Free UPS Upgrade
I think I’ve just found a cheap (if not free) way to upgrade an APC Back-UPS ES 350 to an ES 500, roughly doubling its power output or standby time. Inside the battery compartment is a plastic grid that limits the size of the battery that can be installed therein. If you go at the plastic grid with a pliers and tear it all out, you can replace the small $29.99 RBC45 battery pack with a $29.99 RBC46 battery pack. Looking at photos of the two models, they outwardly appear to be identical, so I’d bet this grid is all the only real difference between the two. The larger battery is the same price as the smaller one, so when it’s time to replace your battery, this is basically a free upgrade!
Then, if you want to get fancy, you can also go into the registry and change the description of the unit. It’s under HKLM\SOFTWARE\APC\APC Power Chute Personal Edition\2.00.000\Technical Data, in the UPSModel string. It’ll read “Back-UPS ES 350,” so just change it to “Back-UPS ES 500.”
I’m not an electrical engineer, and I haven’t discussed this modification with APC. I’m certain this modification will void your warranty, and I guess there’s even a chance you could overload the unit and burn down your house or office, so I’m only offering this blog posting for research and feedback. If you decide to modify your UPS, don’t blame me if anything bad happens – you’re on your own. If anyone has performed this modification, please get back to me to let me know how it turned out – especially if it burned down your house…
Incidentally, Maverick Solutions is usually able to obtain replacement UPS batteries less expensively than what the manufacturers charge, so when it’s time to replace yours, drop us a line!
