A couple weeks ago my youngest son said the spare computer just quit working.

I tried to turn it back on with no luck. I also noticed the monitor is off.

But the printer that is also plugged into the battery/backup surge protector is still working.

My thought is that the battery side of the surge protector quit, and that replacing the battery backup will fix the problem.

yes I plan on running a power strip to the computer and monitor power cords to check this. I am just wondering if it is possible for 1/2 of a surge protector/battery backup to quit.

Thoughts?

I believe that is correct in theory - but it depends on exactly why it stopped working.

If it was purely the battery that went bad and there are no other issues with the circuitry then it should be all that is needed. Would also check if there were any internal fuses that may have blown (assuming they are replaceable).

This will vary based on brand and model too. APC and some of the more mainstream brands (particularly if they also have enterprise grade models as well) are more likely to work (but they generally would have given you some warning about the batteries going bad).

Some of the generic chi-com brands may just be dead.

I assume that you've also verified that both the computer & monitor work fine if you bypass the battery backup completely.

Do you have a "Battery Store" in your area?

If so, take it there. They will have the correct battery and be able to verify if that is all you need to replace.

quote:

Originally posted by lizardman_u:
A couple weeks ago my youngest son said the spare computer just quit working.

I tried to turn it back on with no luck. I also noticed the monitor is off.

But the printer that is also plugged into the battery/backup surge protector is still working.

My thought is that the battery side of the surge protector quit, and that replacing the battery backup will fix the problem.

yes I plan on running a power strip to the computer and monitor power cords to check this. I am just wondering if it is possible for 1/2 of a surge protector/battery backup to quit.

Thoughts?

All possible, and the above suggestions all make sense, but the FIRST thing I would do is plug the computer into a known good outlet, plug strip, surge protector, port on the UPS the printer is plugged into, whatever and verify that the computer is not the problem.

For that matter, switching the printer and monitor would tell you something useful.

The Battery backup in battery backup surge protectors only last about 3 years.

I purchased a battery backup figuring it would give me time to save things and turn off the computer if the power went out.

Well the power never went out in about 4 years.
The computer shutdown.

From that I determined that battery backups were largely a waste of money for home use.

quote:

Originally posted by kimber1911:
The Battery backup in battery backup surge protectors only last about 3 years.

I purchased a battery backup figuring it would give me time to save things and turn off the computer if the power went out.

Well the power never went out in about 4 years.
The computer shutdown.

From that I determined that battery backups were largely a waste of money for home use.

Pretty much what I found too, I had batter backup and the battery died far to quickly. As I remember it kept beeping until I shut it down. Just keep your system backed up is a much better alternative.

REFERENCE SURGE PROTECTION:
Consider whole house surge protection. Some power companies will install it free__most do not.
However these can be purchased at Home Depot or Lowe's.
Check with a couple (or three) local electricians.
They may have a favorite.
These aren't expensive. The ones that go in the breaker box are resonable. Takes a few minutes.
There's a LOT of electronics in your house. Like any of those touch pad ones.
A good whole house surge protector will protect from anything but a direct lightning strike.
Poli Viejo

quote:

Originally posted by Horn:
REFERENCE SURGE PROTECTION:
Consider whole house surge protection. Some power companies will install it free__most do not.
However these can be purchased at Home Depot or Lowe's.
Check with a couple (or three) local electricians.
They may have a favorite.
These aren't expensive. The ones that go in the breaker box are resonable. Takes a few minutes.
There's a LOT of electronics in your house. Like any of those touch pad ones.
A good whole house surge protector will protect from anything but a direct lightning strike.
Poli Viejo

Started off with good information, ended on incorrect information. It will usually protect from most transients and internally generated surges. Severe transients and loss of neutral are not protected, nor will it protect from strikes on PoCo equipment.

They are a good tool, but won't save every thing, every time.

Most of the UPSes we have lost over the years at work and at home were battery failures. Second most common part to fail has been the relays. Don’t think we ever had one blow a fuse and still work after replacing the fuse, but not many ever blew fuses. Most of the smaller units would still have the surge-protect-only side continue to work is the UPS side fails.

