Thursday, 10 May 2012

Troubleshooting printer problems

 Troubleshooting common inkjet printer problems

 

Inkjet printers aren’t nearly as complex as laser printers; therefore, there’s less that can go wrong with them. On the flip side. The vast majority of problems with inkjet printers involve either communications problems or problems with print quality. Here are a few solutions to the most common inkjet printer problems.


A word to the wise

Before I get started, I’d like to point out that this article is intended only to assist with basic printer repair and maintenance. If you’re unsure of your ability to perform any sort of printer repair, or if performing such repairs will void the printer's warranty, you should contact a qualified service professional or the manufacturer.



Print quality and the print head

By far the most common problem with inkjet printers is poor print quality. Usually, these problems manifest themselves in the form of horizontal white lines running through each line of print. These white lines are caused by clogged nozzles that aren’t dispensing ink. Some printer manufacturers are trying to solve this problem by incorporating the print head into the ink cartridge. By doing so, each time you get a new ink cartridge, you also get a new print head.


Replacing the print head along with the ink cartridge may sound like a good solution at first, but what happens if you are using a printer that doesn’t have a disposable print head, or if your ink cartridges aren’t ready to change yet?


Cleaning the print head

In such cases, you can sometimes fix the problem by using a cotton swab to rub alcohol on the surface of the print head. Alcohol is a solvent and will usually help to dissolve any ink buildup that might be clogging the print head. After cleaning the print head with alcohol, I usually use a paper towel to gently wipe any excess ink off of the print head. When you’re done manually cleaning the print head, turn the printer on and run the printer’s built-in cleaning process. The method for initiating the cleaning mode varies widely between printer models, so you’ll have to check your manufacturer’s recommendations to see how to initiate the cleaning mode on your particular printer.


Check the print head ribbon

Occasionally, you may run into a situation in which cleaning a print head doesn’t fix the problem. There are a few other things that can cause the white lines besides just a dirty print head. One other possibility is that some of the printing instructions may not be making it to the print head. Although I’ve never seen this occur on a newer printer, it’s not at all uncommon for the print head ribbon to work its way partially loose on some older printers. If you’re trying to fix an older inkjet printer, make sure that the print head ribbon is secured firmly to the print head. You can see the print head ribbon in Figure A. The ribbon is the wide gray cable connecting the print head to the printer’s system board.


                                 Figure A
On some older printers, the print head ribbon has a tendency to come loose.

Paper dust

Another thing that can cause the white lines that I described earlier is paper dust interfering with an electrical connection. You may have noticed that a print cartridge contains potentially dozens of electrical contact points, as shown in Figure B. When a printer is very heavily used, paper dust can sometimes work its way in-between the print cartridge and the cartridge housing. This dust can interfere with the printer’s ability to send instructions to the print cartridge. To remove the dust, unplug the printer and clean the print head’s electrical contacts with alcohol. Make sure that the alcohol has dried completely before reinserting the ink cartridge or plugging the printer back in.Paper dust

Another thing that can cause the white lines that I described earlier is paper dust interfering with an electrical connection. You may have noticed that a print cartridge contains potentially dozens of electrical contact points, as shown in Figure B. When a printer is very heavily used, paper dust can sometimes work its way in-between the print cartridge and the cartridge housing. This dust can interfere with the printer’s ability to send instructions to the print cartridge. To remove the dust, unplug the printer and clean the print head’s electrical contacts with alcohol. Make sure that the alcohol has dried completely before reinserting the ink cartridge or plugging the printer back in.Paper dust

Another thing that can cause the white lines that I described earlier is paper dust interfering with an electrical connection. You may have noticed that a print cartridge contains potentially dozens of electrical contact points, as shown in Figure B. When a printer is very heavily used, paper dust can sometimes work its way in-between the print cartridge and the cartridge housing. This dust can interfere with the printer’s ability to send instructions to the print cartridge. To remove the dust, unplug the printer and clean the print head’s electrical contacts with alcohol. Make sure that the alcohol has dried completely before reinserting the ink cartridge or plugging the printer back in.Paper dust

