APC Back-UPS 425 (BE425M) Battery Replacement (Part 1 of 2)
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 13 ต.ค. 2024
- Well this was an interesting project! It started with the plan to just replace the SLA AGM (Lead-Acid) batteries that were in there BE425M. But, I found out that a seller misrepresented their product (or accidentally shipped the wrong one, but didn't want to admit it), and I had to make a few modifications to make everything work safely. Hopefully makes for an interesting video. Hopefully.
This also might work for other similar APC backup batteries: BE600M1, BE850M2 and BE850G2, along with other APC Back-UPS with similar enclosure profiles.
APC Back-UPS 425 (BE425M) User Manual: www.apc.com/us...
Looking for Part 2? Here it is: • APC Back-UPS 425 (BE42...
I'd like to comment that once the 4 screws were removed, I had to use a thin flat-head screwdriver (or a handy butter knife) to pry the cover off by twisting it in the seam between the back cover and the main case. Also, it is ingrained in me (USAF electronics repair procedure) to always remove rings prior to working on any electronics. And, should the type of solder be mentioned? Solder made specifically for electronics work must be used - the kind with "built-in (brown semi-liquid) "flux". There are other kinds of solder that must not be used. As for the replacement battery, you can't go wrong if you buy another Leoch DJW12-4 battery.
I don't know how I missed your comment! I didn't experience an issue getting the enclosure open after removing the screws, but it's possible the design changed at some point. As far as rings (jewelry), it's a very good point. I was trained to remove jewelry as well. After many years I've found It comes down to personal comfort level. In high-voltage situations, I remove my ring. I'll update the description to describe the solider I was using. The Leoch was a solid battery; I'll add that too! Thanks for watching!
@@TheCuriousEngineerChannel Thanks for the reply! After having replaced my battery, next time I will just go to Lowe’s or Home Depot and pick one up, as they are always in stock, advertised as batteries for “home security systems”. I don’t think you can buy a “bad” battery if you tried.
It's a 4.5
Buddy of mine was working on 8D batteries in series making 24 volts. His ring connected the ground lug to the positive lug through the wrench he was holding. The gold ring stuck and melted around his finger. Now he has a thick scar as a wedding band.
pry the cover off with a screwdriver? what? you can do it easily with your bare hands. no soldering for this should be necessary at all, the exact replacement battery is extremely easy to find
I was worried I couldn't replace the battery, I am glad we can.
Your video was a great help to me! For some reason, after connecting the battery terminals, I tried to install the new battery upside down, until I saw how you were doing it. I was surprised at how tiny the four case screws were. After trying a few regular screwdrivers, I actually had to use one of my jeweler’s screwdrivers, with it’s small head and 4 1/2 “ length. It’s great that you spoke about the new battery’s terminals. I got caught once by purchasing a new battery with terminals that did not fit. So, you cannot order a new battery just going by battery dimensions. This time, I made it easy on myself by buying a new battery advertised specifically for the Back-UPS 425. This way, you cannot go wrong. I use this backup for the MANY instantaneous electrical interruptions that we get due to lightning strikes here in Florida. If an outage last for more than a few seconds, I just shut all my equipment down.
If I hadn’t already bought a new battery, the video would probably have convinced me to just buy a new ups! 😮
Thanks? 🙃
Really helpful was able to switch mine out the batteries are only about $30 on Amazon nowadays. Will be able to use the APC for another 3 years instead of throwing it out
I soldered new wiring and leads to a battery case externally with a 120ah sla, so far works i get a whole days worth of back up to my pi setup
Nice! Just remember that it will take about 64+ hours to fully recharge that using the APCs internal charger, unless you are using something else to charge it. Thanks for watching!
@@TheCuriousEngineerChannel I wired in a 4 pin adapter rated for 30amps and a switch to a rapid charger, only down side to doing this with ups systems, is the cheaper systems tend to have an inferior sine wave.
They are using high frequency inverter and so they could have spend 2$ more to make it pure sine wave inverter they already had 90% of the components ready . Just slightly increased voltage of the booster module and an spwm genrator and H bridge mosfet arrangement could have given them the opportunity of full pure sine output on battery power.
Nice set of tips that will make my effort much easier as I start my replacement job this week. TKS for your effort.
Correct replacement battery is PowerSonic PS-1250 F2 (Has F2 terminals), or equivalent with F2 terminals. Difference between AH ratings is based on discharge rate. High quality batteries have spec sheets that include additional discharge rates. No name batteries always state the highest AH they are capable of (if they actually can do it).
Part number: PowerSonic PS-1250-F2. They have F1 version under the same 1250 model.
I bought this one about 15 months ago, there was a few hours when the power was cut to the building and when it came back on, the WFI aps I had connected on this unit all blew up.
I had another surge protecting device on it. Sorely disappointed because now I have $1600 of equipment to buy back...
That's a real bummer! Might not be of much help now, but the APC has a lifetime connected equipment warranty of like $75,000? However, it seems like it might have been your electrical service connection that "caused" the surge for whatever reason. You can contact them for a claim! We've done it before with our utility provider.
