Need to charge UPS batteries to full power

[b_man]

I have a Digi-Power UPS, which my PC vendor (trustworthy guy) picked for me...the problem is this:

the instructions said that for the very first time, i should ON it and let the battieries charge for 6 hours...however i got impatient and plugged the pc, monitor etc after 1-2 hours...

the effect, i think, is that if there is power-out, my UPS immediately starts beeping (low-battery) and has enough power to last only about 2-3 minutes. It gives me enough time to save my work and shutdown the machine safely, but i never get the 20 minutes or so backup time that it claims to have, by which time the power usually returns.

Is there anything i can do for this??

[Arsenal_Gunners]

Can't get the question
First let it charge fo 6 hrs.(tie yourself with a rope if needed)
Then to test it switch the main power off(till the battery exhausts).Note the backup time.

[janitha]

In case of all new rechargeable batteries, it is generally instructed to give a full charge initially ie., from no/minimal charge to full charge.
What can be done in your case is to use it with mains off till it shuts down itself and then charge it continuously for 6-8 hours.

[manmay]

i think the beeps are for indicating that the pc is working on back up power....and i have seen that in most of the upses (ups having 500-600 va rating) apart from APC the total back up time is not more that 8-10 mins on the max...while APC ups give a back up of avg 15 mins....

@b_man....dont worry abt the first time 6-8 hr charge thing....its actually jus to charge the ups...so that you can use it normally.....
it probably is jus to make ssure that you charge it completely......
also the back up time also depends upon the configuration for the computer and the no of devices connected to the back up.....to get a longer back up time....you might need to invest in a upd having a higher power rating like 1000 -2000va.......for eg a 1000-1500 va ups when connected to a regu;ar computer p4 or amd athlon ,17 inch monitor, speakers etc...etc...would give a backup time of approx 45 mins...
also another thing that you can so is to replace your crt monitor with a tft lcd screen.....

i hope this info helped....

[b_man]

great answers from everyone...i'm gonna put all suggestins to use...i guess i do have a pretty good load on it considering i have a 400W PSU (CPU), 21 inch viewsonic and 5.1 creative speakers attached to it, not to mention an MFC in the next few days....so i guess i shouldn't be expecting 20 min

i am gonna turn off the mains and let the system run on UPS...i am gonna note down the time...around 8-9 min should be good enough i guess...then i am gonna let the UPS charge while i go to work and come back and plug it all in...then i am gonna run the system again on UPS and see how much time...will keep ya'll posted...thnx a mil again...

P.S. considering a lot more juicy gadgets are gonna get added in the coming weeks, i guess i have to think about a higher rated UPS....anyone for a mint condition Digi-Power 600KVA UPS???...less than street price

[manmay]

if you 're gonna invest in a new ups....then i urge you to buy APC.....it is definitely costly as compared to all other brands....but looking at the performance and the extended warranty...it is totally worth the extra cash....

the warranty service is amazing....i had a minor prob with my ups...although it was working....i jus went to their site....and chatted with their service representative....some how he was convinced abt the problem....next day i got a call from blore and i was told that i'll be sent a replacement soon...in the next hr i got a call from the local apc dealer.... and nother 3 hrs later i got the replacement ....all in 24 hrs....

i call that "amazing".....

[b_man]

thnx dude..i'll keep that in mind...