I don’t know why…perhaps I’m only a “fortunate” man…nevertheless it all the time appears that gadgets able to audibly alerting me when one thing’s unsuitable with them all the time appear to “hold forth” in the midst of the evening, whereas I’m dozing. It occurred final 12 months, when a carbon monoxide detector downstairs, plugged into an AC wall outlet, determined that it’d gotten too outdated and was due for retirement and substitute. 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 notice my error till after I unhooked it and nonetheless heard the beeping going off.
Extra just lately, the din occurred once more, this time in my workplace subsequent door to the main bedroom. And this time it was a fixed and piercing tone, coming from one in all my uninterruptable energy provides (UPSs) there, which if you happen to reference the consumer handbook, means one in all two issues:
- A useless (or disconnected or in any other case not current, for what it’s price) 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 nighttime, and I (deludedly, because it turned out) aspired to get again to sleep. So, I manually shutdown any gadgets linked to the UPS that wouldn’t reply effectively to an abrupt energy outage, then powered the UPS itself off. The following day, I turned the UPS again on and…it was advantageous for a few days, when it once more woke me up in the midst of the evening. 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 continuing noise was getting my spouse actually irritated). 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 in the end 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 seek out, whereas researching this writeup, that APC nonetheless sells it for $99.99 direct from the corporate web site. My electronic 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 models (and conceptually related 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 possibly can then simply pop in a substitute battery, and it’ll be good as new. That stated, finally the interior circuitry itself might fail, as appears to be the case with my machine, with the UPS then destined just for dissection-then-discard.
These batteries, by the way in which, are an attention-grabbing razors and blades story all their very own. APC conveniently hyperlinks, direct from the BE550G product web page, to a company-branded substitute battery, the APCRBC110, which sells for $69.99. Sure, you’ve finished your arithmetic proper…that’s solely $30 lower than what the corporate sells all the UPS (together with a battery) for brand new. That stated, the cell used on this mannequin is a regular 12VDC, 7Ah mannequin additionally used for backup-power functions in house safety programs, to energy electrical scooters and wheelchairs, and the like. Every time I’ve wanted one, I’ve simply discovered third-party options on Amazon and eBay for round 1/3 that value; I even just lately acquired six 12VDC, 9Ah equivalents in the very same kind issue for $48.99 on sale. You simply want to ensure the output voltage matches, that the charge-storage spec is the same as or larger than that of what you’re changing, and that the size are the identical, together with the optimistic and detrimental terminal areas (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 flexibility to transform saved DC again into AC when premises energy goes down is a key attribute of a UPS. This specific mannequin generates a so-called simulated (additionally typically referred to as modified) sine wave AC output; dearer fashions generate “pure” sine waves however price roughly twice as a lot. This data web page from Tripp Lite, a model of Eaton, offers an excellent comparability abstract between the 2 AC output choices.
Observe, 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 barely 330W). In the event you’re out there for a UPS, ensure you perceive the distinction between the 2 and choose correctly, to keep away from (as this Eaton data web page describes) under-sizing the UPS for the required connected- tools’s energy draw wants. Extra usually, I’ve discovered this Eaton data web page to be an excellent FAQ overview of varied UPS matters (I’ve no specific affinity or different connection to Eaton; I don’t suppose I even personal any of their stuff. I identical to their documentation!).
With the overview commentary out of the way in which, let’s check out our affected person, proven right here as-usual alongside a 0.75″ (19.1 mm) diameter U.S. penny for measurement 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 pc, “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 each 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 (be aware 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 simple:
Listed below 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 intently 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 instantly fed from the AC cable (versus, for instance, having in-line circuitry between them and the skin world). That stated, I’m admittedly a “digital” man with no specific 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 completely take away the PCB and transformer requires first separating the cabling working each between them and the 2 outlet units, a easy train given the simply indifferent connectors:
Listed below 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 go away it to you, the readers, to hold forth with issues that look attention-grabbing within the feedback, together with noting swollen capacitors or different flaws that I could have missed and may 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 a couple of extra views of the within of the chassis topside, with the PCB and transformer now eliminated:
And with that, it’s over to you on 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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