Re: Grand Apagon - Electricity (not) in Spain

That is a feature of UPS design that specsmanship to get the longest run time for the sales datasheet means that they cook their batteries. I have seen them swell to the point of bursting inside a UPS. Thick rubber gloves needed to remove the remains. Support metalwork was a real corroded rusty mess but electronics above it remained OK.

 That level of "not working" has not happened to me. Maybe because some power failure makes me find out that the battery is dead.

I've rescued a fair number of UPSs over the years.  In probably 80% of
them, the batteries have swollen to the point where removing the battery
or battery PACK is difficult.  This is especially true of the "better"
UPSs (sine output, 48V battery, metal fabrication) where there is
little "give" in the mechanical design.  Often one has to disassemble
the UPS to see where one can gain leverage on the battery pack
to force it from the case.

They really think I'm going to buy their vastly overpriced replacements?

 I don't.
 But last battery I replaced was not even two years old, rather 5 months short. I replaced it just in time to serve during the Gran Apagón.

That's the problem; you don't KNOW how long a particular battery will last,
even in an environment where it is never called on for backup!
Instead, you are forced into a "reactive" mode -- waiting for something
to tell you you're screwed and need a replacement, now!
My largest UPS uses 50 pound batteries (8 of them).  It's
REALLY inconvenient to have to replace them *now* cuz they
are costly and physically inconvenient to man-handle.  I
would much appreciate some advance notice that they are likely
to need replacement in, say, 30 days (given the current usage
pattern).
Maybe folks will start putting more smarts into their product
designs instead of simple "threshold" events.