Another thing that can cause the white lines that I described earlier is paper dust interfering with an electrical connection. You may have noticed that a print cartridge contains potentially dozens of electrical contact points, as shown in Figure B. When a printer is very heavily used, paper dust can sometimes work its way in-between the print cartridge and the cartridge housing. This dust can interfere with the printer’s ability to send instructions to the print cartridge. To remove the dust, unplug the printer and clean the print head’s electrical contacts with alcohol. Make sure that the alcohol has dried completely before reinserting the ink cartridge or plugging the printer back in.


                                                Figure B
You can sometimes fix a printing problem by cleaning the print head’s electrical contacts.

If all of these techniques fail to fix the problem, then there’s a good chance that a mechanism inside of the print head has gone bad, and the print head will need to be replaced.


A failure to communicate

The other major cause of inkjet printer malfunctions is communications failures. Inkjet printers are susceptible to the same sort of communications problems as any other printer. Therefore, if your printer is printing gibberish, or nothing at all, turn off the printer and the PC to which it is connected. Verify that all cables are tight and that the printer is getting power. Turn the printer back on and then the PC. Most of the time, this will fix any sort of communications problems that might be present. 

 

General printer troubleshooting

Printer does not have power indicator

First, make sure that the printer is on. When a printer is on it should have some light (usually green) indicating it's receiving power and is on.

If you do not have any indicator light make sure the printer is connected to a working power outlet by verifying each end of the power cable. Next, press the printer power button.

If after following the above steps your printer still cannot get a power status indicator it's likely you're encountering a serious printer issue and we suggest contacting the printer manufacturer for additional steps and instructions on repair or replacement.

Cables not connected properly

Your printer should have two cables connected to it. The power cable and the data cable, the power cable should have already been verified as being connected if your printer has a power indicator light as mentioned above. Make sure the data cable (parallel cable or USB cable) is also connected from the printer to the computer.

Printer error (orange or blinking light)

After your printer has completed its initial startup you should have a solid green light. If the light indicator is blinking or orange often this is an indication of a printer error. For example, this could indicate a paper jam, issue with the ink or toner cartridge, or other serious error.

Because there is no standard to what a blinking light or orange light means if you're getting either of these we suggest referring to the printer documentation for troubleshooting steps or methods of determining what the status indicator is reporting.

No paper or paper jam

Without paper your printer will not be able to print. Make sure you have paper in the paper loaded into the printer paper cartridge or tray. Next, verify that no printer paper is jammed or partially fed into the printer. If you have one or more pieces of paper stuck in the printer these will need to be manually removed before the printer will print again.

Inkjet printer ink related issues

Often when you're encountering an ink related issue you're printer status indicator light (mentioned above) should be flashing. If this is not occurring you may want to skip to the next section. However, if you've recently inserted a new ink cartridge you may want to try the below suggestions.

  • Replacing ink cartridges and printer not working.

Printer self tests

Most printers have a way of printing a test page. This page allows you to determine if the printer is physically working or not. This test is usually accomplished by holding down a series of keys. If you are not sure if your printer has this feature or how to perform it refer to your manual or visit your printer manufacturers web site.

In addition to testing the printer using the printer self-test Microsoft Windows users can also perform a software self-test to determine if their computer is able to see the printer and it's able to print. Follow the below steps to perform this test.

Microsoft Windows 98, 2000, ME, XP, 2003, and Vista users
  1. Click Start, Settings, and open Control Panel.

  2. Double-click the Printers or Printers and Fax icon.

  3. Right-click on the Printer you wish to test and click Properties. If you do not see your printer listed your printer is not installed.

  4. In the Printers Properties window click the Print Test Page button.

  5. If the printer is able to print a test page, you're printer is installed and setup properly. However, if you're unable to print in other programs it's possible that the program you're attempting to print from has issues.

