El-Cheapo UPS Battery replacement: Can I use Lithium (LiPo)?

zolly said:
As per title, it seems our second ups takes longer than expected to recharge during stage 4 load shedding, which is why it doesn't last through the whole second block in the day.

However, we still have our old 1000va ups which we can replace the batteries and run both, so was wondering where I can get additional batteries? Preferably in Cape Town so I can just walk in and pick them up.
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Any home security store.

Or Deltec energy solutions.
 
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Just bought (the last) 4 x7ah @ RSEC :thumbsup: :) (2 for me , 2 for sis )

Decent price too. R230 each incl VAT.

/just kidding about last :p

/Hurry now while stocks last.
 
A better solution which I have implemented 16 times now is to use a Lithium-Ion drop in replacement battery

This has a 10 year guarantee and will withstand multiple daily load-shedding

I am finding batteries fitted in October and November failing. The supplier (Regal and Spectrum) refuse to guarantee batteries

A customer in Franschhoek asked for a 40 a/h battery for his gate motor. The 9 a/h fitted was lasting about 75 mins but the 40 a/h was worse, and I must assume it was a dud. The supplier flatly refused to exchange it, even though I found out that the date code showed it was made in May 2016. This was R1200 down the drain. I instead fitted a 26 a/h and this lasts over 3 hours and there is still 85% charge

You can get Blue Nova li-ion from TakeaLot and the BMS allows it to use a conventional charger
 
chrisc said:
A better solution which I have implemented 16 times now is to use a Lithium-Ion drop in replacement battery

This has a 10 year guarantee and will withstand multiple daily load-shedding

I am finding batteries fitted in October and November failing. The supplier (Regal and Spectrum) refuse to guarantee batteries

A customer in Franschhoek asked for a 40 a/h battery for his gate motor. The 9 a/h fitted was lasting about 75 mins but the 40 a/h was worse, and I must assume it was a dud. The supplier flatly refused to exchange it, even though I found out that the date code showed it was made in May 2016. This was R1200 down the drain. I instead fitted a 26 a/h and this lasts over 3 hours and there is still 85% charge

You can get Blue Nova li-ion from TakeaLot and the BMS allows it to use a conventional charger
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I was looking at this. They're a factor of 4 more expensive than the lead ones, but when you figure in the hassle of replacing dud lead batteries, it probably makes sense just to go lithium...
 
newby_investor said:
I was looking at this. They're a factor of 4 more expensive than the lead ones, but when you figure in the hassle of replacing dud lead batteries, it probably makes sense just to go lithium...
Click to expand...

chrisc said:
A better solution which I have implemented 16 times now is to use a Lithium-Ion drop in replacement battery
Click to expand...

The 12V-Ah batteries have almost the same dimensions as the 8AH BlueNova lithium batteries so should fit. Can anyone confirm they will fit in the 1000VA Mecer/RCT UPS?

13V-8Ah BlueNova Lithium Battery - Dimensions: 151 × 65 × 100 mm
12V-7.2Ah Battery - Dimensions: 151mm x 65mm x 93mm
 
Sensorei said:
The 12V-Ah batteries have almost the same dimensions as the 8AH BlueNova lithium batteries so should fit. Can anyone confirm they will fit in the 1000VA Mecer/RCT UPS?

13V-8Ah BlueNova Lithium Battery - Dimensions: 151 × 65 × 100 mm
12V-7.2Ah Battery - Dimensions: 151mm x 65mm x 93mm
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Those extra 7mm can make a difference.

You'd have to open your UPS up and take a look.
 
The li-ion battery is very slightly higher than the lead-acid equivalent. For an alarm or gate motor there is no problem

The UPS that have a battery lying flat will accommodate the bigger battery. An APC unit I had in had the battery in the front, so was unsuitable for a change
 
I can confirm that the Blue Nova 13V-8Ah 104Wh lithium batteries can be used as a replacement for any UPS 12V7AH batteries. They are the same size. ;) The extra few mm is the terminals.

I've ordered 2 from Takealot. R999 each. 3000 cycles at 80% DOD. Definitely worth it.
 
Sensorei said:
I can confirm that the Blue Nova 13V-8Ah 104Wh lithium batteries can be used as a replacement for any UPS 12V7AH batteries. They are the same size. ;) The extra few mm is the terminals.

I've ordered 2 from Takealot. R999 each. 3000 cycles at 80% DOD. Definitely worth it.
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Be interested to see what sort of uptime you get from these.

Or are you only doing it from the longevity point of view?
 
Sensorei said:
I can confirm that the Blue Nova 13V-8Ah 104Wh lithium batteries can be used as a replacement for any UPS 12V7AH batteries. They are the same size. ;) The extra few mm is the terminals.

I've ordered 2 from Takealot. R999 each. 3000 cycles at 80% DOD. Definitely worth it.
Click to expand...

Will those charge properly in a normal UPS ?

Please report back on your experience with these batteries.
 
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newby_investor said:
Be interested to see what sort of uptime you get from these.

