Hello everyone, recently it has come time to change out the batteries (12V 9AH) on 4 UPS (3 APC BR1500G and 1 Cyberpower CP1500LCD) and I need recommendations for somewhere trustworthy were I can buy them.
This is an issue for me since I am not from USA, none of my local providers have stock and will not be getting any until next year. On amazon there are lots of sellers but not sure which one to pick.
Options:
Around 6 months ago I used Expert Power batteries in one of my UPS’s and no problems so far.
Go for Power Sonic brand batteries. Went through hundreds of them over several years, with only one bad one.
Avoid Chrome (and Zipp) brands. They slap their label on any junk they can get cheap, and don’t even care if the listed dimensions are obviously wrong (and batteries just won’t fit). Returned as wrong or did 1yr warranty replacements on most of those I ever bought.
I’ve used these guys maybe 50 times, never a single problem
Why not just go for a reputable brand like Yuasa?
I have used them as well. They even give you the option to opt for a return label so that they can refurb the old battery.
I’ve not really noticed any difference in quality of all of these 12v SLA batteries. Every single one lasts me 3-4 years no matter the quality
Thank you everyone for the recommendations, I really appreciate the help.
I’d rather have one that I know follow regulations and safety standards than some random one with unknown origin but that’s just me 
Last time I replaced batteries in my rack UPS units I opted for Panasonic batteries bought from digikey.
Now that is a name that I trust.
i’ve used all those brands, multiple multiple times. they seem to come from the same factory in my eyes.
also i’m moving away from leadacid and getting 12v 9ah Lifepo4 batteries and am using capacity tester to verify the “AH” when they arrive and sending back the ones that don’t meet the AH.
lead acid burns up and leaks if you don’t replace them soon enough, usually 3 years. Lifepo4 can last longer than 11 years. i’ve seen YT videos of Lifepo4s older than ten years that weren’t charged for 8yrs and still worked.
i can’t stress how important it is test your Lifepo4 batteries and the chinese pump out lots of duds or 4 or 5ah units. they look almost exaclty like a 12v 9ah lead acid typical UPS batteries.
Let me know how that goes because my UPSes are due for battery changes. APC SMT1500 units.
thats an RBC7, aka two of the bigger batteries with bolt holes.
it’s went fine twice now, soon to be three times but, two of those three times, i’m using fullsized RV/Boat batteries for maximum run time.
HOWEVER two of the thee 12v 10ah batteries tested to 8ah and 5ah. 5 being half the rateing. if you don’t havea tester like so, https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07HB3XK7L/
you going to get junk batteries not know it. you would almost be wise to measure one of the batteries in your pack to make sure what ever 16-20ah lifepo4 you get is the same size. then run test to make sure it has the AH it promises
you could also upgrade to big boi batteries like it did with a custom battery cable, you would substitute lifepo4 in place of the lead acids, which i have also done but not posted yet. maybe i have pics on my phone already.
i have even bought one single 25v 150ah lifepo4 to upgrade this ^ very setup.
The max float voltage of a lifepo4 battery is less than the equivalent lead acid battery. So, make sure that your 4s battery has a bms in it. The bms will prevent the battery from being overcharged, while still allowing it to discharge. Just do the math to make sure the power output on the battery matches your ups. Ie amps allowed times 12 = appropriate average wattage. Per 12v battery.
say what now? are you trying to say amp hours? unless you under size your battery??? also i’ve never seen a non BMS on market. someone would have to buy a raw cells, afaik.
if you upgrade to bigger, i got bluetooth bms for full stats, the APC actually under charges the batteries just so, which is anything will prolong the years operation.
EDIT: to say so far at least with the big batteries, the float voltage for lead acid is less than required by Lifepo4, so they undercharge a little like 85% to 90% instead of 100%
The below stuff is mostly if you are planning to put your whole house (including heater and ac) on an ups though it could apply to a smaller ups too.
Look on aliexpress and alibaba. Sort by number of orders to find non scam retailers. I will post some links later.
Common lifepo4 battery capacities are:
105ah
200ah
280ah
320ah
The 280ah eve batteries are 90% at 6000 cycles and 80% at 15 years.
The 320ah batteries are usually 70% at 7 years. They are close to the same price and size.
If you want to get that life, discharge them slower than 1C (1 hour) and charge them slower than c/2 (2 hours).
4 batteries gets you 12v nominal
8 batteries gets you 24v nominal
16 batteries gets you 48v nominal
For a given $ in inverter price from 12v to 24v you get double the power for the same price. Same as 24v to 48v.
Bms is nearly the same price for any less than 17 cells in a string. It grows at about $1 per amp after 50 amps.
Signaturesolar.com has a bunch of systems available. The growatt off grid systems usually swap from grid to battery in 20ms.
The 48v server rack battery with included bms systems are usually 5kwh.
If you go all eg4, it will cost a bit more, but they have a nice metrics package.
If you build your own battery bank with the 280ah cells, 1 48v string is about 14kwh. I recently saw them priced shipping from the USA for $98 each. So 1568. Or $88 for 32 cells, 32 cells would be doubled so still 48v, just 28kwh instead of 14kwh at $2816, or enough energy to fully charge an empty Tesla plaid for $11328.
ie for the long life 280ah eve cells:
Someone I follow on youtube used them for the batteries, and their price is reasonable. They used to list that they had warehouses in the USA and europe, so you did not have to wait for china customs.
If you want your batteries to be rack mount instead of ie shelf mounted, then strapped for compression, they sell a rack mount kit for the batteries.
Remember though that since the batteries weigh 10 pounds each, a 48v pack will weigh over 160 pounds.
You can get a 12v kit for the batteries from here:
The video on how to apply it to the batteries is here: Sun Fun Kits Budget Friendly V4 Standard Kit - YouTube
or you can just buy one pre-built from sunfunkits. The savings come when you get your battery cells elsewhere.
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