APC Replacement Battery Cartridge #3
PRODUCT DESCRIPTION
APC Replacement Battery Cartridge #3 (RBC3) - 2 Years Local Warranty
APC RBC3 Replacement Battery Cartridge — Genuine 12 V 10 Ah Cell
The APC RBC3 is a single-block sealed lead-acid replacement battery cartridge for older APC Back-UPS units. Schneider Electric publishes it as a 12 V, 10 Ah cartridge weighing 3.68 kg, supplied assembled and ready to drop into the battery bay. When a Back-UPS starts beeping for a battery it has not failed as a product — the cells have simply reached the end of their service life, and a genuine cartridge restores the runtime the unit had when new.
Buying the APC part rather than a loose battery matters more than it looks. The cartridge carries the correct terminal geometry and lead length for the bay, and the UPS calibrates its runtime estimate against the capacity it expects to find. A cell of the wrong capacity will physically fit and then quietly misreport how much time you have.
RBC3 Specifications: What Schneider Publishes, and What the Old Listing Got Wrong
This listing was rebuilt against Schneider’s own product data sheet, and three figures changed. The capacity is 10 Ah, not 7 Ah. The cartridge measures 102 x 94 x 150 mm, not the 151 x 98 x 99 mm previously shown. And the net weight is 3.68 kg, not 5.0 kg — a difference that matters if you are costing courier freight or a bulk replacement programme.
The certification line has also gone. Schneider does not publish a UL or CE mark for this cartridge; what it does publish is a RoHS position of pro-active compliance with the product sitting outside the legal scope of the EU RoHS directive. That is a materially weaker statement than a plain “RoHS compliant” badge, and it is reproduced here as written rather than tidied up.
Back-UPS Battery Replacement for Singapore Homes and Small Offices
Singapore runs on 230 V, 50 Hz mains, and while the PUB grid is among the most reliable in the region, storm-season voltage dips and the occasional estate-level interruption are exactly what a Back-UPS is there for. A UPS with a tired battery still filters and regulates, but it will not carry the load through the outage that actually matters.
Heat is the quiet enemy of sealed lead-acid cells, and a UPS tucked into a warm cabinet or pressed against a wall in an unconditioned room will lose capacity years earlier than one with air around it. If your last cartridge did not last as long as you expected, the siting is usually a better explanation than the battery.
Buying the RBC3 in Singapore with GST Invoice and Local Warranty
SourceIT supplies the RBC3 as genuine APC stock with a GST invoice and local Singapore warranty support, so a claim is handled here rather than through an overseas seller. Schneider states the cartridge warranty as two years, repair or replace, with no regional split — the same two years applies in Singapore as anywhere else.
If you are not certain the RBC3 is your cartridge, send us the model and serial number from the label on the back of your UPS and we will check it before you order. That is a five-minute answer and it saves a return.
APC RBC3 Datasheet — Technical Specifications
General
| Part Number (SKU) | RBC3 |
| Product Name | APC Replacement Battery Cartridge #3 with 2 Year Warranty |
| Product Type | Sealed lead-acid replacement battery cartridge, supplied assembled |
| Brand | APC by Schneider Electric |
| Manufacturer Warranty | 2-Year Manufacturer Warranty (APC by Schneider Electric) |
| Warranty Coverage | Local Warranty (Singapore) |
Battery Specifications
| Nominal Voltage | 12 V |
| Capacity | 10 Ah |
| Battery Blocks | 1 |
| Chemistry | Sealed lead-acid (VRLA), maintenance-free |
| Expected Service Life | Not published by Schneider for this cartridge |
Physical & Environmental
| Dimensions (H x W x D) | 102 x 94 x 150 mm |
| Net Weight | 3.68 kg |
| Packaged Weight | 4.32 kg |
| Operating Temperature | 0 to 40 °C |
| Storage Temperature | -15 to 45 °C |
| Relative Humidity | 0 to 95 percent, non-condensing |
| Operating Altitude | 0 to 10,000 ft |
| Storage Altitude | 0 to 50,000 ft |
| RoHS Position | Pro-active compliance (product out of EU RoHS legal scope) — Schneider’s own wording |
| REACh | REACh declaration available from Schneider Electric |
Compatibility & Runtime
Which UPS models does the RBC3 fit?
Schneider describes the RBC3 in its own product copy as a replaceable battery for the APC Back-UPS range, but it does not publish a model-by-model host list for this cartridge, and none could be found in any Schneider document. Rather than invent one, here is exactly what the evidence supports.
Authorised distributor listings converge on the mid-1990s Back-UPS units — the BK450, BK520, BK575, BK600 and BK650MC built before August 1998 — along with the AP450, AP520ES and AP550ES. Those are distributor statements, not Schneider ones, and they are published here as such.
One caution worth knowing: BK600 also appears in Schneider’s own catalogue as a battery reference rather than as a UPS model, so a cross-reference table naming “BK600” as a host may be conflating the two. Treat that entry with more care than the rest.
