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UPS smells like shit

Illyaimi
Go to solution Solved by StDragon,
1 minute ago, Illyaimi said:

Is there any way to check for that?

Yes. Shutdown the UPS, unplug it from the wall (including stuff connected to it), then remove the panel to expose the battery. Pull it out and inspect it for leaks. It will be obvious if so. Also, it might make the smell stronger if it's leaking.

Another possibility is that one of the capacitors is leaking in the UPS. Sometimes they give off a "fishy" smell if they're leaking.

Is that normal? Thought it was bad when I opened the box and charged it first time but I started using it today and it smells like a landfill.

 

Also is it normal that it's always buzzing when connected to power? Or that it's warm to the touch while in use (not on battery).

 

Doesn't really seem convenient for a room without ac, and it's not even summer so it's gonna be interesting seeing how it says 40c max for operating temps and how summers are lately.

 

It's a Cyberpower VP1200ELCD

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Is there any way to check for that?

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1 minute ago, Illyaimi said:

Is there any way to check for that?

Yes. Shutdown the UPS, unplug it from the wall (including stuff connected to it), then remove the panel to expose the battery. Pull it out and inspect it for leaks. It will be obvious if so. Also, it might make the smell stronger if it's leaking.

Another possibility is that one of the capacitors is leaking in the UPS. Sometimes they give off a "fishy" smell if they're leaking.

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Just now, StDragon said:

Yes. Shutdown the UPS, unplug it from the wall (including stuff connected to it), then remove the panel to expose the battery. Pull it out and inspect it for leaks. It will be obvious if so. Also, it might make the smell stronger if it's leaking.

Another possibility is that one of the capacitors is leaking in the UPS. Sometimes they give off a "fishy" smell if they're leaking.

 

Misclicked, but yeah I will definitely check that. The smell is more like the plastic smell that new appliances have to them just stronger. Hopefully it ends up just being that but I'll find out in a bit.

 

I'm more bothered by the fact that it gets warm even though it's not even using battery.

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4 minutes ago, Illyaimi said:

I'm more bothered by the fact that it gets warm even though it's not even using battery.

Being warm in operation is totally fine. It's got active circuitry inside, and it also has to charge the batteries inside. It shouldn't be hot though, especially if there's no load on it. 

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it's normal for a UPS to get fairly warm, they've got a big phatt 50/60Hz transformer inside them, i suppose the heat could have a fun reaction with the 'new plastic' smell...

they dont create *that* much heat, they just dont vent the heat very well either, that's the biggest reason for the temperature.

 

as for the buzzing... depends how loud it is, the transformer will make a bit of a 'hum', but it shouldnt be notably loud unless it is quite poorly constructed, especially when running from mains.

 

all i can say about cyberpower UPSes is that they seem too cheap for the specs on the box... which is usually an indirect message about build quality. i sleep about 3m away from an APC back-UPS pro 1400, and it's not loud enough for me to notice in a quiet room.

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26 minutes ago, BondiBlue said:

Being warm in operation is totally fine. It's got active circuitry inside, and it also has to charge the batteries inside. It shouldn't be hot though, especially if there's no load on it. 

 

Yeah that makes sense. Not sure about hot, it's not uncomfortable even if I hold it for a long time. Bit similar to how a (my) pc case gets after hours of being under a workload.

 

Does operating temperature mean the temperature of the unit or the ambient temperature it can operate at?

 

11 minutes ago, manikyath said:

it's normal for a UPS to get fairly warm, they've got a big phatt 50/60Hz transformer inside them, i suppose the heat could have a fun reaction with the 'new plastic' smell...

they dont create *that* much heat, they just dont vent the heat very well either, that's the biggest reason for the temperature.

 

as for the buzzing... depends how loud it is, the transformer will make a bit of a 'hum', but it shouldnt be notably loud unless it is quite poorly constructed, especially when running from mains.

 

all i can say about cyberpower UPSes is that they seem too cheap for the specs on the box... which is usually an indirect message about build quality. i sleep about 3m away from an APC back-UPS pro 1400, and it's not loud enough for me to notice in a quiet room.

Buzzing is definitely the transformer, it's very similar to the one like 5 meters away from my window outside, just way quieter (that one probably handles a lot more voltage lmao). Just didn't really find any info whether or not that was the case for all UPS but if it's normal behavior then that's okay.

 

And yeah I just checked and around 3 meters seem to be the distance for it being noticeable for me as well

 

It was either going to be an APC or Cyberpower. Read bad and good things about both of them so figured I'd just go with what was available and close to my requirements.

 

Hopefully the plastic ass smell stops in a day or 2

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4 minutes ago, Illyaimi said:

Does operating temperature mean the temperature of the unit or the ambient temperature it can operate at?

The operating temperature is the range of ambient temperature within which a power supply, or any other electrical equipment, operate in.

 

https://www.sunpower-uk.com/glossary/what-is-operating-temperature/

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2 minutes ago, TheCoder2019 said:

The operating temperature is the range of ambient temperature within which a power supply, or any other electrical equipment, operate in.

 

https://www.sunpower-uk.com/glossary/what-is-operating-temperature/

Okay, that makes more sense compared to 40 for the unit temperature. I think my room can get very close to 40C ambient in summer so I will have to get some form of AC anyways unless I want to die

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51 minutes ago, Illyaimi said:

The smell is more like the plastic smell that new appliances have to them just stronger.

So, there's a number of things that can stink for quite a while inside the UPS until they can burn off.

 

You have insulating varnish on the transformer, and the transformer in a UPS is really big.  You have room temperature curing RTV.  You have flux from the wave solder.

 

54 minutes ago, Illyaimi said:

I'm more bothered by the fact that it gets warm even though it's not even using battery.

If the battery is fully charged, it shouldn't be hot at all when plugged in and not running on battery.  Like your PC's PSU, the AC to DC converter's load for charging the battery is completely dependent on how much power it needs to convert.  Once the PSU is charged, the UPS really isn't doing much of anything.

 

I have a fully charged APC 1000VA here next to me and as I touch the entire housing, every bit of it is only about +5°C above room temperature.

 

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18 hours ago, jonnyGURU said:

So, there's a number of things that can stink for quite a while inside the UPS until they can burn off.

 

You have insulating varnish on the transformer, and the transformer in a UPS is really big.  You have room temperature curing RTV.  You have flux from the wave solder.

 

If the battery is fully charged, it shouldn't be hot at all when plugged in and not running on battery.  Like your PC's PSU, the AC to DC converter's load for charging the battery is completely dependent on how much power it needs to convert.  Once the PSU is charged, the UPS really isn't doing much of anything.

 

I have a fully charged APC 1000VA here next to me and as I touch the entire housing, every bit of it is only about +5°C above room temperature.

 

Thanks for explaining the smell, I think it's better now. The battery is on 100%. Yesterday it was warm to the touch, now it's not at all even though room temps are similar. Not sure what's the difference compared to last time but I'll keep in mind to compare on a day when the battery gets some use.

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2 hours ago, Illyaimi said:

Thanks for explaining the smell, I think it's better now. The battery is on 100%. Yesterday it was warm to the touch, now it's not at all even though room temps are similar. Not sure what's the difference compared to last time but I'll keep in mind to compare on a day when the battery gets some use.

Maybe the battery just needed charging still?

 

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14 hours ago, jonnyGURU said:

Maybe the battery just needed charging still?

 

Could be. I started using it when it said 100% battery but it might not be completely accurate

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