Posted on 03/25/2022 9:33:36 AM PDT by zeugma
I have a general questions for freepers who might be knowledgeable about electronics and such things.
I have a CyberPower UPS that I run my desktop and monitor through. It seems to work OK when I actually lose power here. However, we apparently get overvolts occasionally. When that happens the UPS just drops power and turns off. Obviously, this is a less than ideal situation. I have to physically power it back on before I can restart my desktop. Kinda defeats the whole idea of having a UPS.
The reason I suspect an overvolt situation, is because the UPS has a front panel that shows input voltage. Most of the time it displays between 120v and 122v. However, right after It drops power and I bring it back online, it will show the input as high as 123v, and I think I've even seen 124v a time or two.
Does anyone know if it would be worthwhile to put a powerstrip between the UPS and the wall? I figure some of them might be designed to smooth out power, but I really don't know enough about such things to be sure. Perhaps something else would work better.
I'd appreciate any advise on this, as it's kind of annoying.
Very common to see 128 volts as close as we lived to it. No issues, except that overvoltage situations will slowly ruin electronics. Back then I built all of my own surge protectors.
IMO, time for a new UPS. I now live with Minuteman, and they are based in Carrollton. Take a look at their training, and it will shed light on their products.
By definition a UPS should not glitch.
Huh? Lol- me and electricity don’t mix.
Right now, mid-day, I am looking at 126/128v. 255v across both legs. Goes down to maybe 245 at night. Normal.
Are you having other problems with your electronics?
I was having appliances die and blamed it on just manufactured junk. I happened to be looking at the UPS voltage meter when I saw it jump.
I contacted the power company And the guy came right out. He took one look at the power pole and said the ground wire was failing. Fixed it right then & there and rewired the entrance connections while he was at it. No more problems.
We have a great power company. As a side note, our local postal service is pretty good too.
I’d call your electric utility, explain your situation.
A proper system will ride through a voltage spike or even sustained over-voltage.
A power strip in front of the UPS will not help you.
Check the power requirements for your connected equipment. You may be exceeding the capability of the UPS. If the demand wattage is even near 80% of capability, there will be trouble as the UPS ages.
I have had tolerably good performance from Tripp-Lite and APC brand systems. All brands have large numbers of detractor reports; it just seems to be a roll of the dice as to which units will work out.
I have discarded more than one UPS.
Yeah that is going to have to be our next move. Something definitely isn’t right now.
I’d bet your batteries are weak or you have overloaded the UPS. In either case, when the unit tries to go to battery backup mode due to high line voltage, it will just turnoff.
Huh? Lol- me and electricity don’t mix.
Your UPS should not cut out on an overvoltage, especially one of that magnitude, it should protect against it and to a small extent condition the power. Buy a new UPS or see if there is warranty service still available on yours. Dependin on where you purchased it from and what you used to purchase it with, it may be easier than you think to get it replaced.
https://www.sunsolarelectrical.ca/blog/why-are-my-lights-flickering-at-home/
from link:
Circuit Overload
Do your lights sometimes start flickering when you turn on an appliance, such as your dishwasher or microwave? If so, then you might have an overloaded circuit, due to the larger amounts of electrical current which these appliances draw as they startup.
Infrequent, brief flickering is usually not serious, but if you find that the problem occurs all the time or lasts more than a few seconds, you may need to upgrade or install new electrical circuits in these areas.
Voltage Change
Though your home’s electrical voltage can fluctuate slightly, it should always fall within the range of 115 to 125 volts. Voltage change outside this range is problematic and should be diagnosed by a professional electrician.
Signs of severe voltage fluctuation include:
lights flickering or dimming when you switch on large appliances
flickering continues even after you have turned the appliance off
light fixtures dim at unexpected times
light bulbs burn out more quickly than normal
appliances or electronics shutting off or malfunctioning
Loose Wiring
Is your light flicker problem getting steadily worse — for no apparent reason? Loose wiring could be at fault, whether it is due to wear and tear, outdated wiring, or incorrect installation. This is an electrical problem that you must take very seriously.
A loose connection anywhere within the system is a fire hazard, as it is liable to cause arcing or overheating. Don’t risk a devastating electrical fire or complete loss of power in your home – call for electrical service as quickly as possible.
________________________________________
Possible fire hazard...
Don’t feel bad. A power surge fried a $3000 motor inverter in my shop. I called the power company and they just said, “sorry about that.”
But like others said you want a line conditioner. But just get a new UPS. The batteries only last a couple years. Do you really need to spend $1000 on a line conditioner for your computer?
So just to clarify, there’s two different items being discussed here. First things first:
Most power companies won’t give you a tolerance on voltage they supply you. Normally the AC voltage is advertised as 115 Vac or 120 Vac. However during a normal day it can vary from one minute to the next, for example from 108 to 130. Think of voltage like pressure in a closed water hose as a car drives over the line.
Most power strips have circuitry for “surge protection”; you’ll see a little red light on them generally that doesn’t just show power on but surge protection is working. It will reduce any sudden spikes in electricity like a large load being turned on or off suddenly, or a distant lightning strike to the line.
A UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply) is simply a battery and circuits in-line to provide 120 Vac power for a short amount of time to whatever you have plugged into it. How long depends on how big a load compared to how big of battery you have. A typical UPS that plugs into the wall will allow enough time for you to power down your computer & electronic properly, or maybe 15 minutes to get a generator hooked up.
In either case, you’ll get what you pay for. Some of the better surge protectors offer a warranty that will cover replacement costs of any components downstream of it that get killed by a voltage spike passing through for example.
Hope this helps.
Dont waste money putting a surge protector in front of your UPS. That’s like putting a 25 cent paper covid mask in front of an N95 surgical mask.
If you shutdown power to your UPS every night you are going to get longer protection from the device than if you let it run 24/7.
Constant thermal cycling of electronics ages parts. I never turn off my systems and have had very, very few failures.
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