On Mar 26, 2011, at 1:06 PM, Kris Tilford wrote: > On Mar 26, 2011, at 2:06 PM, Bruce Johnson wrote: > >>> You can also get an alarm on low mains voltage. Best answer is to RTFM. >> >> Low mains usually dims the lights, too, at least when it's enough to trip >> the UPS alarm. > > I seem to get this fairly often, and the lights only dim perhaps one of three > times. Another third of the time I hear a major appliance kick on just before > the alarm, this can be a washing machine, or a refrigerator compressor, or an > air conditioner. The final third of the time there is no outward sign, the > alarm just goes off on it's own.
Most of the time I got a low voltage alarm there were no other visible signs. It can happen if the line voltage is just low and otherwise minor dips in cause the alarm but won't be noticeable in the lights. > > It's a major hassle because resetting the alarm will kill the Mac, which > makes zero sense to me since the whole idea of UPS is "uninterrupted power" > so you'd think that you should be able to reset the alarm without > interrupting the power, but that's not how it works, so I must then Shutdown > and reboot. > > I've got two of these units, and both test out good for the batteries, so I'm > assuming I've got some sort of voltage issue with my mains. My house is > fairly new, and I've never had problems with electricity for any other uses > other than these UPS alarms going off about once a week or so. You might check to see if the trip point is selectable, some UPSes allow this. Personally I'd be leery of a UPS that cut power when resetting the alarm, that is a bad design. Clark Martin Redwood City, CA, USA Macintosh / Internet Consulting "I'm a designated driver on the Information Super Highway" -- You received this message because you are a member of G-Group, a group for those using G3, G4, and G5 desktop Macs - with a particular focus on Power Macs. The list FAQ is at http://lowendmac.com/lists/g-list.shtml and our netiquette guide is at http://www.lowendmac.com/lists/netiquette.shtml To post to this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/g3-5-list
