About replacing batteries on an UPS

[Hoagie_one]

I have a broken Battery backup, UPS.

[Tailgunner]

Can you test the batteries? If one is still good you might away with it for awhile, but you really should replace both at the same time.

[Hoagie_one]

what im asking is will it work with just one?

[whammoed]

The one bad battery will tend to put extra strain on, and ruin the new one.  Not recommended.

[Hoagie_one]

you guys are not understanding the question.

i want to only use one battery, not two.  will it work?

Do two 6-volts = 12 volts, or do two 6-volts just mean teh power lasts longer?

[whammoed]

OHHHHH...
No, the two 6 volt batteries are in series (at least they are on all the UPSs i've seen) so the voltage out is 12.  You may be able to replace with 1 12v battery but I would highly recommend against getting anything but what batteries it was made for.

[mattv]

Based on my own painful experence I can tell you that having one fully charged battery and one completly dead battery caused a fire last time I tried it. To make matters worse the fire did not start until the power failed and the UPS kicked in, so I then had to find a fire extingusher IN THE DARK to put it out (it wasn't completly dark, the fire lit things up a bit) Don't do that!

If you REALLY can't spring folr the second battery just yet I suggest you remove both of the dead batteries and replace one of them, leaving the other one out all together, you may need to bridge some contacts to get the sole battery to charge. Obviously if you have a cheap UPS without an intellegent charging system and a good inverter it will overcharge the battery and may cause a fire that way too.

Actually, probably the best thing to do is leave it the hell aline until you can replace both the cells at once.

[Hoagie_one]

thanks.

i guess ill just buy two.  still cheaper than buying a new UPS

[Sephroth57]

WTF, i thought UPS delivered packages?? whatre u guys talking about lol

[MnMCaputo]

ok heres the deal with the ups, if by some stroke of luck you can find a single 12v battery with the same AH amp hours and the same discharge rate ie 500va 650 va etc.  and that has the same charge cycle as your 2 6's then you'll be fine.  heres the issue, if you there is more load on the battery now and its not rated as high as the 2 batteries running in series, you could cause fire or loose the effectiveness of having clean power comming into your system.   also the charger circuit in the ups is looking for its oem batteries and will not adjust how it charges for a different type of battery.  so if you overcharge the battery all the time, the acid burns up and your battery looses its juice very quickly, or if it was undercharged all the time, the discharge time may be slower, loosing the effectiveness of the ups.  Best bet buy new oem batteries  lol

[Hoagie_one]

I've decided to shop it up for electronis parts.... lol