[Nut-upsuser] Eaton 5PX 3rd party batteries

[Harlan Stenn]

On 11/13/2024 5:09 AM, Dan Langille wrote:
> resending, sorry, I mangled the list address.
> 
> On Tue, Nov 12, 2024, at 11:49 PM, Harlan Stenn wrote:
> 
>> - put each battery on a charger for several hours
> 
> Do you have a recommendation for a battery charger? Or a list of features to look for?

No, I just use an automatic charger rated for SLA batteries.

Having said that, I have at least two of the old Power Sonic PSC 124000 
units that I found on ebay, used.  I don't recall how these are 
different from the 124000A.  Current technology units are smaller, and I 
have an ignorant bias towards old gear that generally lasts a long time 
v. new gear that seems to fail much more frequently.  I'm OK changing my 
own filter caps, etc.

>> Anyway, when I have a set of replacement new batteries, I then:
>>
>> - put each battery on a charger for several hours
>> - rotating thru the entire set at least twice
>> - then I take my bench supply with a (self-made) octopus cable
>>     with individually-fused "hot" wires, and starting at .1V over the
>>     average voltage, start adding batteries in parallel, waiting for the
>>     current draw to reduce to a trickle.  Once all of the batteries are
>>     connected in parallel and drawing a trickle, I start bumping the
>>     voltage by .1V until I get to either 13.5VDC (or the published
>>     trickle charge voltage) and I let this sit there for a day.
> 
> By individually-fused "hot" wires, I'm guessing that's a cable with
> connectors with a fuse inline.

Yes.  And one must Be Careful with these octopus cables - there can 
easily be unused ends, and having these live ends dangling around can be 
Dangerous.

> This is reminding me of my changes to my home-office Eaton 5PX for
> quieter fans.
> 
> The purpose of waiting for a day is for stabilization? Waiting for one
> of them to die? Achieve a solid charge?

Stabilization/get a solid charge.  And it also provides extra time to 
make sure no battery is failing.

So, "yes" :)

>> When all the batteries are "balanced" in the parallel string, I then
>> install them into the battery tray(s) or directly into the unit.
> 
> The goal there is to get them all to the published trickle charge voltage
> before installing them in the UPS.

Yes, if all of the batteries are at the same level, the hope/intent is 
that they will all behave similarly while in use.

My (possibly incorrect) understanding is that as UPS batteries get 
"worked" and "used", and then recharged, the weakest battery will fail 
first, and as it fails/stresses the batteries to its right and left also 
get extra stress.  The belief is that by balancing the batteries in 
parallel before installing them, they will all be at a similar strength 
(note that since there will be some variance in the amount of lead in 
the battery and with the chemicals, there will also be a variance in the 
longevity of each battery).

>> Sometimes I will take the "old" batteries and run them thru the above
>> process to see if they will "recondition".  Sometimes we will use these
>> for lighting or other non-UPS tasks.
> 
> Which makes me consider my next steps: disposal. There are a number of
> commercial battery centers nearby. I'll start calling around before showing
> up with 20 batteries. ;)

Yup :)

H