[OPLINTECH] UPC disposal

[Chad Neeper]

A lot of people don't seem to realize that the batteries in UPS units are
usually replaceable. So after about three-four years, when the battery is
shot and the UPS no longer "works", they throw it away and buy a new one.
In my experience, APC UPSes are pretty robustly built and it's rarely the
UPS itself that fails...it's usually the battery. So I pop out the old
battery(-ies), run over to my local Batteries Plus (or similar), return the
old core for recycling and buy a new (and sometimes better) one and the UPS
is as good as new. The last UPS unit I actually had to dispose of because
it truly failed was my own APC 2200VA floor unit. It was at least 17 years
old. That's extreme, of course, but I have a very high tolerance with my
own equipment. (Or maybe I'm just a cheapskate. Potato, potato.) The UPSes
are usually designed to facilitate replacing the batteries and that's the
cheaper and less wasteful option.

If a UPS is truly dead and it's not just a weak battery, I still pop out
the core and take it over to Batteries Plus for recycling. The UPS itself
gets piled with other dead/decommissioned computers that are being disposed
of. Often, my libraries wait for a recycling day in their county and drop
off their eWaste that way. Sometimes it's a local patron that takes them.
Sometimes they call a local recycling company that takes electronic waste
(usually for a fee). Sometimes they go towards some teen tear-down program
that the library might occasionally run where the teens tear apart old
computer stuff and use the parts to make robot art or whatever. I'm afraid
I can't offer any specific company names myself. Mostly I just wanted to
mention the batteries.

FWIW, HTH,
Chad

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*Chad Neeper*
Senior Systems Engineer

*Level 9 Networks*
740-548-8070 (voice)
866-214-6607 (fax)

*Full IT/Computer consulting services -- Specialized in public libraries*


On Fri, Aug 6, 2021 at 11:45 AM Jarrad Awwiller via OPLINTECH <
oplintech at lists.oplin.org> wrote:

> We just had a UPC unit go out. Does anyone know where I can dispose of it?
>
> All the stores around my area have said no, and did not suggest a
> solution.
>
> We have a two unit device, similar to this:
>  [image: image.png]
>
> Any information would be greatly appreciated.
>
> Thanks!
>
> --
> *Jarrad Awwiller*
> *Information Technologies Coordinator*
>
> 6 W Emerald St, Willard, OH 44890
> Ph. 419.933.8564
> Fax. 419.933.4783
> jawwiller at huroncolib.org
>
>
> *This message and any response to it may constitute a public record and
> thus may be publicly available to anyone who requests it.*
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