under load?

Or it got dropped during the move.

--
Pierre Salinger Memorial Hook, Line & Sinker, June 2004

COOSN-266-06-25794

<(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed) oups.com...
> How do I deal with a Smart UPS 1000 that shows overload after self
> test when no load is attached? The inverter sounds quite a bit louder
> than usual.
>
> This unit worked fine for a long time until it was unplugged for
> precisely 2 weeks and moved...
>

Typical failures of APC UPS -- in order of frequency
(based upon an APC refurbishment operation):

1. Battery
2. Charger circuit for battery
3. Inverter circuit from battery to outlets

gb

"w9gb" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed). ..
> <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:(E-Mail Removed) oups.com...
>> How do I deal with a Smart UPS 1000 that shows overload after self
>> test when no load is attached? The inverter sounds quite a bit louder
>> than usual.
>>
>> This unit worked fine for a long time until it was unplugged for
>> precisely 2 weeks and moved...
>>
>
> Typical failures of APC UPS -- in order of frequency
> (based upon an APC refurbishment operation):
>
> 1. Battery
> 2. Charger circuit for battery
> 3. Inverter circuit from battery to outlets
>
> gb
>
I'm very interested in this. Are you directly involved with this
refurbishment operation, to the point of knowing these units well ? I have a
Smart-UPS 700. It seems to indicate that it thinks all is well when it is
just idling, single computer on the end, one load light showing, centre
"doing nothing" status light showing, but a few months ago, we had some
power outages in the village where I live, and it failed to hold the power
up, causing the computer attached to it to immediately reset.

At this point, the battery level indicator had dropped to one light, and the
red battery warning light was flashing, even though prior to the event, it
had been showing full. I replaced the batteries anyway with a similar size
and rating, and thought that all was well then, but it's not. When the unit
does it's periodic self-check, it does a similar thing, and beeps furiously,
although it continues to supply power. If you leave it long enough, it seems
to recover from this, but the battery level LEDs are again then indicating a
low and defective battery for a couple of hours. A few of days ago, we again
had some brief power outages, and again, it failed.

I'm not going to spend too much time on it without schematics, and to be
honest, I have so much other repair work in at the moment that I would
struggle to find the time, but if these symptoms ring any bells as to
specifics for this make and model, I would be very interested to know.
Thanks

Arfa

On Feb 19, 5:41 pm, Meat Plow <m...@meatplow.local> wrote:
>
> Or it got dropped during the move.

I wish I could blame it on that, but the best I can offer there
is that it may have caught some bad vibrations during the drive.
I'll take it apart and reconnect everything next time I look at it.

Arfa Daily wrote:
> "w9gb" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote...
>> Typical failures of APC UPS -- in order of frequency
>> (based upon an APC refurbishment operation):
>>
>> 1. Battery
>> 2. Charger circuit for battery
>> 3. Inverter circuit from battery to outlets
>
> I'm very interested in this. Are you directly involved with this
> refurbishment operation, to the point of knowing these units well ? I have a
> Smart-UPS 700.

http://lists.ssc.com/pipermail/linux...ry/020196.html

Someone gave me one a while back. I replaced the batteries with prime
units from a local alarm company. Recently a cat caused a shutdown of
power to the unit and it completely discharged. I restored power to it
and it seemed okay, but over 24 hours later (and naturally at 0-dark-30)
our natural-gas alarm went off. After the gas company cleared their
stuff, I figured out the vapor was coming from the SmartUPS 700, which
was pretty hot.

I unplugged it and took it out of service. I have a nice, new 1000VA
TrippLite from Costco and I feel much safer now.

--
"Nowadays, security guys break the Mac every single day. Every single day,
they come out with a total exploit, your machine can be taken over totally.
I dare anybody to do that once a month on the Windows machine."
-- Bill Gates, in an interview with Newsweek's Steven Levy

On Feb 19, 5:09 pm, "Homer J Simpson" <nob...@nowhere.com> wrote:
> <runde...@mail.win.org> wrote in message
>
> news:(E-Mail Removed) oups.com...
>
> > How do I deal with a Smart UPS 1000 that shows overload after self
> > test when no load is attached? The inverter sounds quite a bit louder
> > than usual.
>
> > This unit worked fine for a long time until it was unplugged for
> > precisely 2 weeks and moved...
>
> Battery would be the first thought. Voltage under load?