Older versions of Windows with older printers

If you are running an older printer and MS-DOS, Windows 3.x, Windows 95, Windows 98, or Windows NT, you can also attempt the below software test.

Get to a MS-DOS prompt or Windows command line

Get to the root directory - Type: cd\

Reroute dir to printer - Type: dir > lpt1

The above should take the directory listing and print to the printer. If this does not print, refer to your operating system troubleshooting section. Extra Note: This will not paper feed, therefore press your FF or PP, or manually eject the paper.

Printer drivers

If your printer does not have any flashing lights and is connected properly it's possible you may be encountering a driver related issue. We suggest visiting our printer driver listing, which links to all major printer manufacturer driver pages and downloading the latest printer drivers for your printer.

Parallel (LPT) printers

If the printer you're connecting to the computer is an LPT (parallel port) printer we also suggest verifying the below suggestions if your printer is not working.

Parallel port in CMOS
  1. Enter the computers CMOS setup.

  2. Once in CMOS verify that your parallel port is enabled or installed.

  3. Next, verify the printer or parallel port mode. This option will often have several different modes. If your parallel port is set to ECP mode, we suggest trying a different mode.

Other parallel device

If you have a parallel printer with other parallel devices such as a parallel scanner or zip drive, temporarily disconnect these devices to verify they are not causing your issue.

 

Setting up or installing a printer in Microsoft Windows

 There are two different methods a user can install a printer in Microsoft Windows. Below is additional information about each of these methods listed in the order we believe a user should try installing their printer in Microsoft Windows.

Before being able to install your printer you must have the software that was included with the printer. If you've lost the software for your printer you can download the drivers for your printer and use the drivers to install your printer. A listing of printer manufacturers and links to their associated drivers pages can be found on our printer drivers page.

Setup a printer using printer software

Every printer should come with the software used to install a printer in Windows. Although not all installations are the same the steps for installing this software should be similar to the below steps.

  1. Connect the printer to the computer and a power outlet and make sure it's on.

  2. Insert the CD that was included with the printer. If the CD does not automatically start the install program open My Computer, double-click on the CD drive, and then the Setup or Install file.

  3. Follow the installation wizard and your printer and its associated software should be installed successfully.

Installing a printer only using the drivers

In addition to the above steps a users can install a printer in Windows only using the printer drivers. This is recommended if you only want the printer to be installed but not the additional printer software programs that are often included with the installation and you've download drivers.

A listing of printer drivers and software downloads can be found through our printer drivers page.

Note: if you've installed the printer doing the above steps these steps should not be necessary unless you encountered errors.

  1. Connect the printer to the computer and a power outlet and make sure it's on.

  2. Click Start, Settings, and Control Panel.

  3. In the control panel double-click the Printers or Printers and Fax icon.

  4. In the Printers window click the Add a printer icon.

  5. After completing the above steps the Windows Printer Wizard will appear. Click Next, to start the wizard.

  6. Windows will prompt you if you're installing a Local or Network printer. If the printer is connected to your computer choose Local printer attached to this computer and click Next.

  7. When prompted for the location of the drivers for the printer. Browse the computer to the directory of your drivers or point it to the CD that was included with your printer.

Testing the printer

After the printer has been installed in Windows you can use Windows to print a self-test page to make sure the printer is working by following the below steps.

Microsoft Windows 98, 2000, ME, XP, 2003, and Vista users
  1. Click Start, Settings, and open Control Panel.

  2. Double-click the Printers or Printers and Fax icon.

  3. Right-click on the Printer you wish to test and click Properties. If you do not see your printer listed your printer is not installed.

  4. In the Printers Properties window click the Print Test Page button.

  5. If the printer is able to print a test page, you're printer is installed and setup properly. However, if you're unable to print in other programs it's possible that the program you're attempting to print from has issues.

