I picked up this old 385VA UPS from the Habitat ReStore for $1.50 because it had no price tag and the guy at the register thought it was just a power strip. The battery in it was causing a warning light and when I removed it, it read 0.35 volts on my multimeter. I thought for sure it was a goner.
The battery in it is a strange one with recessed terminals and not available locally. I can get one on eBay but the shipping costs almost as much as the battery and I'm not wanting to pour a ton of money into this until I find the software and verify this UPS actually will work properly.
I was able to pop the top off the battery and remove the rubber caps on the cells and every single one was bone dry. I got some battery acid from O'Reilly and used one of my old insulin syringes to fill the cells.
Just filling the cells brought the reading up to 9.7 volts across the terminals, and from there I was able to get the UPS to recognize the battery and begin charging it.
Fun project and learning experience.
The battery in it is a strange one with recessed terminals and not available locally. I can get one on eBay but the shipping costs almost as much as the battery and I'm not wanting to pour a ton of money into this until I find the software and verify this UPS actually will work properly.
I was able to pop the top off the battery and remove the rubber caps on the cells and every single one was bone dry. I got some battery acid from O'Reilly and used one of my old insulin syringes to fill the cells.
Just filling the cells brought the reading up to 9.7 volts across the terminals, and from there I was able to get the UPS to recognize the battery and begin charging it.
Fun project and learning experience.