Or are you only doing it from the longevity point of view?
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3000 vs 260 cycles firstly, and then the MUCH better efficiency of the lithium batteries. Lead acid efficiency is only 80% @ 4 hour discharge rate vs. 99% @ 4 hours for the lithium battieries. So that already gives more than 20% more up time. Plus the Blue Nova's are 104W vs 7.2x12 = 86.4W for the SLA battery. 20% more.

I got exactly 2.5 hours up time when my UPS was brand new. 10 months later and just over half an hour...
I reckon I'll get at least 3 hours 20m with the blue novas, so with our 2.5 hour loadshedding cycles that gives under 80% discharge which is ideal for 3000 cycles life.
 
Sensorei said:
3000 vs 260 cycles firstly, and then the MUCH better efficiency of the lithium batteries. Lead acid efficiency is only 80% @ 4 hour discharge rate vs. 99% @ 4 hours for the lithium battieries. So that already gives more than 20% more up time. Plus the Blue Nova's are 104W vs 7.2x12 = 86.4W for the SLA battery. 20% more.

I got exactly 2.5 hours up time when my UPS was brand new. 10 months later and just over half an hour...
I reckon I'll get at least 3 hours 20m with the blue novas, so with our 2.5 hour loadshedding cycles that gives under 80% discharge which is ideal for 3000 cycles life.
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Great! What exactly are you powering on your UPS? If this works I might order a couple and 'upgrade' mine myself. I've got a 2kVa RCT one though.

Sensorei said:
Yes. I phoned Blue Nova to check. I will post feedback when I have tested them.
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Pretty much this. The built-in BMS on the blue-nova ones make the lithium batteries look like lead-acid ones functionally, so the UPS shouldn't even know that the batteries are different.
 
newby_investor said:
Great! What exactly are you powering on your UPS? If this works I might order a couple and 'upgrade' mine myself. I've got a 2kVa RCT one though.
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My QNAP TS-251 NAS server, Netgear Nighthawk AC1900 router, ONT box, Philips Hue smart lighting bridge.

The 2kVa RCT's 12V/9 Ah x 2 are the same size as the 12V/7 Ah x 2 in my RCT 1kVa, so unfortunately you'd have to use the 8Ah lithiums as their isn't a higher capacity one that fits.
 
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Sensorei said:
I can confirm that the Blue Nova 13V-8Ah 104Wh lithium batteries can be used as a replacement for any UPS 12V7AH batteries. They are the same size. ;) The extra few mm is the terminals.

I've ordered 2 from Takealot. R999 each. 3000 cycles at 80% DOD. Definitely worth it.
Click to expand...

In this thread people are saying that using the lithium batteries in a ups is a bad idea.

El-Cheapo UPS Battery replacement: Can I use Lithium (LiPo)?

I've got one of these: https://www.takealot.com/rct-850va-line-interactive-ups/PLID32714233 The battery doesn't last more than 30min after 1yr of running ONT + WiFi Router (that's the only load it has). To replace that, I can buy another SLA battery, but couldn't I just drop in one of these...
mybroadband.co.za mybroadband.co.za

Or am I misreading it?
 
Pegasus said:
In this thread people are saying that using the lithium batteries in a ups is a bad idea.

El-Cheapo UPS Battery replacement: Can I use Lithium (LiPo)?

I've got one of these: https://www.takealot.com/rct-850va-line-interactive-ups/PLID32714233 The battery doesn't last more than 30min after 1yr of running ONT + WiFi Router (that's the only load it has). To replace that, I can buy another SLA battery, but couldn't I just drop in one of these...
mybroadband.co.za mybroadband.co.za

Or am I misreading it?
Click to expand...

EDIT: I tested the Bluenova's in my UPS and the UPS would not switch on and charge the batteries once they were run down, until I disconnected and reconnected the batteries. incompatible bms. Waste of time.
 
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Sensorei said:
Don't worry about it. You missed the info about these LiFePO4 batteries having a built in battery management system to handle the the charger in the UPS. These are designed specifically as replacements for SLA batteries.
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Ah. I also have 3 of the RCT UPS’s and I’m also having to replace the batteries a couple of times a year.
Is this the one to get?

Takealot.com: Online Shopping | SA's leading online store

South Africa's leading online store. Fast, reliable delivery to your door. Many ways to pay. Shop anything you can imagine: TVs, laptops, cellphones, kitchen appliances, toys, books, beauty & more. Shop the mobile app anytime, anywhere.
www.takealot.com www.takealot.com
 
Pegasus said:
Ah. I also have 3 of the RCT UPS’s and I’m also having to replace the batteries a couple of times a year.
Is this the one to get?

Takealot.com: Online Shopping | SA's leading online store

South Africa's leading online store. Fast, reliable delivery to your door. Many ways to pay. Shop anything you can imagine: TVs, laptops, cellphones, kitchen appliances, toys, books, beauty & more. Shop the mobile app anytime, anywhere.
www.takealot.com www.takealot.com
Click to expand...

No, Blue Nova claim that they work, but after testing them the answer is NO.
 
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