Where to buy APC battery?

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Anyone know a online place to buy APC batteries?

I have looked and found a few but thought maybe one of you guys would know a reasonably priced place..

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In which country of the world are you intending to buy an APC battery?
(“Other countries are available…”)

BATcher

Plethora means a lot to me.

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..

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Where?? :p

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If you guys just looked at my Avatar you would know where I am….

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My understanding has always been that they are standard sealed lead acid batteries; but if you want to maintain reliability, warranties and certifications then you have to buy APC branded. Available in the US from Amazon., or NewEgg.

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Anyone know a online place to buy APC batteries?

“Banny”,
Hello…Apc runs “specials” once every now and again …Free Shipping etc,… APC[/url] subscribe to their website.. and you will be notified about once a month …:cheers: Regards Fred

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APC doesn’t make special batteries…if you can get the model number and brand off the battery (under their sticker) you can buy the proper one just about anywhere.

Note: little differences in the specs can make a difference in the capacity and longevity of the battery…each battery type has a slightly different charging design and so on. They’re usually close enough that the “battery that fits” will work, but don’t expect performance that matches specs unless you buy an exact replacement.

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Thanks guys…
I found a place that sells them pretty cheap and the shipping is low so I may order them from there.

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Out of interest where did you finally buy them. Might help someone else who is looking for them

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I haven’t bought them yet but this is the place I found that seems pretty reasonable. http://www.batterywholesale.com/apc-replacement-batteries/apc-replacement-batteries.html

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I think that in-line fuse is a 30Amp fast blow.

One nice thing about having multiple UPS’s is that if one dies, you’ve not lost your entire system.

I have four of them. Plus a 1800W inverter connected to TWO HUGE deep cycle batteries, that I use to power up my Kitchen Appliances when there is an Area Wide power failure.

I can recharge any of my batteries off of my car, with jumper cables. I did that for five days, during Hurricane Frances, when we had NO line power at all.
I had TV, light, a personal fan and all my kitchen appliances, while the neighbors sat in the dark.

Portable power! (1800W inverter and two Deep Cycle batteries, on a mover’s dolly, so I can move it anywhere in the house)

Cheers Mates!
The Doctor

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In case you care, the site says:

We have most compatible APC replacement batteries and compatible RBC replacement battery cartridges in stock ready for same day shipment.

NOTE: “COMPATIBLE”

I’ve had various degrees of luck ranging from very good to very bad with compatible batteries through the years. As Fred noted is post #7, APC often runs specials on trade-ins or trade-ups that make buying a whole new UPS very attractive.

Joe

--Joe

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OH…..and APC does not make batteries.

I have a defunct APC battery here, and when I peeled off the APC label, it said “Long” on the battery.
It’s a standard brand, used in lots of DC equipment.

So don’t hobble yourself, by thinking that you have to buy a battery with the APC label on it.
Anybody at any battery store can tell you all about it.

Just get a battery of the same physical size, voltage and Amp/Hour rating and you’ll be just fine.

Good Luck and Happy Shopping!

The Doctor

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Yes Joe, I noticed that also but being the price is about half and the shipping is low I figure it’s worth a gamble.
Also, they only have a year warranty whereas APC is two years..

Who knows, they are probably all made in the same Chinese factory…

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They are a very commpn size. My local battery shop (the same place I buy my car/boat/lawn tractor batteries from) carries those sizes for less than I could find them online. Never a problem and no waiting or shipping charge.

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I didn’t get to see the video, but here’s a little experience:

My old APC 600va UPS works with larger batteries with NO problem.
I’ve had a few other OLDER APC’s, the ones in the long, steel, cream colored, case,
that would work just fine with car batteries.
A friend of mine, had an APC 1500w unit, where the original batteries had gone bad.
He replaced them with two 8D truck batteries. Those batteries weigh over 100# each.

But I tried something similar with a “Cyber Power 500” and it would not work at all,
with anything but the original battery. Somehow, it sensed the difference and just
refused to work.