 

Thursday, 3 May 2012

CPU Hardware Solution

How to Clean RAM




 
Cleaning up RAM usually begs the question: "What is RAM?" RAM is an acronym for random-access memory. The key to understanding why it needs to be cleaned or cleared is the keyword "random." A hard drive allocates memory in RAM randomly, with no allocation protocols. If the hard drive cannot find enough RAM for a high-draw program or application such as a video game, it will crash or freeze. This RAM cleaning trick will remove any nonactive data that might have been stored on your RAM instead of your hard drive. You should see a marked improvement regarding processing speed.

      

How to replace the CMOS battery

Issue

How to replace the CMOS battery.

Cause

Like any battery the computer CMOS battery can fail or lose its charge.

Solution

If your computer is losing its time or date settings, or you are receiving a message CMOS Read Error, CMOS checksum error, or CMOS Battery Failure, first try leaving the computer on for 24-hours. In some cases this can charge the battery and resolve your issue. This often resolves CMOS battery related issues when a computer has been left off for several months. If this does not resolve your issue follow the below steps.

Locate your CMOS battery
Caution: When inside your computer make sure you're aware of ESD and all it's potential dangers.



 
Open the computer case and find the battery on the computer motherboard, verify that it will be accessible and that it can be removed. Most computers today use a coin cell CMOS battery as shown in the image to the right.

If you are unable to locate your CMOS battery refer to your motherboard or computer documentation or contact your computer manufacturer for additional assistance in locating it
.
Obtain battery information
Unfortunately, most manufacturers will not list the exact type and model of your CMOS battery; therefore, once you have located the battery, write down all information about the battery (Voltage, chemistry, wiring, and packaging). If possible, remove the battery and take it to the location you plan on purchasing a new battery from. The part number for this battery for most computers is CR2032.
Additional buying information can be found on our battery buying tips page.
Removing the battery

Caution: When inside your computer make sure you're aware of ESD and all it's potential dangers.
If you're computer is using a coin cell battery similar to the above example picture. Removing the battery is relatively simple. use your fingers to grab on the edge of the battery and pull it up and out of the container holding it. Some motherboards have a clip holding the battery down. If your computer has this clip you may need to use one had to move the clip up and the other hand to pull the battery out.
Unfortunately, not all CMOS batteries are removable; some manufactures will only allow a replacement battery to be added. If you're not using a coin cell battery and are not able to determine how to remove it refer to your motherboard or computer documentation or contact your computer manufacturer for additional assistance in removing the battery or how to insert a new replacement battery.
Users with computers that do not have removable batteries only options to install a new battery will most likely also need to set a jumper when adding the new battery into their computer.
Insert the new battery

Once you have purchased a new battery, remove the old battery (as instructed above) and replace it with the new battery.

Enter CMOS values
Once the battery is replaced turn on the computer and resetting the CMOS values to the defaults. After the values have all been entered make sure to save the settings before exiting. Many CMOS setups allow you to press a key (such as F10) to save values and exit all in one action.
If after following all the above steps you continue to experience the same error when your computer starts or your computer is still unable to keep the stored values it's likely that you're experiencing a more serious issues. Most likely causes are bad power supply or bad motherboard.


How to Avoid CPU Overheating


In the normal way of things, very little or no attention at all is paid to the choice of a case for housing a computer. However, nowadays processors are heating up ever more, so choosing the right case is critical for avoiding computer overheating.

Nowadays, overheating is not only due to the computer’s processor: the motherboard’s chipset and video card’s video processor are also responsible for heating the air inside the case.

If your computer is having overheating trouble, you surely will be able to solve the problem through this tutorial. The typical symptom an overheating computer is when it locks (freezes up) too much and issues errors of General Protection Failure (”This program has carried out an illegal operation and will shut down“) and the infamous ”blue screen of death“. If you remove the case’s cover and, with the computer open, the computer stops being troublesome, the problem is overheating. Note that these symptoms also turn up in other maintenance situations, i. e., they do not necessarily mean that the computer is overheating.

