Question Using a 13 Year old UPS

[thescreensavers]

I have an old Belkin f6c1000-tw-rk and for 30$ I can get a new batteries for it. It's simulated sin wave from what I can see.

Is there anything that can be "timed out" due to age? Trying to see if I can save 100$ on a new one

 

[VirtualLarry]

Ehh, I wouldn't. Brand-new UPS units aren't that expensive. And caps wear / dry out.

 

[Thump553]

I'm assuming that model provides surge protection as well. I'm no electrical expert by a long stretch, but I remember reading that surge protectors should be replaced every two years or so. The part that provides the surge protection is sacrificed when it gets hit with a surge (much like an old fashioned fuse) but you don't get any indication it is fried-it just will no longer provide surge protection.

That said, I'm still using sure protection strips that I bought back in the days when you could get them free after rebate-but not for anything critical or valuable.

 

[bonehead123]

Nope
notta
no-way Jose'....
not on any of MY 'puter stuff

Even for someone like me that tends to keep some stuff longer than necessary, I would NEVA, EVA, EVA trust a 13yo UPS period !

 

[mindless1]

Look around on the circuit board for burn marks, look for vented capacitors, and for holes in the sides of any MOVs present.

It's probably fine to reuse if none of the above issues are present, unless you just plain wore it out from frequent power outages where you ran it as long as possible so it got hot often, or it's an online UPS so it was always operating the SMPS circuit.

However it appears to use a pair of ~5Ah, 12V batteries to arrive at your $30 replacement cost, which is a somewhat high cost per capacity. That would sway me to look around for deals on a new UPS because the value of the old one is offset by the cost per capacity. Edit: Batteries have gotten more expensive since the last time I shopped for them, but I can still get a pair of 8Ah/12V for close to $32 and the price per Ah goes down as they get larger.