How to Assemble an APC RBC7 Smart UPS Battery

Many people throw out their Uninterrupted Power Supply, or UPS, units because of dead batteries. APC Smart UPS's are high quality units and you can save money if you know how to assemble your own battery pack. This tutorial will show you how to self assemble a replacement APC Smart UPS battery pack, which will save almost half the cost of buying a brand new replacement from APC.

1. Take off any metal jewelry you are wearing before you begin the assembly. Remove the dead battery from the unit.

2. Next, test your new battery with a digital voltmeter. If the new battery registers less than 12.55 volts, then they have been sitting around too long and are probably ruined. Return the battery to the supplier or get a replacement.

3. Carefully remove the two plastic covers on the two ends of the Smart UPS battery. Remove the 100-amp fuse joining the two halves together. Remove the cable as well. It is very important that you save all removed parts. Lightly sand the face of both batteries on the side closer to the terminals.

4. Obtain Plastic Weld or any other equivalent adhesive from a hardware supply store. Use about 25% of the Plastic Weld and prepare the adhesive according to the instructions. Evenly apply the adhesive to one battery. Now you need to prepare the batteries to be glued together.

5. Stand the batteries on a flat surface and join them together with the terminal side facing each other. Let the adhesive dry for about 30 minutes.

6. Install the cable and then the fuse. Make sure you don't install the fuse first because doing so may short out the battery.

7. Now you need to use double-sided tape or packaging tape to attach the two terminal covers. Re-assemble the UPS.

8. Turn on the UPS and pull the plug to make sure it runs on battery power. Allow the batteries to charge overnight.

9. Calibrate the batteries so that the runtime and capacity indicators works. The UPS should be loaded to about 30-50% of the watt capacity.

10. After that, connect 30-50% non-varying load to the UPS and disconnect the power to the UPS using a circuit breaker or power strip. Let it run until it turns off completely. It should take from 45 minutes to an hour.11. Start charging the battery immediately. Let it charge overnight. After doing this, the UPS will be ready to be put in service.

Quick Tip
If you want to avoid gluing the batteries, you can buy pre-glued battery cartridges.You don't have to throw out your Uninterrupted Power Supply, or UPS, units because of dead batteriesYou can save money if you know how to assemble your own battery packAn APC Smart-UPS protects your data by supplying a source of reliable, network-grade powerYou can replace the APC Smart UPS battery pack for about half the cost of buying the original replacement from APC.http://www.ehow.com/members/infogeek06-articles.html