APC SmartUPS - new batteries - not charging. Suggestions?

[John B.]

As the subject reads: replaced the batteries in an APC SmartUPS 1250 with new batteries from Gruber. Gave it line power, charge meter was close to full. Plugged in a load (Mac Mini, 2 LCD monitors, assorted router and cable modems), but load light never registered. Charge meter continued to decrease down to a single flashing LED over a multi-day period.

I'm thinking something is messed up with the charging circuit and the initial charge on the batteries plus a low trickle charge kept it going for a couple days. I'm going to open it back up this weekend and put a meter on the battery contacts to see how much voltage is passing, but does anyone remember any tricks for kick-starting this thing after new batteries are put in? FWIW, I re-powered an APC SmartUPS 1400RM at the same time with new Gruber batteries and it went back into service without any complaints.

[OWC Jamie]

if there is an 'enable' switch on the back: hold the test button in, press that switch, keep holding the test button until a beep (maybe several, sorry).

[Buzz]

I thought part of the "Smart" part was that those puppies had add'l testing/diagnostic circuitry to let you know about that kind of stuff, y/n ?

[John B.]

Test + enable switch doesn't do anything of note. Just pressing the test button doesn't do what you would expect either, as typically it would kick all of the LEDs on for a second and the cooling fan would fire up. None of that is happening. I'm going to pick at it a little bit this weekend, but I have a feeling that I might be scouring eBay/Craigslist for another 1250 carcass to leverage the battery purchase investment I just made.

P.S. I know lots of people hear swear by Gruber for UPS replacement batteries. It will be some time before I can comment on their longevity, although I hope it is longer than some of the eBay batteries I bought in the past. However, their shipping packaging left something to be desired, based on pretty thin-walled cardboard boxes that were starting to split at the seams from the weight, and their shipping is about 2x what it should be, as they send big heavy packages through UPS rather than smaller packages in USPS fixed-rate boxes as other battery vendors do.