<div dir="ltr"><div>Sounds like great advice, thanks!</div><div><br></div><div> Would you care to post it to the NUT wiki or in-source FAQ document (or can I)?</div><div> Probably the
meaningfulness of
specific company names is too geographically and temporally limited, however the technical part is universally applicable.<br></div><div><br></div><div>Jim</div><div><br></div></div><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Wed, Nov 13, 2024 at 6:08 AM Harlan Stenn via Nut-upsuser <<a href="mailto:nut-upsuser@alioth-lists.debian.net">nut-upsuser@alioth-lists.debian.net</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex">On 11/12/2024 10:58 AM, Dan Langille via Nut-upsuser wrote:<br>
> Hello,<br>
> <br>
> nut recently told me that the batteries need replacing in my Eaton 5PX2200RT (ups) and 5PXEBM48RT (external battery pack). According to my notes, it has been just over 4 years since I installed them. Looking at on-line sales, these seem to use batteries in a pre-packaged plastic shell. I don't recall if that's what's in my units or not.<br>
> <br>
> Do you have any experience with replacing / filling such shells with 3rd party batteries?<br>
<br>
I have never had to replace batteries in an Eaton anything.<br>
<br>
I hope the following is both correct and useful.<br>
<br>
I have replaced a fair number (probably around a hundred) batteries in <br>
other UPSes and devices (like a Fuji X-Ray machine that takes 16 <br>
12VDC@22AH batteries). That's over 200VDC at a Significant current (the <br>
batteries claim 12V, but they are charged to over 13V).<br>
<br>
I like batteries from RaionGroup.com or <a href="http://batterywholesale.com" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">batterywholesale.com</a>.<br>
<br>
There are some other companies out there that I will never buy from again.<br>
<br>
I try to get high-rate batteries, and they are harder to find. As I <br>
recall, one should avoid "deep discharge" batteries for UPSes. A deep <br>
discharge battery is great for constant load stuff (like wheelchairs, <br>
golf carts, etc) but UPSes need "shorter" bursts of lots of power.<br>
<br>
I read the spec sheets and order the heaviest batteries I can find. <br>
More lead means heavier batteries, and longer life.<br>
<br>
I check each battery's initial voltage. I have a note that says I <br>
expect at least 12.9V, but I haven't had a chance to verify this lately.<br>
<br>
I check the spec'd net weight of the batteries with the actual weight of <br>
each arriving battery.<br>
<br>
Every battery I have received from the above 2 vendors has had a gross <br>
weight clearly above the spec'd net weight of the battery. Yay.<br>
<br>
Every battery I have received from at least one other vendor has had a <br>
gross weight of at least 10% UNDER the spec'd net weight. I have <br>
immediately called for an RMA of these, with varying degrees of success <br>
in their return.<br>
<br>
Oh, at least one vendor has offered both "regular" and "high rate" <br>
batteries, I ordered the more expensive "high rate" batteries, and what <br>
was delivered was "regular" batteries. When I asked about this, they <br>
said something like "we don't get the high rate batteries anymore" and <br>
they had no answer for why they still showed and charged me for the <br>
high-rate batteries when they knew they didn't actually have them. The <br>
RMA process here was ... bad.<br>
<br>
Anyway, when I have a set of replacement new batteries, I then:<br>
<br>
- put each battery on a charger for several hours<br>
- rotating thru the entire set at least twice<br>
- then I take my bench supply with a (self-made) octopus cable<br>
with individually-fused "hot" wires, and starting at .1V over the<br>
average voltage, start adding batteries in parallel, waiting for the<br>
current draw to reduce to a trickle. Once all of the batteries are<br>
connected in parallel and drawing a trickle, I start bumping the<br>
voltage by .1V until I get to either 13.5VDC (or the published<br>
trickle charge voltage) and I let this sit there for a day.<br>
<br>
When all the batteries are "balanced" in the parallel string, I then <br>
install them into the battery tray(s) or directly into the unit.<br>
<br>
Sometimes I will take the "old" batteries and run them thru the above <br>
process to see if they will "recondition". Sometimes we will use these <br>
for lighting or other non-UPS tasks.<br>
<br>
H<br>
<br>
_______________________________________________<br>
Nut-upsuser mailing list<br>
<a href="mailto:Nut-upsuser@alioth-lists.debian.net" target="_blank">Nut-upsuser@alioth-lists.debian.net</a><br>
<a href="https://alioth-lists.debian.net/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/nut-upsuser" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">https://alioth-lists.debian.net/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/nut-upsuser</a><br>
</blockquote></div>