New batteries for UPS - Factory or secondary manufacture
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I need to replace some batteries for my APC 3000XL UPS.
There's a $100 price difference between the APC branded ones and some from BTI (anyone familiar with BTI batteries?).
Thoughts which way would you go? share a why if you can.
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I'd go for the cheaper one personally. I know a bunch of vendors will praise their product as the one the recommend because its the "best", but in many, if not all cases, its really just a jacked up price to earn them more money. Same product, same quality.
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@Dashrender said:
I need to replace some batteries for my APC 3000XL UPS.
There's a $100 price difference between the APC branded ones and some from BTI (anyone familiar with BTI batteries?).
Thoughts which way would you go? share a why if you can.
APC does not make their own batteries. These are standard lead-acid batteries. I always buy 3rd party batteries in this situation.
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i always go to batteries plus and get the batteries. They are 3rd party and haven't had any issues with them.
edit: should say that while yes they are more expensive than let's say amazon. It's the fact that i can drive to the store get them and install them in 1 day. -
@david.wiese said:
i always go to batteries plus and get the batteries. They are 3rd party and haven't had any issues with them.
edit: should say that while yes they are more expensive than let's say amazon. It's the fact that i can drive to the store get them and install them in 1 day.That is generally where I buy them also.
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Batteries are a great place to go for third party products.
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So, since everyone pretty much agrees on 3rd party batteries, when is it better to replace the whole unit versus buying new batteries?
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@technobabble depends on the age, but most of the time its cost effective to just replace the batteries and not the whole unit.
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I buy batteries here:
http://www.refurbups.com/After the OEM batteries die in the new UPS, they get batteries from RefurbUPS. I've never had a problem yet with a remanufactured batter.
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@technobabble said:
So, since everyone pretty much agrees on 3rd party batteries, when is it better to replace the whole unit versus buying new batteries?
Great question. My current UPSs are 6+ years old... when should I replace them?
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Do the replacement batteries offer return service? APC includes a return label with their replacement batteries. Otherwise, you're paying to dispose of them.
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Physical UPSs are good for decades if not abused. Don't replace unless these is something wrong with them.
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@alexntg said:
Do the replacement batteries offer return service? APC includes a return label with their replacement batteries. Otherwise, you're paying to dispose of them.
Recyling costs generally do not match the cost difference. Also, places like Batteries Plus will accept the bad battery when you buy a new one for no charge. Obviously this requires going to the facility, so that has to be considered.
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I have done both, but to be honest, I'm a bit lazy. While BTI is cheaper, the don't offer free return shipping for recycling like APC does. You can pay for the shipping to where BTI will recycle them, but that will reduce the savings or you can run them to a recycler. For me, I'll just get the APC and recycle from there.
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I've dropped dozens of batteries off at Batteries plus, most of the time without buying anything and never paid a dime for disposal. I plan to do that again.
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LOL...I have 4 UPSs on my desk that need batteries, now I have more choices of where to get the batteries!
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I've got several here too. Good timing on the thread.
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@scottalanmiller said:
Physical UPSs are good for decades if not abused. Don't replace unless these is something wrong with them.
I have always replaced the unit not the batteries, especially if they are the old white APCs. Then again, I can hear the voice of the client, "it's only $20 more to get a new one"
So I just did a test online for the APC Back-UPS ES 550:
replacement: http://staples.com: $71.99, http://bestbuy.com $74.99 (Back-Ups 600)
battery: http://batteriesplus.com $29.99-34.99, refurbups.com $21.99 + 10.43 for UPS Ground shipping = $32.42
I'm sold on the idea of the battery replacement especially if I can tell the client that the units are still good.
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Better for the environment too.
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Hey the emoji are back 
