This is about a CyberPower UPS.

Specifications: 600VA/360W, Line-Interactive, LCD, 19"/1U (rack type), USB | OR600ELCDRM1U Bought in: 2017

I replaced its 6V batteries once in 2020.

At some point I started operating it without its software (PowerPanel).

Recently it started beeping regularly. I powered it off, intending to check on it later. At some point, I powered it back on, and installed PowerPanel.

The UPS reported what appears to be a phantom load, that quickly increased to over 100%, after which it started screaming.

So, I replaced its batteries again.

Both the old ones and the new ones were of type B.B. Battery HR9-6.

The new ones seem fine (6.39V without load). After some fiddling, their voltage (while disconnected) increased to some 6.4V.

This UPS never got heavily used, but bridged very short and very seldom power cuts for a normal office computer.

At the moment, the UPS does not supply power to any consumer (it protects nothing), but I connected it via USB to a computer.

The UPS starts normally with its typical two beeps and a short test. The computer recognizes it and PowerPanel reports everything to be fine. It boots with the following message:

• The battery test was successful, battery is healthy

Nevertheless, its Dashboard > Output > Load section keeps showing what appears to be a phantom load, which increases over some 1-2 minutes from about 48% to over 100%, after which the UPS starts screaming again.

It logs the following:

• Output is overloaded, the UPS will stop supplying power soon
• UPS has malfunctioned and is not working normally

The Dashboard > Battery section shows the following messages:

• Battery capacity is critically low.
• The UPS has stopped supply power.
• Capacity: 100%

Then it puts the computer to sleep.

The same happens under a light load (with a 220V LED lamp). By the way, this same thing happened with the old batteries, as well, but faster.

Questions

• Does my UPS have a defect?
• Did you ever encounter such a situation with a phantom load?
• How come these appliances have only a 3-year warranty?

Thank you.