So far another successful BitWise Beta, maybe the other shoe won't drop this time. ;) Yet the beta wasn't the most memorable event of the day. I had uploaded all of the new files, then got up for a few minutes to do something away from the computer. When I came back, it was completely turned off, and even the monitors were off (not just asleep). This seemed very odd and I think my blood pressure went up dramatically.
Some investigating revealed that my small UPS was off. I tried to turn it back on, but it was completely unresponsive. The devices plugged in to the surge protection only side were still on (like the speakers and printer), so the it's not like the power had somehow selectively failed. It also seemed highly unlikely that my computer and two monitors all died at the same time. I came to the conclusion that the UPS battery had finally bit the dust.
According to the manual, I could remove the battery and continue using the device as a surge suppressor. While not ideal, I wouldn't have to scrounge around for a new surge suppressors nor disturb all of my cables. Under my desk, I tried to remove the battery, but it wasn't coming out, so I reluctantly unplugged everything and dragged the dumb thing out into the light of day. The darn thing was swollen.
Peering in to the battery cavity, it was painfully obvious that the battery had swollen on all sides and was completely wedged into the battery compartment; that battery is never coming out. It was 3 and a half years old, which in human years must be about 80. I figured it got arthritis of the cells, swelled up, and then died. I do wonder when it started swelling, but that will have to remain a mystery. In any event, I think it's time to get a new one.
There you have it--a war story from a day in the life at the BitWise office. :)
That's awesome....an awesome story. I like hearing stuff like this...don't ask wky. Maybe because I feel better that I'm not the only one who experiences hardware failures.
Now, I am curious as how this UPS works...I have one...
If the battery died, why did the computers turn off? I thought the battery is only used when the power goes out? Or is the power constantly routed through the battery? Which would be weird.
Also, is this under warranty? I'd hope so! Keep us up to date on this :-)
The warranty was a 2-year warranty. Being 3 and a half years old, it is cleary out of its warranty period.
The UPS I had was an AVR (Automatic Voltage Regulation) UPS, so it always ran from the battery. This means that the power is always clean and there's never a delay while the battery kicks in if the power fails. Cheaper UPS's sometimes don't have this feature, but I wouldn't buy a UPS without it.