[SOLVED] No Break behaving strangely

[OGSnow]

Hi.

I'm having an issue with my No Break. It's a SMS 1800 Bivolt Expert - Net Winner - 27429

It usually have a 15-20min autonomy time

Last week i had a energy peak that last about 30 seconds and the no break started beeping as if the battery was almost depleted yet barely 15 sec had passed. I did a test by shutting off all electricity in the house. However, the same issue didn't happen. it behave as expected and lasted a solid 13min before the rapid beeping started (meaning battery is low) Today, a got another short-lasting peak and the same as last week happened. Started okay, but seconds later the rapid beeping started. I first thought maybe the battery's getting old (about 3 years) but if it was the battery, wouldn't the same thing happen when i shut off all electricity? Yet it didn't... So i don't know.

Does anyone have any idea of why's that? Should i get a new one? Only my PC and the internet cable is connected to it. I should also mention that about a year ago there was a strong lightning strike nearby that damaged my PC. or rather, my PSU. it took all the damage and fried while all other components were fine so i also considered that maybe that lightning strike did some damage to it perhaps?

 

[Aeacus]

Read your UPS manual to understand what that beeping means. My UPSes (CyberPower CP1300EPFCLCD) do beep when main power goes out and they start running in battery mode. They continue to beep (every 30 seconds) until main power is restored or i shut down my PCs.

 

[OGSnow]

@Aeacus

I know what the beeping means. Rapid beeping means the battery is low. My problem is when an actual energy peak happens after a few seconds of regular beeping it's starts to become rapid which means the battery is low (which should only happen after about 10min and not just seconds). But when i tested by shutting off electricity in the house, the regular beeping lasted solid 13min and only THEN the rapid beeping started.

Essentially it behaves as it should when i shut off house electricity manually, the autonomy time is usually about around 15min. But when an ACTUAL power outage happens, after mere seconds, it goes from regular beeping to rapid beeping. Idk how to explain any better as english is not my first language sorry about that.

 

[Aeacus]

Rather than pulling the main electricity breaker for your entire house, unplug the UPSes power cord from the power socket to test your UPS.

Also, do note that the higher load you have on UPS, the faster it's battery depletes. E.g while your PC is on idle, you have 15 mins of runtime and when your PC is under load, your UPS might have few mins of runtime.
For comparison, my UPS runtime is 35 mins when PC is on idle and 15 mins when PC has max load on (CPU/GPU 100%).

Another thing with your UPS is that it's output waveform is simulated sine wave. If your PC's PSU has Active PFC then do note that simulated sine wave isn't compatible with it. That would also explain why your UPS sometimes works and sometimes doesn't work. For Active PFC PSUs, true/pure sine wave UPS is best used (my UPSes are true/pure sine wave).

Of course, UPS battery is good for 3 to 5 years and it's best that you replace your UPS battery after that time.

For 2nd opinion, contact your UPS manufacturer and explain them your issue. Maybe there's something else wrong with your UPS rather than aging battery.

 

[OGSnow]

@Aeacus

Will contact them. There's little else i can do i feel like. While what you say make sense about battery and my pc being underload or not, that's not how things used to be here. I used to get over 10min of battery regardless of cpu/gpu usage. Also, if you don't mind, could you inform me of your model? Usually, when i have these kind of weird issues the best solution is buy a new one which probably what will end up being the case again. But i will contact the manufacturer and see what it may be in hopes of knowing in case of such a thing happen in future again.

 

[Aeacus]

As time moves forwards, batteries do loose their overall capacity, despite constant recharge. That's why UPS batteries last about 3 to 5 years.

As far as my own UPSes go, i have two of these in use: CyberPower CP1300EPFCLCD (1300VA/780W, true/pure sine wave, line-interactive),
specs: https://www.cyberpower.com/hk/en/product/sku/CP1300EPFCLCD
review: http://softwareboom.wirevalley.com/review-cyberpower-cp1300epfclcd/
video introduction: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-IURKCvLJpY
And if you click on the spoiler below, there's combined image of them in use as well.

Spoiler

Top left: After unboxing
Top right: Power-on test
Bottom left: Haswell build's UPS in use
Bottom right: Skylake build's UPS in use

One of the many reasons why i bought these specific CyberPower UPSes is because they have user replaceable battery. So when in 3 to 5 years or so, the battery goes bad, i can keep my UPSes while i only need to buy a new battery for them. Reducing the longevity cost considerably since UPS battery is far cheaper than whole new UPS.