I had to replace my UPSs a few weeks ago on short notice due to hardware failure, and I ended up getting a few LiFePO4 ones as a stopgap since they were on sale and I’d always wanted to try them. So far, so good. Curious if anyone else has switch to lithium UPSs from lead-acid and how that’s going for you.
I have a big 20Ah, 48v e-bike battery that I’ve used with a sine-wave inverter for standby power, and it’s a bit over 11 years old and going strong. So, as far as the batteries in these are concerned, I am cautiously optimistic that they’ll last close to the 10 years they’re advertised as. The electronics and inverter…we’ll see, I guess.
Bonus question: While we’re on the subject, has anybody tried those drop-in replacement 12V LiFePO4 batteries for regular UPS’s? Supposedly, it says the BMS in them can work with the lead-acid chargers in UPSs and safely charge them, but I’m not sure I trust that.
A while back, I had asked my UPS vendor at work what he thought, and he wasn’t particularly enthusiastic about them. Mostly said the batteries couldn’t be recycled, yadda yadda. I’m taking his opinion with a grain of salt since the most frequent thing he does on our maintenance contract is replace the lead-acid batteries in our big, central UPS. With the lithium battery models being rated for 5-10 years, I’m guessing there might be some conflict of interest at play lol.