What is the correct way to check the efficiency of an UPS?

Question

I have a UPS made by Israeli company - Advice. I read somewhere that every few months, UPS should be checked for operability by disconnecting it from the mains, then plugging mid and high powered devices to it and testing, but for how long exactly is what I don't know.

I use a desklamp of 25 Watts and an 85 Watts fan, each running for 30 seconds, but the question is, should I test for more than 30 seconds for more precise results?

Additionally, I was given a 1 year of warranty on accumulator, but since it is only after 2 years that UPS accumulators start to malfunction, I was wondering if I should ask company to change accumulator before warranty expires to get as much from 1 year warranty as possible?

UPDATE: Here is a screenshot of options in UPS management software:

After power failure, Windows has 300 seconds until hibernated, but why would I need shutdown delay for UPS after laptop entered hibernation state? Why for UPS to work 2 more minutes?

Answer 1

UPS Battery life expectancy

1. UPS battery (accumulator) is a consumable. The company you bought the UPS from is no more likely to replace a still good battery than a printer vendor to replace a half-empty toner or ink cartridge. You are expected to go through a couple of sets of batteries through the life of your UPS (electronics should last much longer than the batteries).

2. Excessive heat reduces life of the accumulator significantly. E.g. if your UPS is in a closed busy rack, you'll need to replace accumulators much more frequently than if it is in a well-ventilated open area.

3. You don't need to buy replacement batteries from the same vendor you bought your UPS from. They are in a standard size, mostly. Ask your local battery store, they might have such batteries, and cheaper than from the UPS vendor.

Battery testing

Connecting artificial loads in no way simulates real-life conditions. Light bulb is completely passive, and AC motor (in a fan) has very high reactive load, and high start-up currents. They are very different from a typical PC power supply load, even if a power rating (wattage) is similar.

Test with your real load. E.g. save everything on your computer, and yank the power plug from the wall outlet. The amount of time your computer should stay on depends on its power and UPS max power rating. Never connect higher load than your UPS is rated for.

PC power consumption varies wildly. E.g. idle computer consumes very little, playing modern computer game places high load on both your CPU and GPU, and power consumption can raise several times. Test under load if this is important for you.

UPS battery deteriorates with time. E.g. if it was able to hold 10 minutes when new, and after two years only holds for 3 minutes, it is normal, but means you need to replace it soon. UPS will only alert you when the battery is dead or nearly dead.

Answer 2

According to your your equipment specifications you have a USB interface able to send envents to your computer showing informations about:

Detect battery low, schedule UPS on/off, AC input/output power status display

History record of power failure events

Back up battery status, power status display by software

Probabilly it's software also have alarms about problem from UPS or even tests that you can do assisted by the software to test your equipment.

Answer 3

Rather than testing them with high-power devices (which will reflect an unlikely situation), I consider you should test them with real loads, i.e. the equipment you are actually using on the UPS.

As for the accumulator, it has a lower warranty because it's considered a consumable, and its life will depend on the operation conditions (e.g. running the UPS in a harsh environment, where power fails often or it's hot and wet, might reduce its life). But the company might not want to replace the accumulator if it doesn't show signs of failure other than those caused by normal use.