@@TheCuriousEngineerChannelthanks, i will try. They had a line on their website: it is up to the customer to protect their equipment 😢
Thanks for the video. I have a couple of these that need new batteries. If you wanted to isolate the new battery from heat, could you just solder the F2/F1 adapters to the cable ends? Then tweak the adapters to fit the terminals snugly, heat-shrink, and connect?
sure, but what happens when you replace it again with a battery with the correct terminals?
Ugh this newer APC unit is way harder to swap batteries in than all my older UPS units. All you had to do was pop a cover off, disconnect the terminals and slide the old battery out and the new one in in reverse. 2 minutes and no tools needed. Those also had 12 volt 7.2 aH batteries that had great runtime.
Agreed. It is very annoying.
Thanks for sharing! I just noticed my back up 425 started blinking red/green on and off continuously without stopping unless I press the starter button for a few seconds and it shuts down.
Does this mean the battery needs to be changed ?
Thank you.
It appears so, according to the APC Back-UPS 425/450 manual.
@@TheCuriousEngineerChannel Thank you.
Most replacement batteries I saw have the smaller connector like yours. Rather than the F1->F2 male I just crimped down the original female connector so that it doesn’t wiggle. Should that be good enough?
Eh, that's OK. In the second video I made where I metered and tested the whole setup, I showed the current running through those connectors. It's pretty high. So, thats why I chose the route I did. Thanks for watching!
hoping I can get a quick response. I have a bunch of these in need of replacements but I can't use any screw drivers. I have no clue what screw driver I can use that is long and thin enough to go in. Any idea what I can use?
Was it the 'ML5-12 - 12 Volt 5 AH SLA Battery' battery you installed? It's the only alleged replacement for this unit with a 2-pack on Amazon, but it does specify the narrower F1 terminals. I ask because in addition to the wrong terminals, it appears to be about 1/4" taller than the one specific for this unit.
No, I didn't use those batteries. At least they specified that they have the narrower F1 terminals! Good to know that it is a little taller. Did it still fit together well?
Is there enough room to upsize the battery? The original DJW12-4.5 is 4.04" high, its sister 5ah battery is 4.25 high.
Also curious about this. Were you able to upgrade?
@@FoVision I did upgrade, no problem.
Good and informative video! Well done.
I will probably order a replacement battery for my unit, thanks to you, but I'm a bit afraid about electrical shock.
My unit shuts itself down only a few seconds after I unplugged it (I get the "Ultra Low Battery - Shutting Down" beeps and blinking light), so I guess it means my battery is really dead (bought in March 2018)...
Is there anything I should know in order to avoid electrical shocks? Obviously, I need to remove the yellow tab like you did...
Only you can determine your comfort level with high-voltage electronics. That said, once the battery backup has been unplugged from the mains AC, and the battery disconnect (the orange tab) has been removed, there is no high-voltage present inside the unit. It is just the 12 Vdc battery. If you watch part 2 of the video (which I will link in description) I go into further detail on the design of the backup which might be helpful if you've not seen it yet. Take it one step at a time. Thanks for watching. Let us know how it goes!
@@TheCuriousEngineerChannel Funnily enough, I ordered the part earlier today because APC wouldn't send me to an authorized technician
@@TheCuriousEngineerChannel Thanks! I'm eager to replace the battery. I've been waiting for the battery to update my NAS' firmware. 😅
wearing gloves like he is doing later in the video can be something to do for peace of mind. the rubber/latex should prevent electrical transference
@@p.h.bridegroom4142 I did the job by the way. Went very well.
Can you please post the link to the batteries you bought from Amazon. Thanks.
Reminder you can simply get a model of battery backup that doesn't require an obnoxious yellow latch that feels like you're breaking it. They make ones that simply is a sliding piece of plastic like the back of a remote. It's bizarre that some of these models are inexplicably way more tedious than others.
I can't get bthe philips head into the screw, it's like they filled the hole with clear acrylic, they're impossible to remove
I've been looking for a replacement battery. It's a fairly common battery. But everything that I've seen has F1 connectors. I'm betting that the F2 connector battery is a specific run for APC.
can you replace these batteries while the unit is live?
No.
Hey thanks for this video, great info
Wonder how much more efficient this would be with lithium 26650 cells.
For me, I replaced the new female connectors to be matched with the new battery. No soldering and easy for next time.
i have the 350VA 12v deep cycle battery 75A that get run for 9 hours and more
Why didn't it start beeping when you put it on battery?
It didn't beep in the video since I configured it to only beep at 10% or less SOC. Is that what you were asking about?
I bought one of these in hopes that I don't ruin my ps5 and pc. Bought 2 separate ones, and both beeped after 14 days. I read up on it and it said it does self test every 14 days? It also said the batteries should be replaced every 2-4 weeks? I dont understand.... so I bought this thing just to replace the battery every month??
It does perform a self-test every two weeks. The battery usually lasts about 3-5 years depending on usage...perhaps it's a misprint - they meant 2-4 years? Weird. Thanks for watching!