I don’t have a NEW APC UPS to experiment on, but I’m suspicious that they too
would not like a car battery. The new APC’s all come in a sealed plastic case, that
could get pretty hot if run for extended periods of time.

The one APC UPS most commonly bought for home use would be the 350va (200watt) unit.
http://www.google.com/products/catalog?hl=en&rlz=&q=apc+ups&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=shop&cid=16666212950384364207&sa=X&ei=Y–0T5_2L8Ls2gXGrogj&ved=0CPMBEPMCMAY

Cheers Mates!
The Doctor

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That’s a good idea…I’ll take a look next time I go into town..

I once heard that motorcycle batteries are also the same.

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I get mine from http://GruberPower.com for a reasonable price. – – – Shorto

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If your battery is a 12 volt, 8 AH gelled electrolyte type, and if you know anyone who works in the security industry, they can get you them at wholesale prices. These are the same as the standby batteries used in security systems.

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If you never use the battery and always have the laptop plugged into the adapter, you can remove the battery and leave it out. This is good for laptops used as desktop replacements and for older laptops that soon will be replaced. That way you don’t need to spend $100 on a soon to be replaced computer.

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I’ve been using BatteryMart.com for several years now, and they have good prices, reasonable shipping, and very good service on one time when I had a battery fail prematurely.

Try http://www.batterymart.com Toll-Free: 800-405-2121 They are located in Virginia, so shipping will be less for you than for us on the Left Coast…

Best wishes.

Rob
:rolleyes:

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HOW WEIRD IS THAT???

I had no more than hit SEND on my last post, and we had an area-wide power failure.
Power went out, cable went out, phone (magic jack plus) went out and here I sat with
four UPS’s beeping at me. Well, at least now, I know that they all work.

We had no power for about 15 minutes, or so, but my four UPS’s just kept on truckin’.
It’s a beautiful clear day, so I figured it was something that would quickly be fixed,
and I was right, it was.
Had that not been so, I would have shut down all the UPS’s except my big one.
Once it’s shut off, it can be hard to get started again, so I just let it run.

Weird! Really Weird!

The Doctor

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HOW WEIRD IS THAT???

I had no more than hit SEND on my last post, and we had an area-wide power failure.
Power went out, cable went out, phone (magic jack plus) went out and here I sat with
four UPS’s beeping at me.

I’m curious, is your power above ground or below. In my area the trend has been to move bury lines instead of putting them on poles. Our neighborhood has underground and we rarely lose power. Then again, we don’t get the kinds of storms you do.

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The newer models of UPS’s. are pretty finicky about what battery can be installed. But the older models, like going back ten years or so, could care less what battery you use as long as it puts out 12vdc. Some larger units even run on 24vdc
But I have one of the older 600va units from APC and it had four 6vdc batteries in it, to make 12vdc. The original batteries had died and were leaking.

I replaced those old batteries with TWO car batteries wired in parallel, to put out 12v, but at a staggering 500+ amp hours. That UPS will now run with a 300w load for over seven hours. I use it to backup my TV, Cable box, DVD Recorder, one table lamp and even a small personal fan. It’s great when we have area-wide power failures.

In a pinch, I can even jump start my car off of those batteries. I picked two batteries, (from Wal-Mart) that would fit in my car if I ever need a new car battery, in an emergency. The UPS keeps these batteries fully charged.
Sometimes it pays dividends to “Get Creative”.

Check your yellow pages for “Batteries”. You probably have a store in your area that sells the exact battery you need.
When you go shopping, take your old battery with you, so you can get an exact replacement.

Good Luck!
The Doctor

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1. I’ve seen allegations that replacing a UPS battery with one of significantly higher capacity could be dicey because a UPS is often built assuming that cooling requirements need only be sufficient to cover the standard battery’s discharge time (i.e., it could overheat if the larger battery caused it to run significantly longer than its cooling was designed to handle).

