APC Back-UPS CS 650

I've just bought the same APC unit for my new NAS:

Model: ReadyNAS NV+ [X-RAID1]
Firmware: RAIDiator 4.1.7 [1.00a043]

Detected and working just fine.

Shortly after installing this model I got the first battery warning and then another, yesterday, one week on:

UPS battery error. Please replace the battery.
[Fri Jan 13 05:25:37 GMT 2012]

UPS battery error. Please replace the battery.
[Fri Jan 20 14:53:21 GMT 2012]

The UPS has been sitting right next to me on both occasions and nothing about its status changed. So this is starting to look like being more than just the odd spurious error that appears for one or two users, unless I've just joined a small group of unfortunates. Using the latest software: RAIDiator 4.1.8 currently reporting:

UPS 1 APC Back-UPS CS 650, Battery charge: 100%, 13 minutes Out of Spec

If it's the same as it was last Friday, re-booting the NAS will clear the "Out of Spec" status. But would this eventually clear on its own (i.e. how often does it poll the UPS?). If it was once an hour or so I might trust it to reset itself (I'm guessing the NAS's behavior will change for the worse if it thinks the UPS is on the fritz and a power outage occurs)

After trawling through more instances of this error message (NOTE: not something you would know to do until you got one yourself - when it's too late) I can't help thinking that any Duo or NV could be cabled up to just about any APC CSxxx UPS and give a trace of the issue that's affecting users here.

(I made some additional comments about the difficulty of using these forums to make a sound UPS purchasing choice in: Support ‹ General Questions)

AdrianM - it should not affect your NAS in any way for normal operation. Several weeks ago, I shut down my backup NAS (NVX Pioneer) to clean it, and did not power it back up for several days. I was in and out over that weekend and opened and closed several files on my primary NAS (NVX Business Edition) and noted a few e-mails from one of my NAS units about the UPS, but did not overly concern myself. On Sunday evening, after everything settled down, I was responded to a post and opened RAIDar, and noted both the absence of my backup NAS and the icon for batter backup for my primary NAS was give an error message saying it was disconnected. I looked down at the front panel and all looked normal. I then realized that the two (missing NAS and UPS error message) were related, as the UPS is directly connected to the backup NAS and it passes the info to the primary. Rebooting the backup, cleared all the error messages.

If you still have you packet that came with the UPS handy, there should be a CD with an application called PowerChute. The latest version 3.01 for Win 7 and Vista is on their website (follow the hyperlink) and is a free download. It does have a diagnostic feature telling about battery status according to the info on the website. Since my APC UPS has a front LED panel with a lot of info including the battery status, I have never loaded it. I have two identical units, the first one now has replacement batteries (last year) and the other still has the original batteries after more than three years. If the diagnostics of PowerChute indicate true problems with the batteries, you may need to contact APC for replacements. Their batteries are for most units standard and can be acquired online or at a local full service battery store.

PapaBear wrote:
AdrianM - it should not affect your NAS in any way for normal operation.

Hi PapaBear. Assuming that the UPS is healthy, what I was really hoping for was a definitive description of RAIDiator's response in the case of "out of spec" being displayed in the status panel, when an actual power-outage occurrs. Under these conditions I see two possible outcomes - hopefully, further genuinely polled reports would reveal the situation and a safe shutdown would be initiated before the battery was exhausted - or alternatively, maybe RAIDiator behaves as though there was no UPS connected. I can readily see it behaving like this while it continues to report the UPS as being "out of spec" in the status panel.

As to running the UPS on a PC using PowerChute for diagnostics, thanks for the pointers and while I might end up doing so eventually, my initial findings (combined with reports of others here) suggest it may not be very informative. I've got a lot of history with power electronics and batteries, so the first check I always do with a Lead-Acid is for its internal impedance. Even a "brand-new" battery like the one in the UPS can be useless if it was left discharged (which is why they're supplied with one terminal disconnected). A tip - before connecting a freshly purchased battery, take a simple voltage reading with a multimeter and make sure it's not under 12V. If it is, then it's probably been stored for too long and won't ever hold a full charge again.

According to the long printout it came with, My UPS was tested last August and the battery is in excellent health. This is in agreement with the front panel status LEDs on the UPS which I and the others have been able to see in front of us when the error was announced. Nothing shows on these indicators, which doesn't necessarily mean that polling via USB might give a different answer - but it makes it very unlikely, and points very heavily towards the error being other than a genuine reflection of a battery in need of replacement.

Other than UPS you can use many other sources for backup power like you can use battery backup, portable generator and solar panel. These sources are more powerful than UPS.