Wacky UPS problem.

GHoosdumGHoosdum Icrontian
edited August 2004 in Hardware
I woke up this morning to a horrendous beeping coming from the main part of the apartment. It was 15 minutes before my alarm was due to go off, and I was pissed. At first, I was wondering if maybe it was the fire alarm with a low battery. As I got out of bed to check, I found out that both my UPS and CB's UPS were beeping, as if the power was out and they were running on battery backup. It has done this before, at about the same time in the morning one day a few weeks ago. That time, it was short enough that neither of the PCs shut down, so I felt safe and went to take a poo. While I was on the can, my alarm went off too, so I had to listen to the clamor of 2 UPSs and an alarm clock for a while. Unfortunately, whatever power problem we were experiencing went on long enough that both battery backups ran out of juice, and our PCs shut down.

Here's what threw me: there was still power going to the units. All of the devices that were plugged into the surge-protect-only side of both UPSs were still operating normally... but we were on battery backup!

I'm just wondering what conditions could cause the UPSs to kick over to battery backup while they're still powered. Both UPSs are 650VA Belkin units, and both were doing the same thing at the same time, while plugged into two seperate outlets on two different walls.

Comments

  • CycloniteCyclonite Tampa, Florida Icrontian
    edited August 2004
    Dirty power? I know my UPSs switch to battery when they get a voltage drop or spike. It helps to protect the equipment.
  • BlackHawkBlackHawk Bible music connoisseur There's no place like 127.0.0.1 Icrontian
    edited August 2004
    When the fuse box in my house was fubar'ed I used to get that ever 5 mins. I guess UPS are really sensitive. In the end I lost a PSU, video card and modem. You should check the fuse box just incase.
  • QCHQCH Ancient Guru Chicago Area - USA Icrontian
    edited August 2004
    Bad power... low voltage or inconsistent power. I know my old UPS would got insane during brown outs. The non-powered equipment would be working but the UPS powered stuff was running off of battery.

    If this happens again, and you have a millimeter, check the voltage from an outlet (be careful)... see what the voltage is.
  • EMTEMT Seattle, WA Icrontian
    edited August 2004
    Was the "Building Wiring Fault" light on? I couldn't charge my UPS off a generator during hurricane Isabel because the power just wasn't clean enough, and in a case like that I'm sure the battery backup plugs would go battery and the surge protected could just pass through the not so clean power.
  • GHoosdumGHoosdum Icrontian
    edited August 2004
    Nope, Building Wiring Fault light was off. I'm betting on the dirty power hypothesis.
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