2. While I haven’t seen the corollary to this, it would seem possible that, once discharged, a battery of significantly higher capacity than the standard battery could place a sufficiently higher load on the charging circuitry that it could overheat and self-destruct as well (adding a suitably-sized resistor to limit charge current to the expected value after deep discharge could help here – though it might need to limit current to less than that value to compensate for the fact that the charging would take a lot longer and more than the normal amount of heat would thus build up if the normal charging current were used).

3. Using (especially, charging) unsealed lead-acid batteries inside the house can be dangerous – not only due to the potential for acid spills, but because they can out-gas oxygen and hydrogen (an explosive combination) while charging.

Because of these concerns I’ve so far limited my replacement strategies to batteries of comparable capacity, though have to admit that I’ve been tempted to experiment with ways to increase power-failure run times (e.g., improving cooling and limiting charge current as described above).

Thanks for the pointers to inexpensive SLA battery sources. I’ve also had some luck finding them on eBay (e.g., http://stores.ebay.com/1stwebsalesbatteriestoolsmore when I needed one for an edge-trimmer).

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In the Sr. housing settlements, most utils are underground. But out here in the country, only phone and cable are underground.(sometimes)
Line power is still overhead.

Every time the wind blows, the trees start swaying, banging into the high power lines and we get anything from Glitches to downright outages.

The power company line crews have been in the area for the last week, trimming back the trees along the main lines.

When the power and cable go out, I can switch over to the outside TV antenna and still get my news, weather news, etc.

If you live in the lightning capital of the Americas, it helps to have a good backup system. Works for me!

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Another place to check is your local farm supply store, Tractor Supply Co., etc. Farmers use some of these same batteries for their electric fences.

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I used http://www.techbatterysolutions.com/ happy with them. Price was right, although they do charge shipping.

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Besides all the UPS batteries, car batteries, heavy truck batteries (4D & 8D), they also sell Cell Phone batteries, computer batteries and if you have a hard to find battery pack, they can replace the cells in the pack.
I once had them re-battery two battery-operated Screw Drivers, with larger and more powerful cells.

They are not always the cheapest supplier, but they are local and they have the products.

End of Testimonial.

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Batteries Plus is another store where batteries can be recycled, replaced and they will install them for a small fee. I am a bit wary of replacing lead-acid batteries myself in any recent UPS, but if you feel more confident, by all means do what you feel is most economical. But do make sure you recycle the old batteries.

-- rc primak

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Batteries Plus is another store where batteries can be recycled, replaced and they will install them for a small fee. I am a bit wary of replacing lead-acid batteries myself in any recent UPS, but if you feel more confident, by all means do what you feel is most economical. But do make sure you recycle the old batteries.

I second the motion for Batteries Plus. If you’re fortunate enough to live near one of their stores you get the benefit of a good price, no shipping fee, and recycling of the old battery.

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I second the motion for Batteries Plus. If you’re fortunate enough to live near one of their stores you get the benefit of a good price, no shipping fee, and recycling of the old battery.

With dozens of stores and locations in most US States, Batteries Plus has locations in most urban and suburban areas of the US. There’s likely to be a store near almost anyone who reads these forums. And being able to recycle the old batteries is a real plus, as they are banned from landfills.

-- rc primak

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They may be the same size, and they have have the same amp-hours, but lead acid batteries can be substantially different in terms of total capacity, charging profile, and life expectancy. In most cases, you get what you pay for.

An example….any cheap battery can give you 150 mA for a week, which can be multiplied out to 7.2Ah. But NOT all UPS-sized batteries (“compatibles”) can give you 7.2 amps for an hour, and remain at an appropriate voltage. Again, you pay for that ability.

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I take it you cracked-open your APC. Did you have any further modifications to the APC box? Can you provide a picture or instructions as I think this is a great idea!
Thanks,
Ron

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I take it you cracked-open your APC. Did you have any further modifications to the APC box? Can you provide a picture or instructions as I think this is a great idea!
Thanks,
Ron

Cracked open? I’m an electronics tech, and I even worked in an APC repair center years ago.
And I’ve replaced batteries in more UPS’s than I care to even try to count.

