If your uninterruptible power supply for your computer after several years has ceased to support the load after a power outage, then most likely its battery has failed. This is the most common breakdown of uninterruptible power supplies. The repair is extremely simple: replace the battery and forget about the problem for a few more years.
These types of batteries are not cheap. I suggest trying to restore the battery in a very simple way.

Theory

Why does the battery lose capacity and not hold a charge? One of the reasons for the failure of batteries of this type is the drying out of the cans. Therefore, we will just need to add a little distilled water to each compartment.

Battery recovery

I don’t want to give you false hope, but the method is not one hundred percent effective, since perhaps the battery has lost capacity not due to drying out. Although any recovery is not 100% guaranteed. Therefore, we will only give the battery a chance, which is definitely worth using, since it will not require significant effort from you, and if the restoration brings results, it will save you good money.

Diagnostics

We disassemble the uninterruptible power supply and remove the battery from it. We measure the voltage with a multimeter. If it is below 10 V, then the chances of restoring the battery are negligible, but they still exist.
For a dry battery, the voltage usually fluctuates around 13 V, and when a load is connected, it drops almost immediately.
In my case, everything is bad - 8 V ​​in total.

Recovery process

These batteries are non-removable and are not intended for maintenance. Therefore, the compartments of the cans are sealed with a plastic lining, which must be pryed off with a sharp knife.

With a little skill, if you walk the tip around the perimeter, the plate will come off.

Underneath you can see six rubber caps for each compartment. These are kind of valves.

They are simply removed by hand. We remove them all and put them aside.

Next we need to find approximately 200 ml. distilled water. You can buy it at an auto store or very easily get it at home without special equipment - read how to do this in this article.
You will also need a syringe for 20 cc. And if there is no such thing, take any that is available.
Now everything is simple: add 15-20 ml to each compartment. distilled water. It’s difficult to say the exact amount, so we pour it into the compartment and look with a flashlight so that it’s almost to the top.

We go around all the banks.

If you wait a little, the water level will gradually decrease as the water is absorbed into the filler, which is located between the lead electrodes.

Close the holes with rubber plugs. We connect the charger and try to charge it. Of course, the battery can be immediately installed in the UPS, but who will know whether it will be charged there or not.

After an hour, turn it off and check the voltage. It has grown to almost 11 V. This means the battery is being restored.

We place the torn plastic cover on glue applied to the same places where the factory one was previously.

The battery is assembled.

We continue charging for another 3 hours. And a second measurement shows that the battery is charging.

This battery was about 5 years old. Of course, it didn’t immediately stop holding a charge, but sagged gradually. Now it has been brought back to life and has 80% of its original capacity. I think it will last a couple more years without any problems, but who knows...
Like this simplest method, which will help bring an old battery back to life. Try it yourself, and you will always have time to throw out the battery.

When using continuous current devices, situations arise when the battery cannot support the operation of the equipment. This occurs when the device malfunctions. A UPS helps you avoid purchasing expensive equipment.

Sources providing uninterruptible power supply, fail due to the following reasons:

1. The device is not charging enough. It is considered the most common cause. Inexpensive UPSs are equipped with low quality charging units.
2. Change in network voltage. Because of this, the device goes into mode battery life.
3. Overcharge. If excess electrical energy accumulates, the device may fail.
4. Prolonged inoperative condition.
5. Problems in UPS operation. In this case, the device quickly discharges the battery.
6. Supply of increased voltage when charging. The electrolyte quickly boils away and the battery loses its inherent functions.
7. Operation of the device in conditions high temperature or humidity.

What is Replace Battery mode?

This inscription appears on the device screen if necessary. This mode starts when the power source breaks down, the battery wears out, or there is no contact. The indicator turns red or flashes. Some devices beep.

What can be restored?

If the battery has been inoperative for a long time, used under increased loads or in unsuitable conditions, you can try to repair the damaged parts. The following parts of the system are subject to restoration:

1. Lead plates. They are purified from oxidation products.
2. Electrodes. It is possible to increase the uniformity and density of the material from which these parts are made. The elements are cleaned of traces of corrosion.

Some ways to improve performance UPS battery quite effective for a computer.

These methods include:

• adding purified water;
• long battery charging;
• multi-stage charging.

