PowerEdge: Understanding PERC Battery Errors

Summary: This article provides information about various battery error codes, their possible causes, and examples.

This article applies to This article does not apply to This article is not tied to any specific product. Not all product versions are identified in this article.
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Instructions

Table of Contents:

 

 

Common Causes for Battery Warnings and Failure events:

  • Firmware issue
  • A Battery Relearn in progress
  • Battery detection issues
  • Battery disabled
  • Battery charging failures
  • A Battery health check failure

 

Warning Events:

BAT0015    The PERC battery is low.
BAT0020    The PERC1 battery is not ready either because the battery is not fully charged or a transient battery event is observed.

Critical Events:

BAT0017    The PERC1 battery has failed.
BAT0021    The PERC1 battery has reached the end of its usable life or has failed.
BAT1029    The battery on Integrated RAID Controller 1 can no longer recharge. (Deprecated replaced with BAT0017)

 

 

BAT0015: The PERC battery is low 

This error code can occur due to a battery learn cycle or a battery that is not holding a charge. To troubleshoot, check the controller logs for the examples below.

  • Example: Learn Cycle Scheduled

    07/30/25  1:55:45: C0:EVT#01861-07/30/25  1:55:45: 151=Battery relearn started
07/30/25  1:56:50: C0:EVT#01862-07/30/25  1:56:50: 152=Battery relearn in progress
07/30/25  2:32:35: C0:EVT#01863-07/30/25  2:32:35: 148=Battery is discharging
07/30/25  3:49:30: C1:Learn completed successfully.
07/30/25  3:49:30: C0:EVT#01864-07/30/25  3:49:30: 153=Battery relearn completed

    This is working as designed, the battery must be drained in order for the learn cycle to properly test its ability to charge. 

    Recommendation: Update the PERC firmware, as most of the controllers have updated firmware to hide the messaging during learn cycles.

 

  • Example Charging issue:

    10/14/24  8:26:29: C0:  Remaining Capacity      :      134 mAh   Full Charge Capacity: 602 mAh
10/14/24  8:26:29: C0:  Relative State of Charge:       22 %     FwBBUState          : 1 
10/14/24  8:31:54: C0:EVT#185874-10/14/24  8:31:54: 147=Battery started charging
10/14/24  8:31:54: C0:  Remaining Capacity      :      140 mAh   Full Charge Capacity: 605 mAh
10/14/24  8:31:54: C0:  Relative State of Charge:       23 %     FwBBUState          : 1 
10/14/24  9:54:14: C0:EVT#185878-10/14/24  9:54:14: 148=Battery is discharging
10/14/24 17:41:09: C0:  Remaining Capacity      :      134 mAh   Full Charge Capacity: 604 mAh
10/14/24 17:41:09: C0:  Relative State of Charge:       22 %     FwBBUState          : 1 
10/14/24 17:45:29: C0:EVT#185882-10/14/24 17:45:29: 147=Battery started charging
10/14/24 17:46:34: C0:  Remaining Capacity      :      141 mAh   Full Charge Capacity: 618 mAh
10/14/24 17:46:34: C0:  Relative State of Charge:       22 %     FwBBUState          : 1

    Looking at the controller logs we can see how it is never charging up to a full 100% before it starts discharging which causes it to keep having to charge repeatedly indicating an issue with the battery holding a charge or possibly a charging failure from the controller.

    Recommendation: Update the PERC Firmware and monitor if the errors persist. If errors persist, then the recommended is to engage Dell Technical Support.

 

  • Example: Battery Disabled repeatedly

    07/06/25 13:25:30: C1: _____________________________________________
07/06/25 13:25:30: C1:			*** BATTERY MONITORED INFORMATION ***
07/06/25 13:25:30: C1: ____________________________________________________________________________
07/06/25 13:25:30: C1:  Temperature             :       33 C     Voltage             : 3904 mV
07/06/25 13:25:30: C1:  Current                 :        0 mA    GasGaugeStat        : 138
07/06/25 13:25:30: C1:  GPID                    : 20357815       ChargerStatus       : 1
07/06/25 13:25:30: C1:  Remaining Capacity      :       95 mAh   Full Charge Capacity: 128 mAh
07/06/25 13:25:30: C1:  Relative State of Charge:       75 %     FwBBUState          : 1 
07/06/25 13:25:30: C1: ____________________________________________________________________________