Four screws removed the case on the old style, steel cased, APC UPS’s. It’s not a complicated process.

Yeah, since I had two big wires running out of my UPS I didn’t even put the case back on.
That would have necessitated notching the case.
Leaving the steel case OFF, also aided in the cooling.
About once a month I test my big 600va UPS, buy pulling the plug out of the wall, with my TV
and cable box turned on. Last time I ran the test, the UPS provided full power for seven hours
before it ever started slowly beeping. I ended the test there.

The charger is current limited, necessary for Gel-Cell batteries, so there’s no problem with over-current.
As plainly seen in my photo, my two batteries are sitting in a plastic dish pan, so if one ever leaked,
or I get sloppy when adding water, it would NOT get on the floor.
The little bit of Hydrogen gas that’s produced from the batteries is
quickly dissipated by the ventilation in my house. Not a problem.*
I pop the tops on the batteries and check the fluid level once a month.

* Any time you have lead-acid batteries in your house, keep them in a well ventilated spot.

The stock batteries in UPS’s today are all of the Gel-Cell type, & they are sealed and they do not GAS and they do not LEAK.
That’s why they can safely be used in your living room, den, office or wherever.
In many UPS’s, the batteries lay on their side. The new black plastic cased UPS’s have a trap door on
the bottom for accessing the battery.
You never open the UPS itself, only the battery compartment.

Some UPS’s have a battery monitor circuit, that connects to your PC by a USB cable. Then software that you install in the
PC monitors the charge level in the UPS. I find all that, redundant.
I have nothing running on my PC that is not 100% necessary.

I hope that answers any and all questions about my UPS and battery complement.

The other three UPS’s in my house, use the stock Gel-Cell batteries.

Cheers Mates!
The Doctor

PS: With so many different devices that use batteries today, it’s almost inconceivable to me that any town would not have a place to buy batteries. Not in the USA anyway. Look in the Yellow Pages!

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One last question: I noticed an in-line fuse block, and was wondering what size?
And thank you for this innovation and as soon as this battery dies, I now know what to do.
Ron

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Thanks for the additional explanation. While I may stick with sealed batteries inside the house (they’re not THAT expensive and may last longer if the additional capacity keeps them from usually being discharged as much: are all SLA batteries ‘deep-cycle’/’deep discharge’ types or does one have to be careful when selecting replacements?), I’m now motivated to take a look at how well the charge current-limiters work on our varions UPSs and how hot they get over longer discharge cycles.

If I find that they all share a common ground on the DC side (or just let both DC terminals float) it might be worth considering a shared battery pool (if I haven’t missed a potential problem there): we have several computers currently using separate relatively small UPSs.

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Well, I just happen to have an extra battery I was gonna use in my Jeep so maybe I’ll try it on my APC unit.

Star, I see your point but I only need it to shut down in case of a power failure so my PC doesn’t crash while in Windows.

I would have time to get the generator started and be back in business.

With the bad batteries in it now it has the tendency to shut down even when there is no power failure..It happened to me the other day.

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Here’s a video I found on how to use a car battery..http://revision3.com/systm/hackedups

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Interesting setup you have there Doc, I know your from an area of the country that gets frequent storms and power outages.

I especially like the kitchen setup.

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Where I am everything is above ground..
I’m hooked up to the main transmission line which goes through my property..

Pretty rugged country here and they patrol the lines with helicopters because it’s all mountains.

I got hit real bad last year with the after affects of Katrina and my power was out for 5 days.
But, usually it’s pretty reliable.. A sub station got washed away with the flooding from the creeks overflowing…
I’m high up so any flooding doesn’t effect me.

I got a generator after Katrina but usually don’t need it. I do feel better knowing it’s ready to go in case things go out.

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I took these in Feb.

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