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APC UPS issue with USB interface due to internal defect (alien.top)

submitted 11 months ago by bythelake9428@alien.top to c/homelab@selfhosted.forum

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My preference was to share this with Schneider Electric / APC directly, but I couldn't find an email address, so I thought I'd leave this here in case others experience something similar.

I recently bought an APC Back UPS, model BVK750M2 (750VA/410W), for a small Proxmox server. I spent days trying to get the UPS's USB port to be detected, even trying older devices with USB 2 and 1 ports, but none seemed to detect this new UPS.

I'm in a very remote area, and this device is heavy, so I really wasn't interested in shipping it back to return it. In an act of desperation, I simply disassembled the unit. The rear USB type B port is mounted on a small PCB, with a white 4-wire cable that connects it to the main controller board. I thought I'd start there, testing each of the 4 wires for continuity.

Once I pulled that little white cable, I quickly noticed the issue. One pin was simply not set into the connector housing (see the picture). I pushed the offending pin fully into the housing and reconnected the cable, and now everything works as expected.

I'm not recommending that people start disassembling their UPSs. I'm only sharing my experience in case others are experiencing the same thing. My take-away from this is that APC does not test these units after assembly, because there's no way this USB port would have ever worked.

Stay awesome, Home Lab community!

https://preview.redd.it/m0807yz5g32c1.jpg?width=1575&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7cb75070a25415b17a726d7fabe8890afe07c0dc

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[–] HoustonBOFH@alien.top 1 points 11 months ago (1 children)

The quality of APC has really drops to pathetic levels. This is another example. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dIEM2bG8mOQ We dropped them years ago for Cyberpower. Got tired of RMAs.

[–] SteveAM1@alien.top 1 points 11 months ago

My APC (BN1500M2) just failed after less than a year. They are replacing it, but it’s definitely a pain.

The most annoying this was that the devices attached to it were losing power when the unit crashed, even though I wasn’t losing power on site. So it was failing at keeping continuous power being fed from the outlet. I was upset it failed after less than a year, buy I was really pissed my NAS was crashing when it was having problems.

I kind of wished I got a CyberPower.

[–] visceralintricacy@alien.top 1 points 11 months ago

I believe I've actually experienced this exact same fault on the exact same APC model, on the other side of the planet to you. Perhaps not an isolated issue...

[–] samajors@alien.top 1 points 11 months ago

I share your frustration with trying to contact APC. I have a power strip with USB chargers built in, which stopped working still under warranty. The only way to contact them to make a warranty claim is to create an online account (which is obnoxious enough in the first place), but I couldn't do that because the verification code they emailed me was "". Not a link or an image that's revealed when you hover, just the characters "". I guess I'll just eat the $40 and buy some other brand's next time. Thanks APC!