Eaton 5PX UPS, battery charging issue

[tkuhmone]

I decided to open thread here for information sharing purposes, if anyone owns same UPS as I have (5PX2200iRT). I got problems after one year of use. The IPP sofware (UPS management) shows that battery has not received any charging, ie status is at fully empty battery. When primany network failed, UPS did not anymore protect from power failures. On front panel it did show errors, with a comment "service needed". In UPS menus, following error seen --> "Battery fault, code 0x607".

UPS battery voltage is nominally 4*12V. I measured voltage (at old UPS battery), it was 52.58V. That means a normal voltage level, and most propably charging circuit in UPS did not correctly regognize the battery. I was informed by tech support, that the UPS will normally shutdown itself if the SLA battery cell voltage goes below 1.6...1.65V level (6 cells per 12V battery).

old UPS (manufactured at spring 2015)
catalog nb: 5PX2200iRTN
P/N: 9210-7374-KIT
Rev: 01

new UPS (date not known)
catalog nb: 5PX2200iRT
P/N: 9210-7374-00P
Rev: 01

Repair solution was to get a new unit, since current UPS was under warranty. New UPS has been tested, and the final installation is still to be done. I will later post here update, how the UPS works after longer time.

[oldway]

In my opinion, it was not a battery charging issue, but a battery issue.
Internal resistance of defective batteries increases a lot and they don't accept charging current no more.

52.58V (2.19V/cell) seems to be the right voltage and a good battery should be at least with 80% charge at this voltage.
Low capacity SLA with fast-on connections don't have a very long life expectancy....some brands fails after one or two years.

[tkuhmone]

those batteries what were on failed UPS, had following markings:
*******
CSB Battery, Vietnam Co LTD
12V 34W/Cell/1.67V/15min
HR 1234W F2
*******
link to specs:
http://www.csb-battery.com/english/01_product/02_detail.php?fid=7&pid=28

I have not yet looked at new UPS, do not know if they use same battery type.

[oldway]

I looked at the battery specifications and they recomend a float charging voltage of 13.5 to 13.8V/battery, this is 2.25 to 2.3V/cell.

The 2.2V/cell you measured was indeed a little low, but not explaining why your UPS had no backup capability at all.

[tkuhmone]

those batteries what were on failed UPS, had following markings:
*******
CSB Battery, Vietnam Co LTD
12V 34W/Cell/1.67V/15min
HR 1234W F2
*******
link to specs:
http://www.csb-battery.com/english/01_product/02_detail.php?fid=7&pid=28
I have not yet looked at new UPS, do not know if they use same battery type.

Replacement UPS has been checked, and battery type is exactly same as above (4*12V 9Ah). I measured battery voltage (when disconnected from UPS). It shows 51.4V.

[madires]

In my opinion, it was not a battery charging issue, but a battery issue.
Internal resistance of defective batteries increases a lot and they don't accept charging current no more.

52.58V (2.19V/cell) seems to be the right voltage and a good battery should be at least with 80% charge at this voltage.
Low capacity SLA with fast-on connections don't have a very long life expectancy....some brands fails after one or two years.

Yes, possibly cheap batteries. From my experience Panasonic SLAs last about 4-5 years. They also got a special series for UPS' which gives you a few years extra. The last time I bought some no-name brand the battery pack went bad just after 2.5 years and one battery had started leaking. If possible adjust the trickle charge voltage to match the battery's datasheet. BTW, has anyone experience with Kung Long SLAs? APC got some of those in their UPS' for a while now.

[SeanB]

You probably had a cell crack a plate interconnect, so that only part of the cell was able to contribute to discharge. Thus on mains fail the little that was left discharged really fast ( or at least was high enough impedance) so the pack voltage dropped to low battery voltage. the charger probably also detected the battery was not charging ( the failed cell charges up very fast, goes into overcharge gas production past the recombination ability of the cell and then vents the hydrogen and oxygen from the dissociation of the water in the electrolyte and thus appears as almost open circuit) and set the warning.

Checking open circuit voltage is not much, you need to check voltage open circuit ( after resting) to get state of charge, voltage during charge and then voltage under low, medium and high loads. The open circuit voltage tells you there are no shorted cells only, the discharge test tells you just how much the cells have degraded.

with the new UPS check the reading on the monitor and the actual reading of the battery, this can often be slightly different due to the divider resistor tolerances, and the old one might have been slightly overcharging the battery, or it was getting hot.

[tkuhmone]

I checked menus at 5PX UPS (new replacement unit). Cannot find there a setting to control trickle charge voltage, documented value is 2.3V per cell - see diagram on page 2.
lit.powerware.com/ll_download.asp?file=ABMTechPaper2013.pdf

This UPS has a defined max output power of 1.98kW. I tested it with 1.52kW - immeadiately battery pack voltage drops to approx 53V -> 44V (UPS menu value, 44V corresponds to 1.83V per cell). After this voltage goes still down for three minutes backup time (tested value matched to specs). Finally UPS will shut down....

About the old 5PX unit (with battery alarm), I could not test different output loads - UPS did not provide backup power at all...

[javed]

can you let em know the UPS firmware:

you will get firmware of UPS by entering in UPS identification option.

Battery fault and charger fault is also linked to firmware level as well.