Usually the case comes with its power supply installed. Few people are aware of it, but the power supply plays a basic role in cooling the computer’s innards. To understand this, you must understand how the air circulates in a case. You must have noticed that every power supply has a fan. This fan should always be operating in the exhaust direction, that is, blowing towards the outside, expelling hot air form inside to outside the case.

Look at Figure 1 to get a better picture. As hot air has a natural trend to move upwards, the hot air produced by the computer automatically flows to the upper part of the case. The power supply’s fan then draws out this hot air, thus providing proper computer ventilation. Cool air automatically comes in through the case’s front via a suitable slot placed under the space intended for the hard disk. 

 
 Figure 1: How is the airflow inside your computer.


The power supply must have slots on its side in order to let hot air get out of the case and prevent computer overheating. The precise location of such slots will depend on the case size, since depending on the size of the case and power supply the power supply can be located in above, in front or besides the CPU – which is the main heat source inside the PC. With a bit of common sense, it is easy to see where these slots should be located. Looking closer at the computer shown in Figure 1 (see its close up in Figure 2) we can conclude that its power supply is correctly sized for its case. Note that the slots on the power supply are in the proper path for expelling hot air produced by the computer’s processor and other internal components, i. e., the position of the power supply does not hamper exhausting hot air from the processor and the slots are practically in front of the processor in order to allow hot air to flow correctly out of the computer.

Figure 2: Detail of the space between the power supply and the system processor.


Maximum CPU Temperature

Introduction

Just like all electronic components, CPU produces heat while it is running. Heat in excess, however, isn’t good and can even lead your CPU to burn or to work in an unstable way. In this tutorial you will learn what are the effects of high temperature over the CPU, will learn how to measure your CPU current temperature and will have access to tables listing the maximum supported temperature for the main CPUs available on the market.

Microprocessors heat due to Joule effect, which is the process of transforming electrical energy into heat. Inside the CPU there are several wires (conductors) in charge of its internal interconnections. The Joule effect appears due to the shock between electrons and the conductor ion mesh, leading to an increase in the temperature of the conductor.

The heat generated by an electronic device needs to be removed as soon as possible; otherwise its internal temperature will increase. If the device gets too hot internally, its internal circuits can be damaged, thing that we don’t want, of course.

The maximum CPU temperature is usually written on its body in a coded format – i.e., a letter added somewhere indicates what the CPU maximum temperature is. This code isn’t standardized; it varies according to the CPU. On the CPU datasheet, which is available at the manufacturer’s website, there is a section that explains the coding used on the CPU, which includes the CPU maximum temperature.

This temperature is the maximum temperature the CPU can work without burning. The lower the CPU temperature, the better. Good quality CPU coolers and the correct use of thermal grease will make your CPU to work way below its maximum rated temperature. Read our tutorial How to Correctly Apply Thermal Grease to learn more about this subject.

 

Effects of High Temperature on a CPU

When the CPU works above the maximum admissible temperature set by its manufacturer, the following problems can occur:

  • Reduction of CPU life-span;

  • Random freezes;

  • Random resets;

  • Eventually the CPU can get burned.

Cases of PCs giving the infamous Blue Screen of Death while you are loading or installing the operating system because the CPU is overheated are not rare (keep in mind that other problems not related to overheating can also present this same symptom). Another typical overheating scenario is the computer working correctly and then after some time it starts to malfunction.

In order to solve overheating problems some measures must be taken, besides choosing the correct CPU cooler and applying thermal grease correctly:

  • To reduce the room temperature;

  • To enhance the case internal airflow.

We have already addressed this issue on two tutorials: Typical Assembling Problems and Cases: Avoiding Overheating. We recommend you to take a look at them.

