Issues WIth APC Batteries
Feb 9, 2010 Tech News
One of the biggest complaints heard by the manufacturers and distributors of APC batteries is that their new battery simply does not work with their UPS. There are certain problems with regards to compatibility that you must considered before ordering a new APC battery in order to ensure that your replacement battery will, work with your power protection hardware.
With most types of batteries, you can pretty much expect full compatibility regardless of make or model, just so long as you’re using double A batteries in double A devices, 9 volt batteries in 9 volt devices, and so on, but APC batteries can be a little bit trickier.
The majority of APC companies manufacture APC batteries in all shapes and sizes, but the fact is that you need to know which shape and size you need in the first place, as well as which RBC type you are looking for, and so on.
Even if you think you already know the size and shape of your APC battery, make sure to double check it nonetheless. Manufacturers of equipment utilizing APC batteries frequently change these specifications without notice, and more than a few customers have gone through the trouble of ordering a battery at the presumed specifications, only to find that their replacement APC will not, in fact, fit into their unit. when this happens, it’s the customer’s responsibility, not the retailer’s, to pay for return shipping and order the correct battery.
To check, just take the battery out of the unit and write down the specifications listed on the side. It’s as simple as that.
You may have heard that, if you’ve been using, say Yuasa batteries, then you might experience complications if you switch to CSB. This is actually something of a myth. As long as you’re using the right type of battery at the right specifications, you shouldn’t experience any problems.
Most APC battery vendors tend to only stock the more popular RBC codes. If you need to replace or back up a less common RBC code, just send an inquiry email to the website you plan to buy from to see if they can special order such a battery for you. APC batteries are something of a niche market, wich usually meens the majority of retailers will be more than happy to go the axtra mile for their customers.
And of course, make sure you know your RBC code before placing an order, don’t just guess. If your RBC code isn’t labelled clearly on the battery itself, you’ll want to call or email a battery retailer about it, and see if they can help you determine what type of battery you need.
In short, shopping for an APC battery does not, in fact, need to be difficult, time consuming, or confusing. Know your specifications, know your RBC code, and ordering a replacement APC battery should be one of the easiest purchases you’ll make this year.
Information About Uninterruptible Power Supplies
Feb 3, 2010 Tech News
There are a number of reasons apart form the natural calamities that can badly affect the working of your electrical devices. Important data needs safeguarding in the event of total power failure so it’s important that you have solutions in place should this arise.
An uninterruptied power supply is the best solution to this problem as they help safeguard your equipments from all kinds of electrical disorders like power surges and various other hindrances. The fact that your equipment may be well protected by installing a UPS, it does not totally guarantee it. Extra security measures need to be carried out to ensure absolute safety of your applications. The list below shows you ten protection solutions in order to maintain the safety of your devices.
Lightning can badly affect your hardware, as it is capable of transmitting through telecommunication cables and causing short circuits as it passes through. By installing a UPS data protection circuit which separates your computer network from the telecommunication’s data line you will be eluding such situations. This will prevent the power surge from destructing other devices and saving you the cost of replacing the entire burnt out plugs and switches. You will only need to replace the data protection device that gets destroyed when such an electrical surge takes place.
Always install the software that that comes along with a riello UPS to guarantee that all connected systems are correctly set up if the outage happens. Communication cables need to be in place; this will allow the PC and UPS to be able to connect with each other.
Apart from installing the software that comes with the UPS, it is advisable to change the factory default configurations and set it according to the requirements of your company. Shutting down your applications safely will be dependant on the amount of time your UPS is able to provide backup support for; check that configurations are set appropriately.
Changing batteries at intervals will be required as they will not last you a lifetime. Installing a battery backup tester to check whether your backup battery is functioning properly is essential; regular checks should be carried out. Conducting tests on a regular basis should be ascertained; to ensure they are carried out mark the dates on a calendar. This will help you know whether the battery is strong enough to power your equipments.
When workloads increase in the future you need to check whether your current UPS can cope with these demands. You must calculate your total requirement and compare it with what your UPS can provide because if you overload it, the UPS battery is sure to die out.
Laser printers take up an awful lot of energy, so it’s important to remember not to plug one of these into the UPS as most UPS brands are not capable of supplying this amount of energy. It can cause an overload on the battery and in turn weaken its strength.
It is advised to replicate data and other activities that need network connectivity while shutting down systems in case of outages. Therefore all such devices must also be provided with backup energy from an UPS so as to avoid a system failure.
You need to command Windows Backup to discard back up functions when it sees that the system has begun to run on the battery mode. Avoiding Unfinished or distorted backup of a previous backup file can beprevented by making any necessary changes.
Batteries need to be replaced accordingly as they can only last a few years. Some UPS brands provide Hot swappable batteries. Without having to shut down the system these are as useful as they can be. Reducing power surges and outages can be done by unplugging systems that are not used ofen.
An uninterrupted power supply should only be used to provide you enough time to close and save everything before shutting down the system. Until it can hold, it should not be used to continue as this can result in data loss, corrupted files and other technical failures.
You should be able to increase the longevity of your UPS, thereby receiving uninterrupted power supply to successfully shut down your programmes before they are lost by bearing these points in mind.
Tags: Riello UPS, uninterrupted power supply, Uninterruptible Power Supplies
Is A Battery On Your Shopping List
Feb 1, 2010 media technology
Shopping for double A batteries is a fairly easy procedure, but shopping for APC batteries for your power protection systems, such as an RBC7, can be a little more complicated. The process, however, can actually be really easy if you know what to look for and what to do beforehand. Here, we hope to simplify the process by laying out exactly what steps need to be taken.
If you are shopping for a replacement battery, it’s one of those events, that can either be really really simple or a major hassle. Do you just point and click when ordering a replacement battery as there are a few steps you need to take prior to this.
There is no guarantee, for starters, that when you order a replacement battery, that you are actually going to receive the correct one. Unlike, say, triple A batteries or 9 volts, which all really come in the same size and shape, there are dozens of different shapes and sizes for any given APC battery.
Furthermore, manufacturers of equipment that uses RBC7 batteries are frequently known to change specifications without notice, so just know that you can’t, say, rely on the specs listed on the manufacturer’s website, but rather, you actually will have to take the battery out of your unit and see what the specifications are.
Certainly, one of the most common complaints dealt with at APC battery retailers is that the customer’s new RBC7 doesn’t fit, no matter how they try to put it in. It can be a very costly event if the wrong shape, size battery has been ordered, as it is perceived to be the responsibility of the buyer to send the wrong battery back, at their own expense of course. This also means you will be paying out a second time to get a new battery shipped. Before ordering your RBC7 replacement batteries, check the specifications.
As for when, exactly, you should replace your RBC7 battery, as a general rule, most APC batteries will last longer than one year, but not as long as two years. However, nothing is set in stone and there are many exceptions. You will find that some batteries may last longer than a year or so, whereas others may not even last a year. Using the warranty as a guideline, is usually the rule of thumb when it comes down to replacing your battery. This is due to the fact that the battery is guaranteed to last as long as the warranty. If you want to look after your ups system and have continual uninterrupted power supply, then it really is better to replace it before it expires.
In truth, a good made battery will last much longer than the warranty, but if the retailer only offers a one year warranty, then it would be wrong to assume the battery will last longer. It’s important to replace your RBC7 as soon as the warranty runs out. You need to remember that your powerware needs to be working in an emergency; so why wait until something terrible happens to find out your battery does not work. By replacing it in a one year period, you will be certain to be safe in an emergency.
Tags: power protection systems, uninterrupted power supply, ups system