Free UPS + Free Batteries == Hammond Organ

UPS that someone gave me because it didn’t work:

Minus its original batteries, apparently slightly past their prime, which I had to pry out of the case by levering with a big screwdriver:

Overheated gel cell batteries

Plus three-year-old unused batteries from the campus fire chief:

Equals I can play my “new” Hammond organ, which is temporarily in storage where there’s no electricity:

Worth noting:

Cold Start
When the UPS is off and there is no utility power, it is possible to cold start the UPS to power the loads from the UPS’s battery.
Note: Cold start is not a normal condition.
Press and hold the on/test button until the UPS begins beeping.
Release the on/test button during the beeping to start the UPS.

Addendum 29-Sep-2008:

Runtime with a 15W wall wart plugged in was about an hour. Runtime with the Hammond plugged in (after fully recharging) was about three minutes. I guess free batteries are worth what you pay for them . . . but I do now know that the UPS works and is worth replacing the batteries.

3 Responses to “Free UPS + Free Batteries == Hammond Organ”

  1. Eric says:

    Hey, those are Anderson Power Poles! I use those things for EVERYTHING!

  2. The HardwareXpress Team says:

    Possablily the most inventive use of an old UPS we’ve every seen. I’ve passed this one round the office, brilliant!

  3. Fred Jodry says:

    Now try it with homemade nickel- cadmium or nickel- iron batteries. Perks things up. The electrolyte can be from cheap good nickel- cadmiums. It`s usually the electrodes that make them cheap (or they leak).

Leave a Reply