Restoration with water

To repair the battery yourself, you will need a syringe filled with purified water. The liquid can be purchased at a pharmacy or automotive store.

Repairs are performed as follows:

1. Remove the upper part of the body covering the lids of the cans.
2. Unscrew the valves. These parts open and release gas when the battery heats up.
3. 2 ml of purified water is pumped into a syringe. The liquid is gradually poured into each battery compartment.

After completing all the steps, wait half an hour for the water to moisten the plates.

Long charging method

The method allows you to improve the current and voltage performance of the UPS. The battery is repaired without disassembling the case.

To do the following:

1. The battery case is firmly closed with a lid, installing a small weight. Otherwise the caps will fly out due to high pressure.
2. The charger is connected to an outlet or transformer. Input voltage should be at least 15 V. Charging takes 2-3 days. In order for the battery to begin accumulating current, it must be kept connected to the network for at least 12 hours. If charging does not start, the voltage is increased.
3. The battery is checked using special software.

Cyclic charging

You can restore the functionality of the UPS by charging the battery cyclically. This method involves alternate full charges and discharges of the device. At the first stage, a voltage of 25 V is applied, which helps give the device its original properties. A new cycle begins by reducing the voltage by 2-3 V. The battery is discharged by connecting a low-power lamp. The voltage cannot be reduced to 10 V. 5 cycles are enough to restore the battery.

Surely most of us use such a useful device as an Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS). This device always comes to the rescue in situations where the electricity in the network is unexpectedly cut off, just at the moment when we are editing important documents, giving us about 15 more minutes of electricity to complete the work correctly. However, the UPS does not last forever and after a year or two, it begins to give us less and less time to complete work with the PC. And one fine day, when the electricity is turned off once again, we leisurely save all the important documents, knowing that we still have about 10 minutes left; after a minute, the uninterruptible power supply starts beeping frequently and turns off, leaving us bewildered.

Why does the UPS not work for the time specified in the specifications?

It's all about the battery, which powers the PC during a power outage in the external network. Unfortunately, the battery deteriorates over time and loses its capacity. Why does my battery drain quickly? There can be many reasons. Intensive use (overload) due to which sulfation of the plates begins. Incorrect charging mechanism - often batteries are constantly in recharging mode and the water that forms the basis of the electrolyte slowly evaporates, rendering the battery unusable.

Fortunately, the most common cause of loss of battery capacity in a UPS is drying out of the electrolyte. Why fortunately? Because this can be corrected and the battery’s previous capacity can be restored.

You will need:

• Distilled water (not electrolyte!!!);
• Scotch;
• Syringe with a needle.

Remove the battery from the UPS.

We remove the cover and see something like this. Rubber caps that cover the openings of the cans. They probably serve to relieve excess pressure that is formed due to water vapor, hydrogen and other substances.

Remove the caps and pour distilled water into each jar. You need to make sure that the water does not flop around in the jar. When shining a flashlight into the holes, make sure not to pour excess water.

After filling, let's charge the battery (you can charge it using the uninterruptible power supply itself). If you overfill the water, excess water will flow out of the cans during charging. It needs to be collected and poured into the sewer.

After charging, I discharged the batteries a little with a car “carrying device”, about half an hour, measured the residual voltage, and estimated the capacity. I charged it again and discharged it a little again.

If your uninterruptible power supply for your computer after several years has ceased to support the load after a power outage, then most likely its battery has failed. This is the most common breakdown of uninterruptible power supplies. The repair is extremely simple: replace the battery and forget about the problem for a few more years.
These types of batteries are not cheap. I suggest trying to restore the battery in a very simple way.

Theory

Why does the battery lose capacity and not hold a charge? One of the reasons for the failure of batteries of this type is the drying out of the cans. Therefore, we will just need to add a little distilled water to each compartment.

Battery recovery

I don’t want to give you false hope, but the method is not one hundred percent effective, since perhaps the battery has lost capacity not due to drying out. Although any recovery is not 100% guaranteed. Therefore, we will only give the battery a chance, which is definitely worth using, since it will not require significant effort from you, and if the restoration brings results, it will save you good money.