07/06/25 13:17:56: C0:EVT#01712-07/06/25 13:17:56: 195=BBU disabled; changing WB virtual disks to WT, Forced WB VDs are not affected
07/06/25 13:25:30: C0:EVT#01714-07/06/25 13:25:30: 194=BBU enabled; changing WT virtual disks to WB
07/06/25 15:25:46: C0:EVT#01720-07/06/25 15:25:46: 195=BBU disabled; changing WB virtual disks to WT, Forced WB VDs are not affected
07/06/25 15:35:30: C0:EVT#01722-07/06/25 15:35:30: 194=BBU enabled; changing WT virtual disks to WB
07/06/25 16:26:28: C0:EVT#01724-07/06/25 16:26:28: 195=BBU disabled; changing WB virtual disks to WT, Forced WB VDs are not affected
07/06/25 16:36:10: C0:EVT#01726-07/06/25 16:36:10: 194=BBU enabled; changing WT virtual disks to WB
07/06/25 17:30:20: C0:EVT#01728-07/06/25 17:30:20: 195=BBU disabled; changing WB virtual disks to WT, Forced WB VDs are not affected
07/06/25 17:35:45: C0:EVT#01730-07/06/25 17:35:45: 194=BBU enabled; changing WT virtual disks to WB

    Looking at the Controller log we see that the battery is being disabled and reenabled without any charging taking place, so the battery low warning is triggered by the battery being disabled.

    Recommendation: Update the PERC firmware followed by a full shutdown and power drain which triggers a fresh battery inventory and battery relearn cycle.

 

 

 

BAT0020: The PERC1 battery is not ready

This error code can also occur due to a battery learn cycle or a battery that has been disabled.

  • Example: Learn Cycle

    07/19/25  0:23:47: C1:Battery fully charged: Starting a Learn cycle 
07/19/25  0:23:47: C0:EVT#01120-07/19/25  0:23:47: 151=Battery relearn started
07/19/25  0:24:52: C0:EVT#01121-07/19/25  0:24:52: 152=Battery relearn in progress
07/19/25  5:54:12: C1:Learn completed successfully.
07/19/25  5:54:12: C0:EVT#01128-07/19/25  5:54:12: 153=Battery relearn completed

07/19/25  5:54:12: C1:Next Learn will start on 10 17 2025 
07/19/25  5:54:12: C1:	 Auto Learn Period      : 90  days
07/19/25  5:54:12: C1:	 Next Learn Time        : 813995652
07/19/25  5:54:12: C1:	 Delayed Learn Interval : 0  hours from scheduled time
07/19/25  5:54:12: C1:	 Next Learn scheduled on: 10 17 2025   5:54:12

    Here we can see that the battery was going through its normal relearn cycle and then it completed successfully and we can see based on the next scheduled run that it is on the default three month cycle for relearn, which explains the previous messages in the logs from 4/19 three months previously.

    Recommendation: Update the PERC firmware, as most of the controllers have updated firmware to hide the messaging during learn cycles.

 

  • Example: Battery Disabled repeatedly

    07/08/25 18:53:39: C0:EVT#03167-07/08/25 18:53:39: 195=BBU disabled; changing WB virtual disks to WT, Forced WB VDs are not affected
07/08/25 18:58:48: C0:EVT#03171-07/08/25 18:58:48: 194=BBU enabled; changing WT virtual disks to WB
07/09/25 12:10:23: C0:EVT#03175-07/09/25 12:10:23: 195=BBU disabled; changing WB virtual disks to WT, Forced WB VDs are not affected
07/09/25 18:53:08: C0:EVT#03179-07/09/25 18:53:08: 194=BBU enabled; changing WT virtual disks to WB

    In this example, the logs will show the battery (BBU) being disabled and then shortly after being enabled again over and over. This can be caused by firmware issues and controller charging issues.

    Recommendation: Update the PERC Firmware and monitor. If the errors persist, engage Dell Technical Support.

 

 

 

BAT0017 - The PERC Battery has failed

This error code can occur due to a battery that has reached the end of its usable life or has failed. To troubleshoot, check the controller logs for battery failure, charging, or detection issues.