Well, I disassembled (discharging the two large capacitors) and
reassembled it, with no improvement. But I got it to work in a very
strange fashion. So I'm trying to make sense out of this.

The UPS does not complete self test when nothing is plugged into it.
It
lights the overload indicator only and a constant audible tone.

If I plug a 40W lamp into it, it completes the self test and operates
as
usual.

One more little tidbit of information is that I have 126V at my
outlets,
which triggers the overvoltage regulation in the unit after it passes
the
self test.

Thoughts?

I'm glad it seems to be working now at least. I just find it very odd
that
the way to cure the UPS sensing an overload is to plug a load into it,
and thinking that maybe it has something to do with the high input
voltage.

"Arfa Daily" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:IIzCh.8854$(E-Mail Removed)...
>
> "w9gb" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:(E-Mail Removed). ..
>> <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
>> news:(E-Mail Removed) oups.com...
>>> How do I deal with a Smart UPS 1000 that shows overload after self
>>> test when no load is attached? The inverter sounds quite a bit louder
>>> than usual.

>>
> I'm very interested in this. Are you directly involved with this
> refurbishment operation, to the point of knowing these units well ? I have
> a Smart-UPS 700. It seems to indicate that it thinks all is well when it
> is just idling, single computer on the end, one load light showing, centre
> "doing nothing" status light showing, but a few months ago, we had some
> power outages in the village where I live, and it failed to hold the power
> up, causing the computer attached to it to immediately reset.

Arfa -

I met Chris through some mutual friends -- he first started this business in
his parent's basement (when he was finishing high school).

IF you have a specific question -- fell free to call or e-mail him at the
Internet -- I provided.

APC has now been purchased by Schneider Electric (a French company that also
acquired Square D a few years ago).

gb

"w9gb" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed). ..
> "Arfa Daily" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:IIzCh.8854$(E-Mail Removed)...
>>
>> "w9gb" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
>> news:(E-Mail Removed). ..
>>> <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
>>> news:(E-Mail Removed) oups.com...
>>>> How do I deal with a Smart UPS 1000 that shows overload after self
>>>> test when no load is attached? The inverter sounds quite a bit louder
>>>> than usual.
>
>>>
>> I'm very interested in this. Are you directly involved with this
>> refurbishment operation, to the point of knowing these units well ? I
>> have a Smart-UPS 700. It seems to indicate that it thinks all is well
>> when it is just idling, single computer on the end, one load light
>> showing, centre "doing nothing" status light showing, but a few months
>> ago, we had some power outages in the village where I live, and it failed
>> to hold the power up, causing the computer attached to it to immediately
>> reset.
>
> Arfa -
>
> I met Chris through some mutual friends -- he first started this business
> in his parent's basement (when he was finishing high school).
>
> IF you have a specific question -- fell free to call or e-mail him at the
> Internet -- I provided.
>
> APC has now been purchased by Schneider Electric (a French company that
> also acquired Square D a few years ago).
>
> gb
>
If this Chris guy is the one to talk to with detailed knowledge of these,
then yes. I would like to put my symptoms to him. As I'm sure you know if
you're involved in service at all, it's very common if you explain a set of
symptoms for an item that you're not familiar with, to someone who is, they
will just say " Oh yes, that's a common problem. Just replace Q502 " or
whatever. Once again, today, we had a brief power outage in the village, and
once again, the ups didn't hold up. However, perhaps I'm missing something.
This is the first reference that I've seen to him, and I'm not seeing any
contact e-mail or web address for him anywhere. If you would prefer, just
mail me his details direct off-group. Is he a licensed ham operator ? I note
that you are mailing via the ARRL. I too am licensed here.

Arfa