 

Measuring the CPU Temperature

The CPU temperature can be measured through a sensor located on the motherboard, below the CPU, or inside the CPU itself, feature available on the latest processors, like Core 2 Duo. Practically all motherboards come with a program that allows you to read this sensor. On the Internet you can find several programs for this task, like Motherboard Monitor and Hardware Sensors Monitor (both can be downloaded at

Motherboard Monitor is very efficient not only because it can be accessed through the taskbar (see Figure 1), but because it allows you to configure an alarm that will let you know if the CPU reaches a certain temperature level. This program also monitors the system fans and the power supply voltages. This program is highly recommended if you are overclocking your system, since the CPU temperature tends to increase when it is overclocked.

Another way to check the CPU temperature is through the motherboard setup (pressing Del right after turning your PC on), on an option called “PC Health Status,” “System Health,” “Sensors” or something similar. The CPU temperature can be easily checked there, as you see in Figure1.

 
 Figure 1: Monitoring CPU temperature through setup.

The motherboard setup isn’t the best way to check the CPU temperature because while it is running the CPU isn’t being pushed to its maximum processing power and thus won’t achieve its maximum temperature. Because of this we recommend a software-based solution

 

Protecting Your PC Against Overheati
 
For your computer to work correctly, you need to use a CPU cooler that is adequate to the CPU that you have and also apply thermal grease correctly. We have already explored these subjects in our How to Correctly Apply Thermal Grease and How to Correctly Assemble PCs With Pentium 4 Prescott and we recommend that you read them both (the second one only if you have a Pentium 4 Prescott or a Pentium D).
There is a way to protect your PC from overheating through the motherboard setup.
On the motherboard setup you will find one or two options to deal with CPU overheating. You can configure your PC to play an alarm (which sounds like a fire truck; “CPU Warning Temperature” option, see Figure 2) or to shutdown (“CPU Shutdown Temperature” option) whenever the CPU reaches a certain temperature.
If you are going to use these options, be careful to not configure them with a value that is too low, otherwise the PC will make a siren noise or will shutdown even with the computer working inside its normal temperatures. We recommend you to measure your CPU temperature while running a “heavy” program (games, for example) and make the desirable configuration with a value above from the one measured.
Thru this same setup menu you can monitor PC fans, especially the fan from the CPU cooler. You can also configure an alarm to play whenever the fan stops working or to increase the CPU fan according to the CPU temperature. Since the faster the fan spins the more noise it makes, there are users that prefer to configure the CPU fan to rotate at a lower speed if the CPU temperature is working under an acceptable temperature level, making the fan to spin at its full speed only when the CPU is generating more heat, what usually happens when the user is running a “heavy” application, like games.
The number of options present on the motherboard setup varies according to the motherboard model.
What is the maximum temperature your CPU support? Instead of making you looking for and downloading your CPU datasheet, we compiled a series of tables containing the maximum temperatures for the main CPUs present on the market today.

