Question Safe to use terminal adapters on UPS battery backup batteries?

[balloonshark]

I ordered a set of batteries from ebay for a Cyberpower CP1350PFCLCD UPS. The batteries ended up having F2 terminals and my UPS has F1 3/16" terminals. Cyberpower must list the wrong battery for my UPS since I searched ebay for the battery part number. The batteries fit it's just the terminals that are wrong. Is it safe to use terminal adapters like in the link I posted? Should they be soldered and/or crimped (if that is possible)? Anywhere to find cheaper adapters? If you have used adapters before how did it work out for you?

UPG UPGF2F1EBBNDL-SLA BATTERY F2 TERMINAL TO F1 TERMINAL ADAPTER | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for UPG UPGF2F1EBBNDL-SLA BATTERY F2 TERMINAL TO F1 TERMINAL ADAPTER at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!

www.ebay.com

VMAX BATTERY TERMINAL ADAPTER FOR TENNIS TUTOR F2 TO F1 TIN PLATED SET OF 4 | eBay

For sale as pictured, no other parts or accessories are included.

www.ebay.com

 

[mindless1]

If they fit good, making good contact and unlikely to accidentally come off, then they should work fine. I mean that there are standards, and then there is reality. In very high current apps, you wouldn't want to go from a larger terminal size to a smaller one but you're doing the opposite.

What you linked are just inline adapters. There is no soldering or crimping involved. If you instead wanted to replace the one on the end of the existing UPS cable, then you would want a high quality crimp tool and crimp type connectors. Trying to use a low quality crimp tool, let alone pliers, probably won't work out well because that's a somewhat high current (dozens of amps) connection for that 1350VA rated UPS, but it's a non-issue if using what you linked.

Cheaper, sure, if you have a few hours to look and are savvy at browsing Alixpress, you could probably get a 20 pack or more for a dollar or two (whether the quality is worse, I couldn't say till I had both in-hand to examine. The ebay sellers may also be shopping at their lowest cost chinese supplier sites), or cheaper still would be to file down the terminals on the battery to the smaller size (voiding any warranty if there is one on the batteries), but what you linked seems like the most time effective way to solve this without resorting to that at only ~$8 delivered for 4 of them.

One last detail though - they are described as tin plated but not tin plated what. Better quality usually have brass as the base metal instead of steel. You could ask the seller...

Also is there room in the battery bay without having to resort to bending them? Bending can have an unpredictable result, how well it all fits together and maintains optimal low-resistance contact.

 

[balloonshark]

Thanks mindless1. Good to know the adapters should work well without soldering. I will make note of the terminal size in the event I need to order another set of batteries.

The seller agreed to send 4 adapters via snail mail. This whole mess is really APC's fault. The battery they recommend has the wrong size terminals for my unit which has a serial number starting with CQB.

There is plenty of room in my battery bay. The last two sets of batteries I bought are 5.5AH but my unit can take a 7AH or 9AH.

 

[mindless1]

Oh. I suppose if the smaller battery size works for your needed current and runtime, it works, but generally you don't want to downsize SLA batteries because with each discharge, the deeper it discharges, the more it degrades the battery. Granted if a 1350VA UPS was overkill, if not running it till it shuts down from low battery, you're not worse off than having a smaller UPS that can't even fit 2 x 7Ah.

 

[balloonshark]

Oh. I suppose if the smaller battery size works for your needed current and runtime, it works, but generally you don't want to downsize SLA batteries because with each discharge, the deeper it discharges, the more it degrades the battery. Granted if a 1350VA UPS was overkill, if not running it till it shuts down from low battery, you're not worse off than having a smaller UPS that can't even fit 2 x 7Ah.

That's a good point. I'm a pretty simple user though. If my PC and accessories end up on battery backup power I will shut down ASAP. If it's windy, and/or icy to where it causes the backup to rapidly power on and off I will shut down and unplug everything. That type of power disruption (Ice from hurricane Sandy) killed my previous Cyberpower unit and they replaced it under warranty with my current unit. Luckily it was right before the warranty ended.

 

[balloonshark]

The adapters arrived yesterday. One of them wouldn't go on because of a burr on the adapter. I had to mess with it for 30 minutes. With the terminals, adapters and UPS connector it was long enough to make the wires stick out past the edge of the battery. This made it difficult to insert the two batteries in the UPS since the inside of the UPS wasn't smooth. Lots of ridges for the wires to catch on.

This is the last time I mess with these adapters. At least the UPS powered on and seems to be working fine.

 

[mindless1]

Yeah I wondered if they'd fit into the battery bay.

 

[dlerious]

I see 2 different batteries listed depending on serial number (RB1270X2A(CQB,CR8) or RB1270X2C (CXY serial)). I've always bought the cyberpower labeled ones from Amazon for my cp1500pfclcd and cp1000pfclcd. Haven't really checked to see how much cheaper batteries are for the PR1500LCD ($206 on Amazon).

 

[balloonshark]

I see 2 different batteries listed depending on serial number (RB1270X2A(CQB,CR8) or RB1270X2C (CXY serial)). I've always bought the cyberpower labeled ones from Amazon for my cp1500pfclcd and cp1000pfclcd. Haven't really checked to see how much cheaper batteries are for the PR1500LCD ($206 on Amazon).

My serial starts with CQB. Amazon says it's an F2 terminal. My unit must have come from some sort of weird batch with F1 connectors. It is a warranty replacement unit.

The last set of batteries I used was Mighty Max brand. I thought they were decent for cheap batteries. I bought them in 2019 so they had a good long life.