UPS electrical problem
I have my Linux Media Center, a Dell Studio Hybrid PC, 2 1TB Fantom external drives and a 25 lcd monitor plugged into an APC Backups Pro 500 UPS on the battery+surge protection side. Within the past week, when the household thermostat kicks on or off the central A/C system, the PC shuts off instantaneously. Other electronics do not seem to be affected, although they probably are. It's just harder to confirm since a flicker in the drive or monitor power would be hard to observe. I assume that a sag or surge gets through the UPS and affects my PC, but don't understand how that can happen when I thought that's what the UPS was supposed to prevent. And, short of replacing the UPS, I'm not sure what to do about it. Is there something I can do to prevent this sag/surge event -- since it's likely to affect something else? Thanks, Greg Rundlett ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/
Re: UPS electrical problem
On 6/29/2010 9:33 PM, Greg Rundlett (freephile) wrote: I have my Linux Media Center, a Dell Studio Hybrid PC, 2 1TB Fantom external drives and a 25 lcd monitor plugged into an APC Backups Pro 500 UPS on the battery+surge protection side. Within the past week, when the household thermostat kicks on or off the central A/C system, the PC shuts off instantaneously. Other electronics do not seem to be affected, although they probably are. It's just harder to confirm since a flicker in the drive or monitor power would be hard to observe. I assume that a sag or surge gets through the UPS and affects my PC, but don't understand how that can happen when I thought that's what the UPS was supposed to prevent. And, short of replacing the UPS, I'm not sure what to do about it. Is there something I can do to prevent this sag/surge event -- since it's likely to affect something else? In my experience, that is usually a sign that the UPS battery is shot. On any power twitch, the UPS switches over to the battery, which has no capacity, and shuts everything off. How old is the UPS' battery? The Backups Pro 500 is a fairly old model, as in Windows 98 era, if I recollect. -- Dan Jenkins, Rastech Inc., Bedford, NH, USA, 1-603-206-9951 *** Technical Support Excellence for four decades. ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/
Re: UPS electrical problem
On Tue, Jun 29, 2010 at 09:54:52PM -0400, Dan Jenkins wrote: On 6/29/2010 9:33 PM, Greg Rundlett (freephile) wrote: Within the past week, when the household thermostat kicks on or off the central A/C system, the PC shuts off instantaneously. In my experience, that is usually a sign that the UPS battery is shot. On any power twitch, the UPS switches over to the battery, which has no capacity, and shuts everything off. How old is the UPS' battery? The Backups Pro 500 is a fairly old model, as in Windows 98 era, if I recollect. That would be my guess as well, but the other thing to check is that most of the APC models have user-settable voltage cutover points for over/under current events. It's possible that if the under-voltage setting is too low, then the UPS battery might still be good, and it's just that it's not cutting over soon enough and the PC power supply can't survive the dip, which causes the machine to reboot. Last I looked, APC had Windows/Mac clients for checking/changing their settings, and I think there are some 3rd party linux/UNIX tools that will allow you to do it as well. Network UPS Tools (NUT) is one I have used in the past. -ben -- when i read about the evils of drinking, i gave up reading. henry youngman ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/
Re: UPS electrical problem
On 6/29/2010 10:01 PM, Ben Eisenbraun wrote: On Tue, Jun 29, 2010 at 09:54:52PM -0400, Dan Jenkins wrote: On 6/29/2010 9:33 PM, Greg Rundlett (freephile) wrote: Within the past week, when the household thermostat kicks on or off the central A/C system, the PC shuts off instantaneously. In my experience, that is usually a sign that the UPS battery is shot. On any power twitch, the UPS switches over to the battery, which has no capacity, and shuts everything off. How old is the UPS' battery? The Backups Pro 500 is a fairly old model, as in Windows 98 era, if I recollect. That would be my guess as well, but the other thing to check is that most of the APC models have user-settable voltage cutover points for over/under current events. It's possible that if the under-voltage setting is too low, then the UPS battery might still be good, and it's just that it's not cutting over soon enough and the PC power supply can't survive the dip, which causes the machine to reboot. Last I looked, APC had Windows/Mac clients for checking/changing their settings, and I think there are some 3rd party linux/UNIX tools that will allow you to do it as well. Network UPS Tools (NUT) is one I have used in the past. On some of the older UPS models, there were dip switches on the back for the cutover. That is a good point, if there is enough load and the PC power supply can't handle any dropout. I have an old IBM server which will survive the lights going off on (it doesn't have a UPS). Some of my newer units can't handle even a flicker of the power. Cheaper power supplies. -- Dan Jenkins, Rastech Inc., Bedford, NH, USA, 1-603-206-9951 *** Technical Support Excellence for four decades. ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/
