APC PowerChute software accuracy for battery life?

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

I just got a battery backup, APC ES 500VA with PowerChute Pers.
Edition v. 1.5 software for it. My question is if the software System
Monitor say the battery life is 83 minutes at 100% battery capacity,
is the minutes really accurate? I know I could unplug it to find out,
but with my luck if I did this, then I'd get a real blackout and have
no battery power to backup my system.

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

In article <MPG.1d952c08ffb685b198a09b@news-server.columbus.rr.com>,
void@nowhere.lan says...

> In article <o3lmi15oq81epafkm654vfopjafutpveb3@4ax.com>, Rob says...
> > I just got a battery backup, APC ES 500VA with PowerChute Pers.
> > Edition v. 1.5 software for it. My question is if the software System
> > Monitor say the battery life is 83 minutes at 100% battery capacity,
> > is the minutes really accurate? I know I could unplug it to find out,
> > but with my luck if I did this, then I'd get a real blackout and have
> > no battery power to backup my system.
>
> Unplug the unit from the AC, let it run down, it will then be trained.

Alternatively, use PowerChute's utility menu to do a run-time
test. It will most definitely be trained then.

Keep the peace(es).


--
Dr. Anton T. Squeegee, Director, Dutch Surrealist Plumbing Institute.
(Known to some as Bruce Lane, ARS KC7GR,
kyrrin (a/t) bluefeathertech[d=o=t]calm -- www.bluefeathertech.com
"If Salvador Dali had owned a computer, would it have been equipped
with surreal ports?"

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

Rob wrote:
>I just got a battery backup, APC ES 500VA with PowerChute Pers.
>Edition v. 1.5 software for it. My question is if the software System
>Monitor say the battery life is 83 minutes at 100% battery capacity,
>is the minutes really accurate?

Not at all, unless you have a fully charged, low-power laptop plugged
into it. [What does your load meter read?] My UPSen have about 3-5
minutes of runtime at 50% power, they just aren't made for 83 minutes,
though the marketting folks would love to have you believe it.

Run the calibration, or unplug it and let it calibrate itself. The
chances that you'll have a power failure immediately after running a
test are miniscule.

Archived from groups: alt.sys.pc-clone.dell (More info?)

In article <9usoi1h56rfau0aqaubfieshv1hq17e180@4ax.com>, peter2
@hipson.net says...
> On Sat, 17 Sep 2005 09:36:11 -0400, William P. N. Smith <> wrote:
> >
> >Not at all, unless you have a fully charged, low-power laptop plugged
> >into it. [What does your load meter read?] My UPSen have about 3-5
> >minutes of runtime at 50% power, they just aren't made for 83 minutes,
> >though the marketting folks would love to have you believe it.
> >
>
> 3-5 minutes... How very true! My 3.5 KVA UPS is rated for about 5
> minutes max. And the maker made no claims beyond that, either. Their
> advise: 30 seconds after a power failure signal if there is not a
> power good then initiate shutdown.
>
> BTW, I once had a Black Box UPS. The batteries were dead so I got a
> couple of deep cycle boat batteries. It was only a 400 watt UPS, and
> it would run for hours on those batteries. <g>

I bought a APC 1500 with a second battery, about $300, for one of my
servers, it has about 58 minutes of run time as tested with the remove-
power method.

I have several APC 750 units, they give about 20+ minutes in most cases,
longer when the screen is turned off.

I have many SU2200 units with racks of batteries that are designed for
20+ HOURS of run time with 4~7 servers and network switches - they run
for that long too.

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