Portalac PXL-12090 - 12 Volt/9 Ah

I have about 40 APC UPS units attached to the various workstations and servers scattered throughout my office, most of which take RBC17 batteries. For quite a while I was replacing the spent batteries with OEM APC RBC17s, but I maintain a spreadsheet and write the installation date on the batteries themselves when replacing and I started to notice big swings in the overall life of the batteries based on batch. I decided to peel the labels off the APC batteries to see if I could identify the reason.I quickly discovered that the shorter-lived batteries were CSB units (model HR1234WF2) under the APC sticker while the longer-lasting ones were these Portalac PXL-12090 units. The difference in lifespan is significant, with CSBs typically lasting about 3 years (with a few outliers lasting almost 5) while the Portalacs typically last a minimum of 5 years. (I also tried a couple cheaper off-brands with the same 12V 9Ah rating and was lucky to get 2 - 2 ½ years out of them.)For me, it was a no-brainer to switch to buying these Portalac units since the price is virtually identical to the OEM RBC17s but with the assurance I’m going to get a longer life and fewer trips under desks to replace failing batteries.