computer components & hardware - Looking for a new flat UPS battery with a real-time on screen display, easy replaceable battery, etc.

Ant wrote:
Hello.

I have a decade old APC Back-UPS ES-750(BE750G) with its old replaced
dead battery #2. Since it's a very old model, I want to see if there's a
better one out there. I don't like its lack of detailed status on its
physical device like my vertical APC Back-UPS XS 1500 (model: BX1500G).
I want to avoid connecting to a computer to check for details, change
settings, etc.

Also, I hated how replacing its batteries were difficult to disconnect
and reconnect due to the short red and black cables. I do like my tall
APC tower UPS' battery
(https://www.apc.com/shop/us/en/produ...24/P-APCRBC124)
that can be removed and installed without any cables. However, I don't
want the tower one though since the area I want to put it has no height
room. I would also like to have it hold up to 600 watts under heavy
loads and last many minutes.

I can't seem to find a good one. CyberPower has a real-time LCD display,
but its battery seems to be red and black cables like APC's flat UPS.
Also, not enough battery power to hold for a long time. :(

Thank you for reading and hopefully answering soon. :)

If you want runtime, once you get to an expensive-enough unit,
there's a connector on the back to connect more money (sorry,
a bigger battery pack). Around $1000 for example, would be
~$600 main unit, plus a weird-shaped additional battery for it.

This is an example of a Lithium based one. Runtime 7 minutes at 1350W.
17 minutes at 675W. It costs around $1000 for 1kWh of Lithium in the
form of a "power pack" and this item has plenty of profit for the
manufacturer. It claims "a longer life" for the battery, yet with
no concrete numbers to explain what they think the lifetimes are.
The lithium is likely to be no better than a laptop one (if they
charge it to 100% full all the time, that's hard on it, just as
floating a lead acid at the wrong voltage, is hard on them).

https://www.newegg.com/vertiv-psi5-1...82E16842988004

The adverts for these things now, are just terrible, and to understand
what you're getting, maybe not even the manufacturer web page admits
to it.

https://www.vertiv.com/en-ca/product...tower/#/models

General - Pure sinewave output on battery

Listings UN38.3, UL 1778, c-UL-us Listed, NOM, FCC Part 15, Class B

Topology Line-interactive (automatic voltage regulation)

(Battery 240Wh Lithium Iron Phosphate, not Cobalt) Replacement $550 (maybe)

With two idling computers, you could get maybe 45 minutes.

https://www.vertiv.com/en-us/support...-runtime-tool/

The battery pack comes out of the bottom of the unit, meaning
it's a PITA to service.

Shipping Lithium Cobalt, there should be shipping restrictions.
Unlike the lead acid batteries, which they will ship. That's
likely to be part of the reason for the half-density
Lithium Iron Phosphate solution. Safer to ship. Meaning
less hassle getting a shipper for it. Lithium Iron Phosphate
are used for garden lights.

*******

Shopping for these is hours and hours of hard work! (Just a warning.)
For each unit, you will need to go to the manufacturer site and
scrape the numbers off it. In particular, getting battery specs
is difficult.

Obviously, you will be treated like a milk cow, with the sample product
I picked above. A sole-source battery pack. Nobody stocks it right now
of course, so the price is merest illusion. (One chump, priced the
battery for more than the UPS, which is "clever" in a business monkey
sense.)

With other units, VRLA battery, the battery can come from China, but
then (magically), it never has the life of the original battery.

Neat, eh?

*******

I don't know what your budget is in $USD, but I suspect your
"wish list" of a long runtime, is inconsistent with what
you're willing to pay. I only investigated the lithium one,
hoping that the power density (size) would be extraordinary.
The choice of Lithium Iron Phosphate sees to it that the
unit is not as dense as I expected. There is still a fire risk
with those, it just takes a much greater effort to catch
them on fire.

The Tesla Model 3 in China, is using those LiFePO4, while the American
version continues to ship with Lithium Cobalt. Just to give a
datapoint on industry practice. The Chinese government obviously
had some input in that choice (local batteries ? easier to make ?).

Paul