Our policy for desk units at work is to replace the battery after three years, then buy a new unit the next time it fails or after another 3 years.

- Bret

quote:

Our policy for desk units at work is to replace the battery after three years, then buy a new unit the next time it fails or after another 3 years.

Best policy one could have.

What I want to know is why they haven't dumped lead acid batteries for Li ion?

Sealed lead acid batteries are inexpensive, don't have the shipping restrictions that lithium ion batteries do, and don't tend to burst into flames if there's a problem. Lithium ion batteries last about as long as sealed lead acid batteries.

It's possible although normally the UPS will still work even if the battery is bad (just won't work when there is no AC power available).
Easy enough to check to test though.

quote:

Originally posted by smschulz:
It's possible although normally the UPS will still work even if the battery is bad (just won't work when there is no AC power available).
Easy enough to check to test though.

Had that happen to me a few times when I was still working. A surge had fried the circuit/switchover/whatever components of the UPS such that it was happily passing along utility power to the computer, but when power went out, no UPS cutover to battery (which was good). I started (and still do) plug a good quality surge protector strip into the wall outlet first (to protect the UPS), then the UPS, then the computer. I haven't had a failure like that since I adopted that system. I have had failures letting batteries go too long without replacing, but now I make a label for the top of each UPS indicating the date of the last battery change.

quote:

Originally posted by smschulz:
It's possible although normally the UPS will still work even if the battery is bad ...

None of the UPS' I've ever had at home or at work would. At least four, perhaps five major brands. Not Costco, Sam's Club, Walmart, etc. specials, either. All of them: Battery died, UPS shut down or, if the power so much as blinked--something the computers or network gear wouldn't even notice--would shut right down.

Exception: The APC MX5000 we had at work could be manually placed in "bypass." Then it would operate with batteries completely missing. (For battery hot swap.")

Some UPS’s will have a number of outlets that are battery backup plus surge suppression, and a number that are surge suppression only. Could the computer be plugged into one of the surge suppression only outlets?

thank you all for your replies.

Sigmonkey - the closest battery store is an hour away by freeway (we are a very rural town of 3300 population).

Barley - yes the computer and monitor are plugged into the battery side of the backup/surge protector.

And yes I am going to grab a spare power strip and test to make sure the battery backup/surge protector is the culprit.

It just seems odd to me that the computer and monitor would stop working at the same time.

My youngest son said the battery backup did make one beep before the computer and monitor turned off.

Again I want to thank you all for your help.

I rearranged some plugs on the battery backup (moving the computer and monitor plugs to the surge only side) and everything came back on.

So now I know it is a bad battery backup/surge protector.

Amazon.com here I come as it takes less time and no fuel to make my order with them, and it would take two hours drive time (round trip) plus time in the store to drive across the river into Washington, and then I would have to pay sales tax as Oregon residents are no longer tax exempt in WA.

Someone explain this one. In a Staples today and their IT department says there's something wrong with isolated ground receptacles. I find that hot to neutral has 120v, but ground only has 69v to hot. This throws error code in UPS so they replaced it with same results.

I need to return to troubleshoot when store is closed because genius IT department plugged server into the non UPS protected circuit with a problem, leaving the server on a circuit with a ground problem and me no way to troubleshoot.

Anyone care to take a wild stab on why I'd get different readings on the circuit with and without the UPS plugged in?

quote:

Originally posted by Skins2881:
Someone explain this one. In a Staples today and their IT department says there's something wrong with isolated ground receptacles. I find that hot to ground has 120v, but ground only has 69v to hot. This throws error code in UPS so they replaced it with same results.

I need to return to troubleshoot when store is closed because genius IT department plugged server into the non UPS protected circuit with a problem, leaving the server on a circuit with a ground problem and me no way to troubleshoot.

Anyone care to take a wild stab on why I'd get different readings on the circuit with and without the UPS plugged in?

broken/cracked solder on the negative terminal of the plug maybe?

A poor ground connection somewhere further up the line. Shows 120 volts without a load, but drops down to 68 volts with a load on it.