UPS batteries swelled, DC says not their problem

My UPS batteries swelled after 18 months and the DC says it is not their problem. I am looking at the lease and it says "tenant responsible for equipment within the rack" but also "dc maintains rack infrastructure including power distribution." the batteries are in the rack-mounted UPS that came with the cabinet when I leased it. The DC says I should have monitored the battery health myself. I did not, but a leased rack with included UPS implies some shared responsibility. The batteries are now physically stuck and the DC says they will charge me for rack damage if I try to remove them myself. Has anyone dealt with this at Vultr or similar providers

Actually this is basically the same thing that happened to me at OVHcloud~ the batteries swelled and welded themselves to the rails (´・ω・｀) I basically had to pay for the rack panel they damaged during removal~ in my case the lease said "customer equipment" so it was clearly my problem but basically the UPS was pre-installed when I got the rack so actually I felt it was unfair too~ did your lease specify the UPS as included or optional?? Kaomoji helps with stress~

This is a common ambiguity in colocation contracts. The key distinction is whether the UPS is classified as "customer equipment" or "landlord fixtures." in most jurisdictions, if the item is bolted or welded into the rack and removal causes damage, it is treated as a fixture regardless of who paid for it initially. The battery is a consumable component of the UPS, which complicates matters further because consumables are typically tenant obligations while fixtures are landlord obligations. You need to check your lease for the definition of "equipment" versus "infrastructure." also check whether the DC has a maintenance schedule they failed to execute. If they were contractually required to inspect batteries quarterly and did not, that shifts liability even if the batteries are nominally yours.

Hej, I had this on server at RackNerd. The contract said "power path to rack" is dc, but "devices in rack" is customer. No articles in my explanation, sorry. The UPS was pre-installed, so I think it is into gray area. I asked lawyer and he said "it depends." no helpful. I paid for removal in end, malý server was down for two days. "no" as filler: no, the dc was not friendly about it. Hej again, good luck.

Who needs colocation battery drama when you can self-host it in your garage with a used APC from ebay and a docker compose stack for monitoring?? I run nut-server in a container with prometheus and I know my battery health before the swelling starts. Reverse proxy through nginx for the dashboard. No emojis needed, just good planning. In all seriousness though, your lease sounds like it was written to be ambiguous. Most dc leases are. They want the revenue of included ups but not the liability. You are probably stuck paying.

Yes, this is very « how to say » common problem. The Lease is written to protect the DC, not you. I am seeing this at InterServer also, where they put « the Vultr » as example of good contract but actually it is same. The h is dropped in my frustration. You own the Batteries but they own the Rack, and when Battery becomes one with Rack, you have the Problem. Random Capitalization for emphasis. I think you should negotiate the removal cost, not accept full price. Say you will move to « the HostHatch » if they do not help. Bluff, but worth try.

So the UPS came WITH the rack but YOU own it?

The UPS was listed as "included rack power protection" in the lease addendum, not as optional equipment. I specifically asked about this before signing and the sales rep said "we maintain the power path, you just use it." The batteries are now fused to the rails and the DC is quoting me £800 for "rack remediation" plus the cost of a replacement UPS they will install. I have been going back and forth for a week.

That is the exact ambiguity. In Ashburn I have seen leases where the UPS is explicitly listed as "landlord equipment" and others where it is "customer equipment pre-installed for convenience." The difference determines who pays for consumables. Wendy, does your lease have a schedule that lists individual items in the rack? If the UPS appears on a landlord schedule, the battery is arguably their maintenance obligation even if the lease says "tenant equipment" broadly.

Get that in writing? No? Then it is your word against theirs and the lease controls. I know that sounds harsh but this is why I self-host. My used APC Smart-UPS cost $80 on eBay and I monitor it with NUT. Total cost of ownership over three years is less than one month of your rack remediation fee. The docker compose is three services: nut-server, prometheus, grafana. I can paste the yaml if anyone wants it.