  • Example: Battery Health Check Failed

    T15: C0:EVT#02053-T15: 150=Battery has failed and cannot support data retention. Please replace the battery
T15: C0:EVT#02054-T15: 162=Current capacity of the battery is below threshold
T15: C0:EVT#02055-T15: 155=Battery relearn pending: Battery is under charge
07/18/25  2:59:59: C0:EVT#02068-07/18/25  2:59:59: 242=Battery charge complete
07/18/25  2:59:59: C1:Battery fully charged: Starting a Learn cycle 
07/18/25  2:59:59: C0:EVT#02069-07/18/25  2:59:59: 151=Battery relearn started
07/18/25  3:01:04: C0:EVT#02070-07/18/25  3:01:04: 152=Battery relearn in progress
07/18/25  6:48:34: C0:EVT#02071-07/18/25  6:48:34: 148=Battery is discharging
07/18/25  7:51:24: C1:Learn completed successfully.
07/18/25  7:51:24: C0:EVT#02072-07/18/25  7:51:24: 153=Battery relearn completed
07/18/25  7:51:24: C1:Next Learn will start on 10 16 2025 
07/18/25  7:52:29: C0:EVT#02073-07/18/25  7:52:29: 162=Current capacity of the battery is below threshold
07/18/25  7:52:29: C0:EVT#02074-07/18/25  7:52:29: 152=Battery relearn in progress

    Here we see that during boot on its initial Battery health checks done on the controller's initialization it identified the Battery has failed and suggested replacement.
    This is due to the battery health being below threshold, but the battery is not completely dead so we see it triggering relearn over and over discharging and charging the battery which causes it to flip from Failed to normal because it is able to complete the learn cycle and charge, but we can see that it is not holding it for long and triggers the relearn again. 

    Recommendation: Engage Dell Technical Support.

 

  • Example: Battery removed or Charging Fault

    07/09/25 18:39:15: C1:Charger detected Battery removal or Charger Fault condition  
07/09/25 18:44:15: C1:Charger detected Battery removal or Charger Fault condition  
07/09/25 18:49:15: C1:Charger detected Battery removal or Charger Fault condition  
T11: C0:	disableAutoRebuild=0, disableBatteryWarning=0, eccBucketSize=ff 
T11: C0:Charger detected Battery removal or Charger Fault condition  
T11: C0:EVT#56196-T11: 161=Battery removed
07/10/25 11:59:03: C0:Charger detected Battery removal or Charger Fault condition  
07/10/25 11:59:03: C0:Charger detected Battery removal or Charger Fault condition  
07/10/25 12:02:42: C1:Charger detected Battery removal or Charger Fault condition  
07/10/25 12:07:42: C1:Charger detected Battery removal or Charger Fault condition

    In this example we see that the controller detected either a battery removal or charger fault that is preventing the battery from being detected properly.
    So here provided the battery was not physically removed it could be a firmware issue, battery Failure, or controller charging failure.  

    Recommendation: Update the PERC Firmware and check if the battery status. If the errors persist, engage Dell Technical Support.

 

 

BAT0021 - The PERC battery has reached the end of its usable life or has failed

This error code can occur due to a battery that has reached the end of its usable life or has failed. To troubleshoot, check the controller logs for battery failure, charging, or detection issues.

  • Example: Battery or Charging Problems detected

    T8: C0:Unknown DPN, please check battery
T8: C0:EVT#00606-T8: 200=Battery/charger problems detected; SOH Bad
T8: C0:EVT#00607-T8: 195=BBU disabled; changing WB virtual disks to WT, Forced WB VDs are not affected
T8: C0:Battery type is unsupported
T8: C0:Unable to read Battery Pack-Side EEPROM 128 bytes from Offset =0x0.Err - 1
T8: C0:Unable to read Battery Pack-Side EEPROM bytes.Err - 1

    Here we see during the initialization on boot the Battery was found bad, the SOH Bad message here is direct indication that the Battery has failed, we even see it go on to state the battery is unsupported indicating it is no longer detecting it correctly as a valid battery.

    Recommendation: Engage Dell Technical Support.

 

Affected Products

PowerEdge RAID Controller H730P MX, PowerEdge RAID Controller H745, PowerEdge RAID Controller H745P MX, PowerEdge RAID Controller H750 Adapter SAS, PowerEdge RAID Controller H755 Adapter, PowerEdge RAID Controller H755 MX Adapter , PowerEdge RAID Controller H755N Front NVMe, PowerEdge RAID Controller H755 Front SAS, PowerEdge RAID Controller H730, PowerEdge RAID Controller H730P, PowerEdge RAID Controller H740P, PowerEdge RAID Controller H830, PowerEdge RAID Controller H840 ...
Article Properties
Article Number: 000351229
Article Type: How To
Last Modified: 08 Aug 2025
Version:  3
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