Should the Batteries in My UPS System Last Long?
For many, the basis of their workstation is an APC battery. This is particularly true when your primary ups power supply is, in fact, less than entirely reliable. For instance, people who live in areas where storms are a regular occurrence. The not knowing of how long your APC battery will last, can nonetheless, leave you feeling very vunerable and insecure. This article looks to provide you with a simple guide on how to keep your APC batteries in check.
Something very important to remember when you rely on APC batteries to keep your work station, home computer or network up and running is to always play it safe. What this means is that you should be ready and willing to replace your APC batteries before they expire, and not after.
Different rules, as you would expect, apply to APC batteries against say, the double A batteries that are used in your remote control; simply because they are used as an emergency power supply. You can replace your remote control’s batteries when they run out because not being able to change the channel is hardly an emergency situation.
APC batteries need to be replaced regularly just as you would regularly replace the 9 volt battery in your smoke detector, whether you know the battery to be expired or not. It might be expired, or it might not be. If it’s still working, it might save your life in the event of a fire, but if it’s not, then the only way to find out is to have the smoke detector fail to make a sound when there is a fire.
As a rough guideline the best way to go about replacing your APC battery is to use the warranty. Most APC batteries will last beyond the warranty, simply because that’s the only way to stay in business (you won’t last long in any industry if you find yourself living up to every warranty you issue). Once the warranty runs out, you can usually expect the battery to be reliable for some time after, but it’s wise to replace it as soon as is convenient.
The warranty, then, can be seen as a “minimum possible performance” guideline. A well made APC battery will almost certainly last longer than the warranty, but it is only guaranteed to last as long as the warranty.
In general, most reputable APC battery manufacturers and retailers will offer a one year warranty. Some may offer shorter or longer warranties, but one year is generally considered to be as long as the average APC replacement battery should be expected to last with any degree of reliability.
Your emergency power supply, in short, should be treated like your emergency safety kit. When a hurricane knocks your power out, the last thing is to find out that your batteries in your flash light are dead. You might well think they are ok, but if they have not been checked for a year or so, then what do you expect. Have power solutions to hand for your ups system before anything major goes wrong.
