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

ld13 said:
Edit:
I forgot about these Lalela laptop ups', might work and actually reach 2 hours:

Mini UPS

Buy Mini UPS online at the Best Prices! Door to Door and Overnight Delivery. Voted the best online store in SA. View Here
www.geewiz.co.za www.geewiz.co.za
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This looks more like a power bank. Does it do passthrough charging and can one leave it plugged in without damaging it?
 
Pineapple Smurf said:
agree 100%
i have never seen a lead acid explode or anything
worse case scenario it swells up the casing and stops working
weird egg smell and thats it

lithium on the other hand, i am scared Yes

Image result for battery explosion gif
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Ive had a lead acid explode once. Tho Ive worked with them batteries for almost 30 years now.

The byproduct of the charging process is hydrogen, if you overcharge a battery then you get more of it. introduce a spark somehow and you go boom.
In my case we had about 10 686 batteries on charge on a heavy industrial charger and my staff member did not turn off the charger before disconnecting one of the batteries so there was a spark.

Luckily only the one battery exploded. He was covered in electrolyte but we hosed him down and he was fine. Except he lost his socks and his jocks. His uniform shirt and pants where polyester and his safety boots where fine, but his cotton jocks and socks did not make it.
 
Please recommend a 12V lithium battery for use in a UPS? (It's a small one, I think 600kva.)

I bought a Uniross 7AH from takealot, it worked in that it provided almost an hour of up-time. But then later I thought the UPS was cooked because it had gone dead and there was that small of burn in the air, and it was very hot to touch. Thankfully it had shut itself off and came back to life later but now I'm sceptical these "drop-in replacements" can work with a UPS.

I've perused the thread and most of it doesn't actually cover the topic. I saw securi-prod recommended, anyone else have that working in a UPS?
 
Zertop said:
I purchased these yesterday, however it appears that my old RCT 650VA UPS doesn't pick up the DC load, and won't even turn on with them installed. Not sure if there's anything I can do to fix it?
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Battery is probably fully discharged. Ad 12v form an external source and it should start charging the battery. Note that these batteries are rated for a max discharge current of 10A so you won't be able to pull more that 120w from them.
 
Park@82 said:
Battery is probably fully discharged. Ad 12v form an external source and it should start charging the battery. Note that these batteries are rated for a max discharge current of 10A so you won't be able to pull more that 120w from them.
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Thanks! Yeah that did the trick - appreciate it. The issue now is the low cut off. These batteries are rated to drop as low as 9.2V, however the UPS turns off long before then (at around 11.5V). Doesn't look like there's any way to change that, so may be the end of the road for this experiment.
 
Zertop said:
Thanks! Yeah that did the trick - appreciate it. The issue now is the low cut off. These batteries are rated to drop as low as 9.2V, however the UPS turns off long before then (at around 11.5V). Doesn't look like there's any way to change that, so may be the end of the road for this experiment.
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11.5V is low enough, that is 95% of the capacity used already.
1670680873392.png
 
I have a Mecer 1kva UPS and when I tried to replace the original batteries with 2 x Securi-Prod Lithium (LiFePO4) 12.8V 7Ah the unit wouldn't come on, I tried with 2 gel batteries and it came on fine, will it not work with Lithiums?
 
Tech_ said:
I have a Mecer 1kva UPS and when I tried to replace the original batteries with 2 x Securi-Prod Lithium (LiFePO4) 12.8V 7Ah the unit wouldn't come on, I tried with 2 gel batteries and it came on fine, will it not work with Lithiums?
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Those ain't made for UPS use. The UPS's low voltage cutoff is too high, so while the battery might be idling at 11/12V and be happy, the UPS sees a "low" voltage and wont turn on. You would need to lower the cutoff voltage, or charge the batteries up etc (but will have the same issue when they drop in voltage again).
 
Budza said:
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:

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
104Wh @ R999

OR

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
140Wh @R1200

Any risks to either the UPS or the battery? UPS voltage when charging SLA is around 13.7V, which I think the LiPo can handle...
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I use the lithium batteries that I sell on loadhsedbuddy in that exact UPS, no issues.
 
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wingnut771 said:
How come all the LFP's in the mecer thread haven't exploded yet?
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No idea.

Maybe the owners of those that did explode aren't around anymore? Maybe they are embarrassed and don't wanna hear "I told you so"?

Maybe the chargers they used are actually compatible with lithium batteries or set up not to float?

And I didn't say they will definitely explode, I said they can explode. You will at the very least damage the battery and reduce it's lifespan significantly.

Either way it's just a terrible idea to replace a lead-acid UPS battery with lithium.
 
tetrasect said:
No idea.

Maybe the owners of those that did explode aren't around anymore? Maybe they are embarrassed and don't wanna hear "I told you so"?

Maybe the chargers they used are actually compatible with lithium batteries or set up not to float?

And I didn't say they will definitely explode, I said they can explode. You will at the very least damage the battery and reduce it's lifespan significantly.

Either way it's just a terrible idea to replace a lead-acid UPS battery with lithium.
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Lead acid drop in replacement? I see that advertised all the time.
 
crysis said:
Lead acid drop in replacement? I see that advertised all the time.
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If they have a built-in BMS (battery management system) like this https://batterydistributors.co.za/product/hubble-s-100/ then it's fine.
It will prevent the cells from receiving a float charge just like your smartphone stops your battery charging when it's full.

So yeah if it specifically says lead-acid drop in then they should have a BMS onboard and you're good to go.

I'm talking specifically about lithium batteries that do not have their own BMS onboard.
 
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So I can use the hubble s100 with a RCT 1500va UPS without an issue? (the lead acid battery of which has died due to loadshedding over time)
 
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