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Re: BBWC Battery issue

 
dannyboyy75
Occasional Advisor

BBWC Battery issue

Hi,

 

We recently acquired a Proliant ML350 G5 server (estimated between 3-4 years old), which was reporting that the BBWC battery had failed. The array controller is an E200i.

 

We purchased a new battery and installed it in the PCB in place of the old battery. Now, after the server is powered up, we see a solid green LED on the PCB, which the E200 manual indicates as charging. This is also confirmed when we look in ACU.

 

However after about 5 minutes or so, the green LED switches off and the yellow LED lights up instead (solid). According to the manual this means there's a short across the battery terminals or inside the battery. ACU also returns to saying the battery has failed.

 

Is it likely we've been sold a duff battery, or is it possible that the fault lies elsewhere, e.g. battery not being charged correctly?

 

thanks

Dan

5 REPLIES 5
Robert_Jewell
Honored Contributor

Re: BBWC Battery issue

Its certainly possible that the battery you used is no good, depending on its source and age.  Many times though its the controller that is failing to charge the battery properly.   Given the nature of the error, I might suspect you still have a battery issue.

 

If you install the original one does it fail in the same manner?  If not, then give another battery module a try.  If so then you may want to source a new controller and battery cable.

 

-Bob

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dannyboyy75
Occasional Advisor

Re: BBWC Battery issue

Hello Bob

 

Thanks for the reply. Unfortunately this is the only server of this type that we have, so I don't have a spare module I can swap out to test - only two suspect batteries.

 

I installed the old battery again to check that it produces exactly the same behaviour (briefly charging before giving a 'battery failed' error, rather than erroring immediately). However, weirdly it has been recharging successfully for nearly 90 minutes now, so I'm just going to monitor it and see if it reaches full charge without erroring now.

 

 

Dan

dannyboyy75
Occasional Advisor

Re: BBWC Battery issue

Well that was weird. The old battery is now fully charged and caching is enabled on the array.

 

I'm tempted to try the new battery again now, but while things are working I think I'll leave well alone!

 

cheers

Dan

ProliantWatch
Advisor

Re: BBWC Battery issue

It will take around 48 hrs for the battery to get fully charged. Also, collect the ADU report, and upload it here, so that someone can check and help if there is any issues. 

 

Regards,

http://hpproliant.blogspot.com/
dannyboyy75
Occasional Advisor

Re: BBWC Battery issue

Hi,

 

Well since then the plot has thickened further, although hopefully with a positive outcome :)

 

About 4 hours after the old battery reported having reached full charge (and caching enabled), it returned to saying failed.

 

So at that point I reinstalled the new battery, and that one has been fine ever since. It reached full charge nearly 48 hours ago now and has reported no errors since, so hopefully all is well now.

 

Dan