The reliable way to check
Read the number printed on the cartridge you are taking out. APC prints the RBC number on the pack itself, and that label settles the question in a way no cross-reference table can. If the old pack is gone, send us the UPS model and serial and we will look it up. Schneider also publishes the UPS to RBC cross reference list, which maps UPS models to cartridge numbers.
Runtime after replacement
A fresh RBC3 restores the runtime the UPS was designed around; it does not extend it. Runtime always depends on how much load is plugged in, so a unit running at a quarter of its rating will hold up far longer than one running near capacity. The RBC3 has no external battery-pack option — the units it serves take a single internal cartridge only.
Can it be changed with the UPS running?
No hot-swap claim is made here. Schneider’s hot-swap statement covers Smart-UPS models with user-replaceable batteries; the Back-UPS units this cartridge serves are outside that scope, and no Schneider document says otherwise for the RBC3. Shut the UPS down and unplug it before opening the battery bay, and follow the instruction sheet in the box.
Package Contents & RBC Series Ordering Information
In the box
One assembled APC RBC3 replacement battery cartridge and the APC installation instruction sheet. Schneider does not publish a colour or a rack-mount rating for this part, so neither is stated here.
Adjacent APC cartridges at SourceIT
Cartridge numbers in this range are not interchangeable. Two cartridges can share a case, a weight and a chemistry and still differ in voltage, capacity or connector, so the number printed on the pack you are removing is the only safe way to order a replacement.
| RBC3 (this listing) | 12 V, 10 Ah, single block, 3.68 kg |
| RBC4 | 12 V, 12 Ah, single block, 3.68 kg — the higher-capacity cell in the same case family |
| RBC5 | 24 V, 7.0 Ah, two blocks, 4.96 kg — a two-block Smart-UPS cartridge |
| RBC2 | The small Back-UPS CS cartridge, for 230 V BK-series units |
| RBC35 | 12 V, 3.0 Ah, single block, 1.4 kg — the smallest cartridge in the range |
Freight note
At 3.68 kg net and 4.32 kg packaged the RBC3 ships as a single small parcel. Sealed lead-acid cartridges are non-spillable but are still batteries, so air freight is handled under the relevant dangerous-goods provisions; local delivery within Singapore is straightforward.
Datasheet & Downloads
- Schneider Electric product page for the APC RBC3
- Schneider Electric product data sheet for the RBC3 (as mirrored by Mouser, an authorised distributor)
- APC UPS to RBC Cross Reference List (document UPS_to_RBC_EN)
- Replacement Battery Cartridge manual for Back-UPS and Smart-UPS (SPD_JHSH-7ENFZG_EN)
- Safety data sheet for APC sealed lead-acid battery cartridges (v3.3, 24 Sep 2025)
Every specification on this page was read out of the two documents above. We do not link Schneider’s own download host directly: it redirects across domains and has repeatedly returned a different model’s document, so the copies linked here were each checked to make sure the part number printed inside matches this listing. If you need the data sheet emailed as a PDF for a tender or a submittal, ask us and we will send it.
Frequently Asked Questions — APC RBC3
Is the RBC3 12 V or 24 V?
12 V. Schneider’s product data sheet populates the battery voltage field as 12 V and states a single block, and the 3.68 kg net weight is consistent with one 12 V 10 Ah cell. That is worth stating plainly because several cartridges in this range are multi-block packs whose marketing copy quotes the per-block figure — the RBC5 is genuinely 24 V, for instance, despite being described in places as 12 V.
The old listing said 7 Ah. Which is right?
10 Ah. The 7 Ah figure came from boilerplate that was repeated across a large number of cartridge listings and matched none of them. Schneider’s data sheet gives 10 Ah, and this page has been corrected to match it.
How long will an RBC3 last?
Schneider does not publish a service life figure for this cartridge, so none is claimed here. As a practical matter, sealed lead-acid cells in a warm cabinet age noticeably faster than the same cells in a cool, ventilated one, and most users replace on symptoms — a shortened runtime or a battery-fault indicator — rather than on a calendar.
Can I fit a loose 12 V 10 Ah battery instead?
It will usually make contact, and we would still steer you away from it. The cartridge is built to the bay’s terminal geometry and lead length, and the UPS estimates remaining runtime against the capacity it expects. A substitute cell tends to work until the moment you need it to be accurate.
Do I need to shut the UPS down to change it?
Yes, for this cartridge. The hot-swap statement Schneider publishes applies to Smart-UPS models with user-replaceable batteries, and the Back-UPS units the RBC3 serves fall outside it. Power down, unplug, then open the bay.
How does the RBC3 compare with the RBC4?
Same 12 V, same single-block construction, same 94 x 150 mm footprint; the RBC4 is 12 Ah against the RBC3’s 10 Ah and stands 99 mm tall against 102 mm. They are close enough that you cannot tell them apart by eye, which is exactly why the number on the pack is what you should order from.
Does it come with a local Singapore warranty?
Yes. Every APC RBC3 sold by SourceIT comes with local Singapore warranty and a GST invoice; APC backs the RBC3 with a 2-year manufacturer warranty. Schneider states the term as two years, repair or replace, with no regional split, so the figure above is the one that applies in Singapore.