@@TheCuriousEngineerChannel thank you, and that's what i thought at first cause then what's the point haha. But thank you for clearing it up 🙌
Wowzers
does it matter if battery is an AGM or not?
I would recommend sticking with an AGM. I am pretty sure that is what it shipped with, and is what the charge controller is expecting. If you use just a standard SLA, it might over- discharge the battery and will damage it.
Can these last more than 1 hour when u don’t have power in your house
It depends on what you are powering.
Could you contact the battery vendor through Amazon or say, "Hey, WTF?
Hi, i have this thing and like once a month it beeps and it drives me crazy!!! I keep reading the manual, i can’t figure it out, can anyone help me? Thanks!
It seems to me these things never live up to their advertised backup time, even the bigger ones from APC.
Can you fit a larger battery inside/upgrade?
The replacement I installed was a 5Ah battery replacing the the 4.5Ah cell it shipped with. So a slight upgrade is possible. Larger batteries likely won't fit into the plastic guides in the enclosure, and would decrease clearance to high-voltage stuff. Hope that helps. Thanks for watching.
Can u replace with lithium?
Not as a direct replacement.
Great Video, Thanks!
Also could have striped the negative and positive and soldered them directly to the battery doing away with the connectors completely. Could easily replace the battery with a soldering iron.
I preferred a method where I could sink heat away from the battery during soldering. It's probably still possible to do with just the battery tab. I also prefer mechanical securement over a solder joint. Again, more a preference thing. Thanks for watching!
Totally agree with you on both points. On a larger battery I would be leary of soldering bare wire right to the tabs because with high load it could cause the solder to melt. This small battery would die before that would happen. Fine Needle nose pliers or medical forceps used for heat sink. Thank you for the great video! Very informative. I have this same unit hooked up to my starlink router. It takes half an hour before the alarm goes off during a power outage.
I have the exact one , although it's fully charged it doesn't stay on long I have to keep turning on and off , then I turn it on and it works then stop again.
Is it possible that it is overloaded? It will beep and turn off it is.
@@TheCuriousEngineerChannel it was only for my internet and occasional phone charger because I thought it would have lasted longer, I was so disappointed. Would like a back for 24 hours at least
@@Mrscarricom It seems like you might be trying to use this as a power bank? It won't work well for that purpose.
Recently I bought an APC Back - UPS 450 on Facebook market place, I had no way to check if it was working, when I got home I turned it on, it click the green light turned red and start beeping, the power switch button is locked, and I have to keep turning it on and off until I hear another click and the light turns green again and stops beeping... Can anyone tell me what this could be, whether it's the battery or another problem? I am afraid to plug my computer and my monitor on it.
It likely has a damaged or no battery in it, which will result in the UPS making that beeping noise, and refuse to allow the battery backup function to work. I'll put a link to the UPS-450 user manual in the description. Check that out for details of the light/beeping behavior you are experiencing and what it means. Hope that helps!
Thanks for the replay, the light stay green but, if I lost the power start beeping and the red light come on and after unplug and plug in multiple times the beeping stop and the light turn green again and stop beeping like it is normal, I am afraid to connect my computer there. I'm think you are alright it is time to buy new battery. thanks one more time.
Ok so I know I will probably sound ignorant as heck but I don't understand all that mumbo jumbo I wish this was more user friendly for people who doesn't understand electric lingo... like I just looked at some of the comments here and read something like someone might be using this as a power bank, I don't know exactly what that means, all I want is my wifi and my nanny cam to stay on in case whomever is entering my apartment is shutting electricity before entering, I just need to have those two on for a few minutes but i don't know if I'm supposed to have it connected to the wall, on and those items plugged in 24 - 7 or if I have to charge the battery fully and then shut it off once it's fully charged and when I leave the apartment plug it in and turn it on, I wish instructions were simpler, then I don't understand two of the thingys to plug something in don't work when the ups is on but it works when it's plugged in and on, it's so confusing... I'm probably wasting my money if I don't know how to set it up to work if someone shuts the power off before they enter my apartment while I'm not in...
Hi Yadira! The video you were watching is for a UPS, or an Uninterruptible Power Supply. You plug things into it that you want to run for a period of time after a situation where mains electrical power is disconnected (storm, etc...). Once the UPS is plugged in, it is generally "set it and forget it" for about 3-5 years until the battery needs changing. This is specifically what this video is addressing. There is no need to unplug it or anything like that. These smaller units are designed run for about 30-45 minutes with things you are describing that you would plug in. Battery banks generally refer to battery packs that are used for charging phones, tablets, etc. A UPS generally does not make for a good battery bank, with some exceptions. Hope that helps!
We have these & our computers still turn off when the power goes out. From day one. 👎What are we doing wrong?
Are they overloaded?
A lo que lo conecto y lo prendo comienza a pitar y no para podría ser amigo
It likely has a damaged or missing battery in it, which will result in the UPS making that beeping noise. I'll put a link to the UPS-450 user manual in the description. Check that out for details of the light/beeping behavior you are experiencing and what it means. Hope that helps!