SUPER UPS Battery Hack- Mikes Inventions

The SUPER UPS Battery Hack,. Have you ever wanted your electronics to run longer on battery power? I have. So now they do. I swapped the tiny SLA batteries in my APC battery backup for two deep cycle batteries to get ludicrous run time. This procedure would work with CyberPower brand just as well as the APC that I have. The key is to match the input voltage to whatever your UPS is using now, which is most likely 24v. I've never seen anything other than that. You'll need 24 volts worth of batteries, a UPS, some wire, terminals, a fuse and holder. Check it out!

[BlainsTube]

Great video! I'm with you on off-grid power.

[lwphinney]

Thank you for this video. I have several heavy duty ups unit and wanting to experiment . Just gotta get inside the unit to rid that beeping when operating of batteries.

[thangknowa]

Instead of the conductive metal hose clamps, you could use large plastic zip ties pulled down tight - non conductive. And yes, those batteries definitely need vented to outside. Hydrogen has a very broad explosive range, 4.1 - 74% and very light, rises up.

[exgenica]

May have been mentioned by someone else earlier, but two major items to keep in mind when increasing the runtime of ANY UPS unit...

ITEM 1 - "FLOAT CHARGE" CAN BE WAY TOO HIGH FOR DIFFERENT BATTERIES
The "float charge" voltage ("standby" voltage the UPS keeps on the battery(ies) at all times when they are not being discharged or charged (just sitting there in standby)) can vary by a significant amount depending on the battery type used. The vital information here is that the float charge for one type of recharageable battery (e.g. an arbitrary typical SLA battery) can be a LOT different than the float charge for a different type of rechargeable battery (e.g. a marine-type Deep Cycle battery). It can even vary from one type or model of SLA battery to another type or model depending on manufacturing.

From what I've observed, many models of UPS units typically provide a float charge voltage that is too high...even for the originally supplied batteries. What this can mean is that the batteries may not last as long (edit to add: 'as they should last') because the float charge being too high will, over time degrade the batteries faster than if the float charge was set at the right voltage for the batteries being used. Example, instead of supplying a specified float charge of 13.5V to 13.8V for a given SLA battery, the UPS may be supplying a float charge of 14.5 to 14.8V. I have measured such high float charge levels on various UPS units.

A suspicious person might conclude that UPS manufacturers intentionally use fractionally higher float charge values to cause early life battery failures in order to increase their replacement battery sales.

*_A float charge higher than the specified value for a given battery WILL take months to years off the battery life of that battery, depending on just how high the float charge voltage is above the level specified for the batteries_*

I recommend batteryuniversity.com for more information on "float charge" and how it can damage batteries to cause significantly earlier battery failure.
(edit to add: 'I have no personal or financial interest in anything associated with batteryuniversity.com' )


ITEM 2 - UPS OVERHEATING DUE TO LONGER RUNTIMES
Some UPS units are designed in a way that they are LIMITED in how long they provide backup power due to overheating issues. If they run too long (e.g. users replace original batteries with MUCH higher Ah capacity batteries) then an UPS can overheat and possibly cause catastrophic damage to itself and/or attached devices due to uncontrolled output voltages caused by damaged control circuitry.
When I've added higher capacity Ah batteries for longer runtime, I always make sure that the UPS unit will not overheat due to the longer runtime. This may be a simple matter of not keeping the UPS in a closed storage area, or adding more ventilation to the storage area, or even adding more ventilation to the UPS case. I have also installed a fan in two units (one CyberPower and one APC) as they started reaching dangerously high sustained temperatures when they ran for longer than about 20 minutes. (edit to add: 'Running at sustained high temperatures is not good for ANY electronic equipment and at the least can cause early equipment failure. In particular, very high sustained temperatures (even higher internal ambient temps) can cause electrolytic capacitors to vent and cause failures with unpredictable results.')

*_One should not always assume the UPS's self-protection for overheating will always work and provide a controlled shutdown, or that a given UPS even has such protection built into it_*

[CapStar]

Mike, if you want to force the unit to relearn its endurance on battery power, you have to put about half a load to it, and execute the self test multiple times a day for about 3-4 days.

Hold down the power button while its turned on for a total of 6 seconds.

