might be a score

I picked up a free power supply (Tripp lite Smart1500rm2u $600-$700 new) and a free apc 750 surge protector ($100 new).
The surge protector needs a battery ($15) and should work like new. The Tripp lite I know nothing about. Weighs about 45+ pounds and is the size of vhs player. I don't know if it's dead or not I haven't had time to look yet. The guy I got it from says it can be repaired but I don't know what is broken. A new set of batteries is about $50.
Anyone spent any time with one of these. It's a spendy piece and might be well worth a little work.

Both items are battery backups. I've scrapped a lot of them over the last few years.

Removing the plastic front covers will give you access to the batteries. They can be easily removed and replaced unless they are swollen and cracked.

You can still replace the batteries if they are swollen and cracked. Doesn't mean the units no good. That happens frequently to those small lead acid batteries. I used to work in the alarm business and have handled thousands of those.

I have wanted to get my hand on a UPS to play around with solar or wind energy. It can act as an inverter for converting the 12 VDC to 110 VAC. Haven't found one yet though.

Don't forget to recycle the old batteries ;)

I just broke down 2 Tripp Lites.. Dang near herniated myself lifting them:
Each had (20) 6.10 lb batteries in them!
https://scontent-ord1-1.xx.fbcdn.net...79554878_o.jpg
https://scontent-ord1-1.xx.fbcdn.net...52454008_o.jpg

Quote:

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Originally Posted by sledge

I just broke down 2 Tripp Lites.. Dang near herniated myself lifting them:
Each had (20) 6.10 lb batteries in them!
https://scontent-ord1-1.xx.fbcdn.net...79554878_o.jpg
https://scontent-ord1-1.xx.fbcdn.net...52454008_o.jpg

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The bottom pic looks like an expansion (batteries only) for the main unit where the big transformers and power boards are.

Be careful moving those around.

I read a really good article a few months back that went into detail about surge protectors and their lifespans. They have the ability to absorb x amount of stray voltage. That amount diminishes as during it's every day use, it is constantly absorbing small stray spikes which eventually will wear out. Every small spike, will come off of the grand total that it can eventually absorb. The article finally finished with the thought that every surge protector should be replaced after 5 years of service.

Take this for what it is worth, just a thought from what I have read.

I am pretty sure that it was not written by a manufacturer trying to sell more units, but someone sharing some actual knowledge of how they work.

Parrotheads correct. They have a short lifespan because the batterys are charged up all of the time too.
Its the batterys that wear out, swell and loose their capacity to hold a charge. So 5 years is about as long as they last.
While the brandnew items are not cheap, its nothing compaired to how much it can cost a company if their computers fail because of a power cut.
Even if all it does is let the computers power off correctly its saved a lot of $$.
Its not even viable to replace the batterys on a old unit because the chance its not going to work correctly increases 1000% and its not in warranty anymore.
Besides, its been doing work absorbing the spikes anyway, thanks parrothead for that insight.
So they become a consumeable item.

But, hey they have some heavy Lead batterys, some nice Copper wire, steel frame and the option to be used as a 12V (or 24V or 50V) DC to 110/240 V AC power supply.
That makes them usefull to people who generate their own power, or need a low wattage 110v/240v AC power from 12V DC or 24V DC.
The bigger the wattage the higher the battery voltage is because it needs less 'Inverting' to get it up there.

My 300watt 240V AC ones work from 12V DC. So its prettty much a free, large sized invertor, with no guarantee, that can run off a car battery, so its sorta portable.

I did look mine up.. These backup units were over $1 GRAND when new.. but their date of manufacture was over 10 years ago.. kind of stunk to break them down.. but I concur with everyone here that the 5 year lifespan is a safe bet to pull these.. on the + side I got 244 lbs of lead batteries to recycle. Even at the dismal .25/lb they are bringing right now.. it is still $61 bones.. and that doesn't take into account the steel case and the massive amount of wiring I gleaned from the inside of it as well.
Not bad for less than $1 each I paid for them
:)

I had no idea what to do with the Tripp lite. I really wanted to tear into it and it sounds like that's the best way to go so I'm excited to see what's in it. I don't have much time for re-selling so it works out. I might keep the smaller one to use for myself latter. I go crazy on Halloween so it would be good for that in the future.
Thanks for all the info. There is always something new to learn.

The market for older UPS units isn't very good out here. Personally, I take them apart unless I have a use for them.

APC branded units seem to have the best value retention, though....

best and easiest to pull it apart...unless it is a high end server grade unit...you can sometimes sell those locally (shipping would EAT YOUR LUNCH for someone buying it as many weigh 100+ pounds). They just are not very expensive all in all and the battery replacement is the majority of the cost of a new unit with a warranty.

Here is what you will find in there...one or more lead acid batteries, 1-3 brown boards, small wire and a couple larger stripable stranded wire (ie large enough to warrant the time to strip), heavy duty power cable (generally a higher grade at any year due to recovery) and several strips of brass. Sometimes you have a resetable switch that may have a silver contact or 2 in it.

Rest will be ABS plastic to be recycled.

I break them down when I have extra time after pulling the batteries. There just isn't a ton of value for the time outside the batteries....ie I would pull apart a tower ANY day, before doing one of these. I would make more. I just do them, because I take ALL ewaste items from my clients....I do not cherry pick. This makes me much more popular with clients (because I will take their CRT's, printers of all kinds, even the plastic parts.

Perfect timing on this thread. I have a big APC UPS unit that was used for a high end server I was planning on looking at today and deciding what to do with it. It's been sitting in my breezeway for a year now, been putting it off to the side, deciding what to do with it. After reading this thread, it will most likely be scrap. It's been in outside temps for fall, winter, spring, summer, so the batteries are probably junk at this point.