Diagnostics

We disassemble the uninterruptible power supply and remove the battery from it. We measure the voltage with a multimeter. If it is below 10 V, then the chances of restoring the battery are negligible, but they still exist.
For a dry battery, the voltage usually fluctuates around 13 V, and when a load is connected, it drops almost immediately.
In my case, everything is bad - 8 V ​​in total.

Recovery process

These batteries are non-removable and are not intended for maintenance. Therefore, the compartments of the cans are sealed with a plastic lining, which must be pryed off with a sharp knife.

With a little skill, if you walk the tip around the perimeter, the plate will come off.

Underneath you can see six rubber caps for each compartment. These are kind of valves.

They are simply removed by hand. We remove them all and put them aside.

Next we need to find approximately 200 ml. distilled water. You can buy it at an auto store or very easily get it at home without special equipment - how to do it.
You will also need a syringe for 20 cc. And if there is no such thing, take any that is available.
Now everything is simple: add 15-20 ml to each compartment. distilled water. It’s difficult to say the exact amount, so we pour it into the compartment and look with a flashlight so that it’s almost to the top.

We go around all the banks.

If you wait a little, the water level will gradually decrease as the water is absorbed into the filler, which is located between the lead electrodes.

Close the holes with rubber plugs. We connect the charger and try to charge it. Of course, the battery can be immediately installed in the UPS, but who will know whether it will be charged there or not.

After an hour, turn it off and check the voltage. It has grown to almost 11 V. This means the battery is being restored.

We place the torn plastic cover on glue applied to the same places where the factory one was previously.

The battery is assembled.

We continue charging for another 3 hours. And a second measurement shows that the battery is charging.

This battery was about 5 years old. Of course, it didn’t immediately stop holding a charge, but sagged gradually. Now it has been brought back to life and has 80% of its original capacity. I think it will last a couple more years without problems, but who knows...
Here is the simplest method that will help bring an old battery back to life. Try it yourself, and you will always have time to throw out the battery.

The vast majority of us use this extremely useful device, as an uninterruptible power supply. The power quality is not ideal everywhere, and even the smallest problems with the power supply can sometimes cost a lot. Data loss is always unpleasant, and sometimes downright fatal. The device is purchased, installed under the table, connected, and its owner is fully confident that in any case, if there is a power outage, he will have time to correctly shut down the work, and maybe even make a backup to a flash drive. As time passes, the uninterruptible power supply periodically makes itself felt - like a real watchdog, it raises its voice at the slightest deviation in the parameters of the power grid. The owner is calm and everything is fine. But one day an outage does happen and this time the UPS does not just give a voice and immediately switches from the battery to the network, this time the lights were turned off for a long time. We are calmly copying files (after all, we have at least 15 minutes left) and then the uninterruptible power supply starts beeping very often and everything turns off. How so? After all, the uninterruptible power supply was supposed to protect us from such situations, but it only instilled in us false confidence in our safety! Why did it happen?

It's all about batteries, from which our uninterruptible power supply feeds all our hardware when the external network is turned off. But these batteries, alas, do not last forever, they degrade, their capacity decreases, and with it the battery life. Down to zero. Unfortunately, this process is often not controlled by anyone, the owner is confident that he is protected, and at this time the battery is no longer really a battery, but a dummy.

What to do, what to do and where to run?

Why do batteries degrade? There are many reasons. Intensive use causes sulfation of the plates, overload causes the active substances to crumble, and so on. The UPS has a maintenance-free battery, but it still contains electrolyte and this electrolyte is water based. Being constantly in buffer mode, in slow charging mode, the water gradually evaporates and the electrolyte no longer performs its functions. The battery becomes unusable. How can this be avoided? This can be avoided by using correct battery charging mechanisms and monitoring its characteristics, but all this is beyond our control - this is the lot of UPS manufacturers.

It so happened that the Internet in my area is only wireless; for its operation, a scary-looking antenna is installed on the roof, and to reduce signal loss in the cable, its length is minimized. The server that then distributes the Internet (another server and switch) is installed in the attic. This small bundle requires uninterrupted power. Even without taking into account data losses, running to load the server at the slightest sneeze (and here they happen often) is not much fun. There should be continuity and preferably more. I bought a 1100VA uninterruptible power supply, not new (a new one costs more than those servers) and of course I didn’t rely on batteries - they are often worn out. Well, I bought it and bought it. I installed it, everything seemed okay. The UPS control panel cheerfully told me about almost an hour of battery life (the load was about 70 VA). I decided to check it out. I turned off the power and after about two minutes everything turned off safely. Batteries are “dead”. This is exactly the case with false protection. There is nothing to do, you need to buy new batteries. I installed backup batteries (it just so happened that there are some from the electric bike and they are inactive), 12VA each. And he took his dead relatives downstairs.