2 seconds will power the unit off, and you get the single beep, DO NOT LET IT GO, continue to hold it for another 4 seconds and you will get a second beep, then release the button and it puts the unit into 'Self Test' which forces battery usage for 5 seconds.

another way to help it relearn, is cycle the batteries, go full charge and then run them down on a roughly 80-100w load, when the unit dies, hold down the power button and force a 'brain dead' sequence upon it. hold the button for 5-15 seconds.

APC Backups units have logical sense in them. clearing the logic by forcibly doing a logic brain dead procedure clears its prior memory of the batteries it once knew.

after a few times of fully cycling the batteries you should start seeing some really impressive numbers as the unit re-learns the numbers as it works.

[enriquedb]

Thannks, i had this idea recently...but for my deep freezer. Lots of power outage recently...thanks for your video

[cheefussmith]

Terrific video! I’ve been wanting to do this too. Perfect garage/shed project. Cute kid :)

[mcw]

Hi Mike. What you probably don’t know is that APC sizes their components to match the runtime of their batteries. Attaching a super large battery, and a full capacity load, will eventually cause most UPS models to overheat. Instead, use the TrippLite automatic PowerVerter if you want an external battery bank. That’s what I did 20 years ago. They are also fan-cooled.

[MikesInventions]

Still going strong after 18 months. The UPS charging circuit brought the batteries all the way up after several days, and since the batteries are so large, it's as if the batteries are on a trickle charger, like they would be anyway. The minute counter on the display is still meaningless, because the UPS has no idea how big the batteries are, but it is somewhat useful for judging relative charge. The minutes just tick down at a much slower pace. I haven't needed to use them for more than about an hour or so since I installed them, and the internal charger on the UPS worked just fine. Now I plan to use my large auto charger if I run them down a lot so as not to strain the UPS charger circuit. So far so good... Stay tuned.

[km]

I did the same thing a while back. This set up works but one thing has to be considered, UPS' are not design to work for extended periods of time. They have very small heatsinks on the Mosfet/transistors and most don't even include a fan to keep them cool so they end up getting damaged by overheating. Of course to help on this issue you can add your own fan.

[MausSpaece]

I think everyone would have liked to see this work. As well as some runtime information!

[ReviewsandTech]

Great idea, as I have an APC UPS Pro 1300 as well and the batteries are shot too, and I also have a used 12Volt LifePo4 battery too, this is excellent, thanks for sharing your knowledge man, much appreciated.

[dhansel]

I have been doing that for years. The best wire that is about 10 gauge and flexible can be found at the automotive shop. I use heat shrinking tube over the connectors that I solder the wires to.
In a tight spot getting the outboard battery(s) where you can service them is a real help.

[franchellevanheerden]

I Love this video. Make more of these in different enviroments please. i promise i will watch them all :)

[shainojohn]

You have to plug in the Data communication cable to the system and install the software and calibrate the battery and change the status as new battery it will give more backup hours

[BrianSmithology]

Subscribed when you said, "I'm obsessed with off-grid power." :)

[jenniferwagner]

I just wanted to mention, that if you take apart the battery pack, it is two batteries connected by a card. You can remove the card and it is much easier to access the leads on the card. They are also marked as positive and negative. The card can only be inserted in the correct way. I plan to try this on my my network rack in the basement.

[RemmikRotus]

If you are going to do this please install a full time vent system to the exterior. Maybe even move the batteries to a vented box outside and run your wires in. Gases from an unsealed lead acid battery are explosive, especially when overcharging. Like you stated, the UPS has no idea what type/size of batteries you connected. “So far, so good” are famous last words.

[tonymontana]

Excellent Video Mike. I know nothing about UPS devices but I had to purchase one recently for back up power on a home CCTV system.
It was a good used one, apparently, but I have yet to get my head around how it functions etc.
I suspect the batteries will need replacing as the old owner reckons he's had it for around 4 years or so, so that would tell me that the battery life cycle is almost due.
It's an APC C1500 model, the one with the LCD display.
Not sure what Ah sized batteries it contains, but I'd love to upgrade them if possible. Hopefully I can find the same physical sized batteries but with a higher output.
I'll have to do more research on this.
Thanks for the video. It's opened my mind about battery expansion.

[Kyuunex]

What you did can be very dangerous depending on the UPS model. Some UPSes do not isolate their circuitry from mains. Always check for this per UPS before attaching an external battery.