David Ranch
2017-03-25 15:33:11 UTC
Hello Mihalik,
When you say "replaced the old capacitors", are you talking about the
big electrolytic caps on the board or also all the small caps scattered
around on the boards as well? If I may ask, what were the symptoms of
the UPS failure that after replacing the caps, the UPS worked again?
I have a 1996 SUA1000 that won't charge it's batteries but it fine
otherwise that I'd like to repair if possible. I went through it
multiple times, didn't see any component burn marks, all fuses are OK
(big and small), no bulging capacitors, went through all the caps with
an ESR meter and they all seemed ok, etc.
--David
When you say "replaced the old capacitors", are you talking about the
big electrolytic caps on the board or also all the small caps scattered
around on the boards as well? If I may ask, what were the symptoms of
the UPS failure that after replacing the caps, the UPS worked again?
I have a 1996 SUA1000 that won't charge it's batteries but it fine
otherwise that I'd like to repair if possible. I went through it
multiple times, didn't see any component burn marks, all fuses are OK
(big and small), no bulging capacitors, went through all the caps with
an ESR meter and they all seemed ok, etc.
--David
Actually both arguments have truth. Older units were made with
different preferences and marketing strategy in mind than newer ones.
Now companies do not make devices which last for two decades but that
is for multiple reasons. One is that they realized if they made so,
people wouldn't be forced to buy new devices which is not profitable
in the long run. Other reason is that new devices quickly deprecate
older ones in terms of features, so there is no point in making them
last for a long time. I find this later one less important when
talking about consumer grade UPSes though, since the concept remains
the same through time: you need backup power and pc manage features,
and units had this back in the 90s already just like they do now. So
personally I find little motivation to replace my old SU900I which
will turn 23 years old this year and works just as fine as any newer
would, especially now that I replaced the old capacitors.
You cannot, however, precisely judge newer units against old ones.
I've seen compaq ups-es stored in 2016 from 1998 with their original
batteries left inside and they work well after a battery replacement.
Of course this means that despite their age, they have seen little or
no use at all in the past 18 years, whereas some of the sua750 units
made in 2006 already had 2-3 battery replacements and were utilized
extensively in the past 10 years. I think if you refurbish the units
every 6 years and you operate them in a controlled environment, then
you will likely have a long lasting ups no matter if new or old.
different preferences and marketing strategy in mind than newer ones.
Now companies do not make devices which last for two decades but that
is for multiple reasons. One is that they realized if they made so,
people wouldn't be forced to buy new devices which is not profitable
in the long run. Other reason is that new devices quickly deprecate
older ones in terms of features, so there is no point in making them
last for a long time. I find this later one less important when
talking about consumer grade UPSes though, since the concept remains
the same through time: you need backup power and pc manage features,
and units had this back in the 90s already just like they do now. So
personally I find little motivation to replace my old SU900I which
will turn 23 years old this year and works just as fine as any newer
would, especially now that I replaced the old capacitors.
You cannot, however, precisely judge newer units against old ones.
I've seen compaq ups-es stored in 2016 from 1998 with their original
batteries left inside and they work well after a battery replacement.
Of course this means that despite their age, they have seen little or
no use at all in the past 18 years, whereas some of the sua750 units
made in 2006 already had 2-3 battery replacements and were utilized
extensively in the past 10 years. I think if you refurbish the units
every 6 years and you operate them in a controlled environment, then
you will likely have a long lasting ups no matter if new or old.