I've heard that the electrolyte in UPS batteries often just dries out. That it is not sulfation or chipping of the plates that causes the death of UPS batteries, but rather the drying out of the electrolyte. An attempt, as they say, is not torture. The batteries were about to be thrown away anyway, and the urge to pick around didn’t give me a chance. To carry out the experiments I needed:

Distilled water (NOT an electrolyte!). Sold in an auto store.
- A syringe, better with a needle - with a needle it is easier to dose. Sold in a pharmacy.
- A knife for picking, stronger.
- Scotch tape for assembly (for aesthetes, of course, ONLY blue tape should be there!).
- Flashlight.

There is a lid glued to the battery that closes the cans. I carefully faked it with a knife (for picking). I had to go around in a circle - it was glued in several places.

Under the lid are jars covered with rubber caps. These caps are probably needed to release water vapor, hydrogen and other things that can create excess pressure in the jar when the battery is operating. It's like a nipple that lets gas out, but doesn't let anything in.

The caps are not glued, I just removed them by prying them off with a knife.

Under the caps, if you look inside the jar, there is nothing interesting. Absolutely. You need a flashlight to look.
I took a syringe, filled it with distilled water (The main thing is without dirt. So that everything is clean!) and poured a cube of water into each jar.

The water was safely absorbed, almost instantly. I repeated it again. Then again 5 or 7, I don’t remember. The water should not flop around in the jar, but it shouldn’t “take” the water from the jar either. It's better to shine a flashlight and take a look. The main thing is not to overfill.

After filling the water, I covered the jars with rubber lids and set the battery to charge. I charged it separately, with a large charger, but I think this is not necessary - you can simply charge it in an uninterruptible power supply. If the batteries are discharged below 10V, then it will not be possible to charge them in this way. There is information that such batteries can also be “boosted,” but to do this, it is necessary to apply high voltage to them at the initial stages (about 35V for a 12V battery) with current control. I haven’t tried it, so I can’t say anything specific. I also cannot recommend this method.

The first point is that if you overfill the water, it will return from under the lid. It must be collected with a syringe and poured into the sewer.

The second point is that if you cover the jars with lids, then during the charging process the pressure in the jar rises slightly and the lids will scatter throughout the room with a characteristic bang. It's funny, but only once. I checked twice - the second time is no longer fun. I covered the lids with the original plastic lid and placed a weight on it.

After charging, I discharged the batteries a little with a car “carrying device”, about half an hour, measured the residual voltage, and estimated the capacity. I charged it again and discharged it a little again.

I did the same with the second battery - there are a couple of them in the UPS. After all, I sealed the removed covers with tape and put the batteries in place.

The results are:

In 10 minutes with a load of 110VA, the batteries were discharged to 79 percent. The operating time on the battery varied somewhat, at the end the software said almost 29 minutes + 10 that had already passed, which comes out to almost 40 minutes. This state of affairs suits me. Enough to go and start the generator. When will I have it :). And make some tea along the way. And drink it.
Based on 79%, that's 21% in 10 minutes or 47 minutes of battery life. Somewhere in the region of what the software promises.
Another calculation option is full capacity batteries 12V * 7Ah * 2pcs = 168 Watt/hours. This is ideal. With a load of 110W, the charge should last for 1.5 hours. But in reality, even with new batteries there will not be such an operating time - the discharge current is too high and the delivered capacity will be lower. It is difficult to say for sure how much the capacity has been restored, but it is very likely that it is up to 80 percent of the nominal. In my opinion, it’s not bad at all for one syringe, a jar of distillate and an hour of time.

The moral of this story is:
- Check battery life periodically. They can screw you over at the most unpleasant moment.
- At your own peril and risk, even battered batteries can be restored with little effort. But no, you will always have time to buy new ones.