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Thread ID: 147888	2019-05-25 03:13:00	Can / should I add water to my UPS battery ?	decibel (11645)	Press F1

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
1460959	2019-05-25 03:13:00	I have an older HP UPS with these batteries inside www.bb-battery.com Although it is labelled as a lead-acid battery, it is claimed as "no water topping up required" and "no free acid" When I look into the top of each cell, there is no visible fluid (as there would have been in older-style lead-acid cells) so how does this relate to the "no free acid" feature ? Is all the electrolyte held in some spongy material between the plates? There must have been some free-flowing electrolyte at some stage as the phamplet says "Excluding used inverted" The UPS is beeping because it doesn't like the battery condition and I don't really want to buy new batteries. Any advice will be appreciated.	decibel (11645)
1460960	2019-05-25 03:57:00	Your only option is to replace the batteries they have a finite life and if your UPS is reporting them as end of life that is it. Those batteries are sealed maintenance free units.	CliveM (6007)
1460961	2019-05-25 04:15:00	... Those batteries are sealed maintenance free units. Or is that marketing hype?? They are not really sealed at all as the top is easy to pop off.	decibel (11645)
1460962	2019-05-25 04:28:00	They are gel cells, the electrolyte is not water. Do not top them up, leave them alone. It's not hype, the only maintenance they require is to maintain the correct charge. Edit: they typically last 3-5 years depending how often they are put under load, once the UPS gives you alarm there's nothing you can do but replace them. Sometimes it's cheaper to buy a new UPS - depends on the model and the batteries it uses.	dugimodo (138)
1460963	2019-05-25 05:17:00	Water doesn't magically make batteries new. All batteries, even car batteries, like the old ones you did maintenance on, have and had a finite life.	piroska (17583)
1460964	2019-05-26 06:55:00	Water doesn't magically make batteries new. All batteries, even car batteries, like the old ones you did maintenance on, have and had a finite life. True, but in the case of a wet-type battery, the electrolyte does evaporate over time, and topping them up with clean (eg: distilled/purified) water will extend the life.	Agent_24 (57)
1460965	2019-05-26 21:58:00	Sometimes it's cheaper to buy a new UPS - depends on the model and the batteries it uses . At work, The last 2 UPS's we replaced batts in , both sets of batts failed within 6 months . One lasted less than a week . Theres allways the chance that the UPS is going to just fry the new batts . So, on the cheapy UPS's , I wouldnt even bother changing batts .	1101 (13337)
1460966	2019-05-26 23:46:00	I have my doubts about the usefulness of My UPS honestly. Power cuts are infrequent here and the UPS has actually done something maybe 3-4 times in the last 10 years that I've owned one. Although that's not counting the times I've heard it kick in for a surge or sag in power. Before that I've owned PCs since the early 90s and never had a mains power related issue with one. In that time I've had one UPS die - and take a few hundred dollars of connected equipment with it and I've replaced the whole unit once and the batteries once. The total cost of owning the UPS over that time is quite high and could have covered some replacement hardware. But really a UPS is like insurance, there just in case and better if it's never needed.	dugimodo (138)
1460967	2019-05-29 06:39:00	Yes, missed the bit on the BB-battery website about "Absorbent Glass Mat" I removed both batteries (you can do this while still all working with an HP UPS - don't know about other brands). One battery had slightly lower open-circuit voltage than the other. With nothing to lose, I put a bit of rainwater in it and charged them both overnight on 15 volts. Back in the unit and all alarms have now cleared. Realistically though; I accept that their days are limited. Good news is that SWMBO will shortly be getting the Winston Peters fan club card so I may be able to afford two new batteries.	decibel (11645)
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