Got bored and attacked my UPS today

gillbot · 10-12-2006, 11:45 AM

I picked up a UPS at the local thrift store and I figured it would at least need a battery. After reading up and messing with the old battery, this unit was good for about 5-10 minutes of runtime with a new 12v, 7AH battery.

Even though I stupidly already bid on a replacement from ebay, I decided to have some fun and see what my old car battery would be able to do. Needless to say, after about 35 minutes of running my PC and both 19" flatpanels, the car battery barely flinched.

Only took $10 in parts from the local walmart to get the car battery hooked up! Two battery terminals, two 1.5' pieces of 12 gauge wire (i may upgrade this later if I decide to make this more permanent), some spade connectors so I didn't have to cut and splice the UPS's battery terminals (in case I with to return it to original condition with the new battery when/if it arrives) and a "battery box".

A firend is planning on doing a similar setup since his work regularly upgrades and throws away old UPS's after a few battery replacement cycles. You may even be able to find one locally for next to nothing, find a decent car battery on the free pages and have a long lasting UPS for little to no cost!

rhino56 · 10-12-2006, 03:51 PM

Thats awesome

i bet it would run all night

gillbot · 10-12-2006, 06:10 PM

i ran a deep cycle test to see what it would do but I had to cancel it after 45 minutes or so. I guess the deep cycle test rns until the battery gets low and I didn't feel like waiting.

With my twin flat panels, USB backup drive and SN45G PC running I'm only drawing between 40% and 50% load so this would probably run quite a while on the car battery.

I mainly got it for the brownout protection since the power here isn't very good but the extended runtime is just an added bonus. Plus it cured me of boredom for a day or so.

rhino56 · 10-12-2006, 07:34 PM

is it also a trickle charger that keeps the battery charged?

Mark620 · 10-13-2006, 06:52 PM

Yes, a UPS keeps the battery charged...I like that Idea...could be less expensive than some of the UPS batteries..

gillbot · 10-14-2006, 01:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mark620

Yes, a UPS keeps the battery charged...I like that Idea...could be less expensive than some of the UPS batteries..

That's one of the main reasons I did it, though I messed up somewhat. At first I thought the voltage of the old car battery was not enough to keep the UPS online after I converted it over. The car battery under load can only maintainabout 11.8 or so volts where the UPS battery maintains 12.5 volts. Figuring this old car battery is just tired/worn out, I figured I should just suck it up and replace the UPS battery. I reluctantly bid on a new UPS battery on ebay thinking it would be better to pay the $15 for a new battery and get 10-20 minutes of time and automatic shutdown with the UPS as opposed to looking for another bargain car battery and possibly be out more $ on another failed attempt.

After I tinkered with the UPS more, I found a bad connection from the car battery to the UPS. After I fixed that connection, the UPS runs flawlessly on the car battery. This connection issue was causing the UPS to drop offline and now I don't need the new UPS battery so I'm out $15 there assuming I win the auction.

rhino56 · 10-14-2006, 04:37 PM

just retract your bid? or just use it for a different project?

gillbot · 10-15-2006, 08:03 AM

Oh how I love eBay.....

There were 12 of the same battery starting at $5.99 each, I bid on one and suprisingly got outbid. NONE of the others (which were identical) got a bid on them! O-well, good news for me!

One downside to this unit so far is that the "Replace Battery" light comes on when you run a test. I think it's because of the slightly lower voltage or the car battery. The unit runs on the car battery fine though so I'm not worried about it.

Jenny · 10-15-2006, 01:21 PM

what's a ups? I was halfway expecting about you beating up your UPS delivery driver

rhino56 · 10-15-2006, 02:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jenny

what's a ups? I was halfway expecting about you beating up your UPS delivery driver

10-13-2006, 06:52 PM	#5 (permalink)
Mark620 Administrator Colonel Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: TN Posts: 3,047	Yes, a UPS keeps the battery charged...I like that Idea...could be less expensive than some of the UPS batteries.. __________________ On May 20th 2008, a list of the names of over thirty-one thousand scientists (of which 9,000 are Phds), who refute that man made CO2 has caused global warming, was released. My Heatware Yes, I did just crawl out from under a rock ! I am a Caver !

10-15-2006, 01:21 PM	#9 (permalink)
Jenny Lieutenant Colonel Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Conway, AR Posts: 2,931	what's a ups? I was halfway expecting about you beating up your UPS delivery driver __________________ www.jensdiet.com

10-12-2006, 03:51 PM	#2 (permalink)
rhino56 Administrator General Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 6,813	Thats awesome i bet it would run all night

10-12-2006, 06:10 PM	#3 (permalink)
gillbot Corporal Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Dayton, OH - USA Posts: 211	i ran a deep cycle test to see what it would do but I had to cancel it after 45 minutes or so. I guess the deep cycle test rns until the battery gets low and I didn't feel like waiting. With my twin flat panels, USB backup drive and SN45G PC running I'm only drawing between 40% and 50% load so this would probably run quite a while on the car battery. I mainly got it for the brownout protection since the power here isn't very good but the extended runtime is just an added bonus. Plus it cured me of boredom for a day or so.

10-12-2006, 07:34 PM	#4 (permalink)
rhino56 Administrator General Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 6,813	is it also a trickle charger that keeps the battery charged?

10-14-2006, 04:37 PM	#7 (permalink)
rhino56 Administrator General Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 6,813	just retract your bid? or just use it for a different project?

10-15-2006, 08:03 AM	#8 (permalink)
gillbot Corporal Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Dayton, OH - USA Posts: 211	Oh how I love eBay..... There were 12 of the same battery starting at $5.99 each, I bid on one and suprisingly got outbid. NONE of the others (which were identical) got a bid on them! O-well, good news for me! One downside to this unit so far is that the "Replace Battery" light comes on when you run a test. I think it's because of the slightly lower voltage or the car battery. The unit runs on the car battery fine though so I'm not worried about it.