Intel CPUs - Part 1

  • Core Duo: 100º C
  • Core Solo: 100º C
  • Pentium M: 100º C
  • Core 2 Duo:
Model
Clock
Max. Temp. (º C)
E6850
3 GHz
72
E6750
2.66 GHz
72
E6700
2.66 GHz
60.1
E6700
2.66 GHz
60.1
E6600
2.40 GHz
60.1
E6600
2.40 GHz
60.1
E6550
2.33 GHz
72
 E6540 
2.33 GHz
72
E6420
2.13 GHz
60.1
E6400
2.13 GHz
61.4
E6400
2.13 GHz
61.4
E6320
1.86 GHz
60.1
E6300
1.86 GHz
61.4
E6300
1.86 GHz
61.4
 E4500 
 2.20 GHz 
 73.3 
E4400
2 GHz
61.4
 E4400 
2 GHz 
 73.3 
E4300
1.8 GHz
61.4
  • Core 2 Quad:
Model
Clock
Max. Temp. (º C)
Q6700
2.66 GHz
71
Q6600
2.4 GHz 
62.2 
Q6600
2.4 GHz
62.2
  • Core 2 Extreme:
Model
Clock
Max. Temp. (º C)
QX6850
3 GHz
64.5
QX6800
2.93 GHz
64.5
X6800 
2.93 GHz 
60.4 
QX6800
2.93 GHz 
64.5
X7900 
2.80 GHz
100 
X7900
2.80 GHz
100 
QX6700
2.66 GHz
65
X7800
2.60 GHz
100
  • Pentium Dual Core:
Model
Clock
Max. Temp. (º C)
E2180
2 GHz 
73.2
E2160
1.8 GHz
73.2
E2160
1.8 GHz
61.4
E2140
1.6 GHz
61.4
E2140
1.6 GHz
61.4
T2080
1.73 GHz
100
T2060
1.60 GHz
100
  • Pentium D:
Model
Clock
Max. Temp. (º C)
960
3.60 GHz 
63.4
960
3.60 GHz 
68.6
950
3.40 GHz 
63.4
950
3.40 GHz 
63.4
945
3.40 GHz 
63.4 
945
3.40 GHz 
63.4
950
3.40 GHz 
68.6
940
3.20 GHz 
63.4
940
3.20 GHz 
68.6 
935
3.20 GHz 
63.4
925
3 GHz 
63.4 
930
3 GHz
63.4
930
3 GHz
63.4
925
3 GHz
63.4
915
2.80 GHz
63.4
915
2.80 GHz
63.4
920
2.80 GHz
63.4
840
3.20 GHz
69.8
840
3.20 GHz
69.8
830
3 GHz
69.8
830
3 GHz
69.8
820
2.80 GHz
64.1
820
2.80 GHz
64.1
805
2.66 GHz
64.1
  • Pentium Extreme Edition:
Model
Clock
Max. Temp. (º C)
965
3.73 GHz
68.6
955
3.46 GHz
68.6
840
3.20 GHz
69.8
  • Pentium 4 Extreme Edition:
Model
Clock
Max. Temp. (ºC)
SL7Z4
3.73 GHz
72.8
SL7RT
3.46 GHz
66
SL7NF
3.46 GHz
66
SL7RR
3.40 GHz
66
SL7GD
3.40 GHz
66
SL7CH
3.40 GHz
67

Ups repairing

Never throw away your UPS first, maybe your UPS is not dead yet. You might repair it within a few minute. Many computer shops will ask you to buy a new one UPS rather than change the battery, because they want to push their sales only. Don’t be fool by them, you can repair it, without throw away the old one, we need a green world isn’t it ?

Losing Important Data Due to Power Cuts? Buy an APC UPS Today!

The life time for the UPS normally in 1 or 2 years depends how much power failure during these period. Most of the time is battery failure, but not your UPS failure.

Unless your old UPS is burn out or some of the capacitor burn, if your fuse shorted, you just change the fuse.

Make sure your warranty is expired, if the UPS is still under warranty, you can claim and they will change free for you. APC have 2 years warranty, and other brand maybe have 1 year warranty only.

I found that APC is not using own brand battery too, so, don’t think that big company will give you good things inside. But they do provide better service than other.

Most UPS are using 12V 7Ah to 12V 7.2Ah battery, make sure the Ah is not over than that, if you put a 12V 7.8Ah, it won’t be worked.

You should open the UPS and check first which model of battery you should buy.

A new UPS could cost you 1,500 ( 50 USD ) Baht to 3,000 Baht ( 100 USD ), but the cost of a battery 12V 7Ah or 12V 7.2Ah is cost around 450 Baht ( 15 USD ) only. You could buy from most of the electronic shop. If you buy in computer shop, I think they will charge you more than that. If you send to repair, it will take you more time and more cost.

Here is the step to repair.

  1. Check that is Fuse broken or not. ( If broke, just take out and change it, normally is 5A 3A or something )

  2. Open the screw, from the back side and open the cover.

  3. Un-plug the red and black cable that attached to the battery.

  4. Take out the battery and take a photo ( with your phone ? ) or mark down the value ( because maybe you don’t understand what they wrote on the battery. )

  5. Bring your UPS battery photo or note to electric shop to buy one.

  6. Put the new battery to the same location in the UPS.

  7. Plug in the black and red cable to the battery.

  8. Close the cover

  9. Power on

Most of the case the UPS will work again. If it is no work anymore, then you can send your UPS to recycle. :)

If you just throw away or you just put them in the store room, you are making another piece of rubbish to this green world.

Here is the question most of the people looking for.

  • How to change your UPS battery ?
  • What battery for UPS ?
  • Why should I change my UPS battery ?
  • UPS replacement battery
  • UPS replacement batteries
  • UPS repairing guide
  • UPS repairing Tips
  • Online UPS repairing guide
  • UPS repairing Book
  • Reparing UPS battery
  • APC ups repairing
  • How to repair ups battery
  • How to repair ups for computer
  • How to repair ups circuit


















 




 



How Do You Test UPS Battery?

Okay, how do you test UPS battery? UPS stand for Uninterruptible Power Supply and this equipment use the seal lead acid battery type. If you check the voltage of the battery with a normal multimeter, then i guess it is not accurate because a bad battery may also show a good voltage. The battery will fail under load test! If you really need to accurately test the battery you need a battery tester that is design to test such battery like the one in the photo. For a good battery the pointer will kick up and stay there and you could feel the heat underneath the meter (perhaps there are big resistors to act as a load). You can’t test it for long as it can become very hot. At least with this test you are now know that the battery is good.

If the battery is weak (but multimeter showing good voltage) the pointer will flick and then gradually coming down. In fact this type of meter is design to test on the automobile battery and can be used to check on seal lead acid battery too. Do you have other way to accurately test a seal lead acid battery? Appreciate your comment-thanks

 

How to Test UPS Batteries

UPS, or uninterruptible power supply, battery backups provide users with power in the event of an AC power outage, but if their batteries are not properly charged and functional, you can lose your work. You must ensure the UPS batteries are working properly, so this does not happen at the worst possible moment. By following a few simple steps, you can verify that your USP backup's batteries are working as they should.

 

Instructions

    • 1

      Plug the UPS backup power supply into an open AC outlet, then power it on. If your unit's power light does not illuminate, try a different outlet to eliminate that as a possible problem.

    • 2

      Allow the backup's batteries to charge fully, as specified in the owner's manual. The amount of time this takes varies, depending on the make, model and size of your UPS backup power supply.

    • 3

      Reset the UPS backup's circuit breaker by pressing the "Reset" button located on the back of the unit. This button is usually located on the back of the device, next to the phone line, USB port and other connections.

    • 4

      Plug the monitor into one of the "Surge Protector Plus Battery Backup" outlets on the back of the device, then power it on. Most UPS backups offer both traditional surge protection outlets and those with battery backup capabilities as well.

    • 5

      Unplug the UPS battery backup from the AC outlet. If the monitor powers down, the batteries are not keeping a charge as they should; if it remains on, they are functional.


How to Test an Exponent Battery

 Modern batteries, such as those used in electronic devices or cellular phones, use an exponent-based system to measure battery capacity in ampere-hours. For example, if you test your battery in amps and it produces a reading of 50, that means the battery produces up to 50 amps an hour. The best and quickest way to test your battery to find out how many amps it has is with a voltmeter.



Instructions

    • 1

      Turn on your multimeter and set the reading to "Amps" using the dial on the front of the meter.

    • 2

      Insert the colored test leads into the ports below the dial. The red lead goes into the port marked "+" and the black lead goes into the port marked "-".

    • 3

      Touch the red lead to the "+" terminal on the battery and touch the black lead to the "-" terminal on the battery in order to ground it.

    • 4

      Determine the amps after waiting for the meter to produce a reading. The reading will display on the screen on the front of the unit. However many amps the meter displays is how many amps the battery uses per hour.