Will this UPS damage my PC?

[Vishvas Sudarshan]

So the UPS which we have, doesn't produce pure sine wave, its a general purpose one for the whole house and I hear a buzzing sound from my PSU (RM450)

Another note: If I'm recording some audio through my mic (or line in), its recorded with a buzz sound (While running my PC on backup power)

My question is will running my PC off this UPS damage it?

 

Thanks!

[scottyseng]

22 minutes ago, Vishvas Sudarshan said:

-snip-

Which model / brand UPS is it? I've never heard of a general purpose UPS that could power a whole house? Maybe I'm understanding wrong?

 

If the UPS makes stepped sine, it should be fine. If it's square wave, most PSUs don't appreciate it (They have to work a lot harder / some flat out will not accept it as valid power).

[Electronics Wizardy]

Should be fine. Your psu is the only thing that could be hurt and shouldn't be a issue. I have ran many systems on ups power for hours and there fine. 

[Vishvas Sudarshan]

Just now, scottyseng said:

Which model / brand UPS is it? I've never heard of a general purpose UPS that could power a whole house? Maybe I'm understanding wrong?

 

If the UPS makes stepped sine, it should be fine. If it's square wave, most PSUs don't appreciate it (They have to work a lot harder / some flat out will not accept it as valid power).

Frankly I don't know which brand it is, (its 11 years old). Its rated 2Kva. Enough for lights, fans, PCs and other stuff that don't use a lot of power.

[scottyseng]

Just now, Vishvas Sudarshan said:

Frankly I don't know which brand it is, (its 11 years old). Its rated 2Kva. Enough for lights, fans, PCs and other stuff that don't use a lot of power.

Eh, it should be putting out stepped sine. I really doubt there's a 2KVA unit that would be outputting square sine.

 

But it should be fine. The noise issue is kind of odd though.

[Vishvas Sudarshan]

19 minutes ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

Should be fine. Your psu is the only thing that could be hurt and shouldn't be a issue. I have ran many systems on ups power for hours and there fine. 

If my PSU is running on backup power for like 1.5 - 2 hours a day for 2 -3 months in a year, will this cause a problem?

13 minutes ago, scottyseng said:

Eh, it should be putting out stepped sine. I really doubt there's a 2KVA unit that would be outputting square sine.

 

But it should be fine. The noise issue is kind of odd though.

Not only my PSU, even fans make that noise. 

Edit : Not PC fans!

[scottyseng]

Just now, Vishvas Sudarshan said:

If my PSU is running on backup power for like 1.5 - 2 hours a day for 2 -3 months in a year, will this cause a problem?

Not only my PSU, even fans make that noise. 

No, it won't cause a problem. UPS power looks the same as AC power for the most part to the PC. I kind of random my PC and server off of my UPS for an hour before realizing the power had actually gone out (it was night). I have a super overkill Eaton 9130 2000VA UPS though.

 

But yeah, I don't understand how the fans would make noise too...

[Vishvas Sudarshan]

3 minutes ago, scottyseng said:

No, it won't cause a problem. UPS power looks the same as AC power for the most part to the PC. I kind of random my PC and server off of my UPS for an hour before realizing the power had actually gone out (it was night). I have a super overkill Eaton 9130 2000VA UPS though.

 

But yeah, I don't understand how the fans would make noise too...

Well I've read that if the input to most electronic devices aren't pure sine wave, they make a buzzing sound. 

But my PSU sound is hardly audible. And I think I should have been more clear, I was talking about the house fans, not case fans.  

[scottyseng]

Just now, Vishvas Sudarshan said:

Well I've read that if the input to most electronic devices aren't pure sine wave, they make a buzzing sound. 

But my PSU sound is hardly audible. And I think I should have been more clear, I was talking about the house fans, not case fans.  

Ah, okay, the house fans I can understand. That's because the motors in the fans don't have a filtering system like a PSU. So the motor has to deal with whatever it gets. I wouldn't advise running motors on stepped sine. Actually more surprised you have your house wired to this UPS unit..

[Vishvas Sudarshan]

Just now, scottyseng said:

Ah, okay, the house fans I can understand. That's because the motors in the fans don't have a filtering system like a PSU. So the motor has to deal with whatever it gets. I wouldn't advise running motors on stepped sine. Actually more surprised you have your house wired to this UPS unit..

This 'buzzing problem' started after we accidentally ran a powerful water pump on the UPS (and it exploded), and had it repaired. Anyways we're planning to replace it within a year.

[scottyseng]

Just now, Vishvas Sudarshan said:

This 'buzzing problem' started after we accidentally ran a powerful water pump on the UPS (and it exploded), and had it repaired. Anyways we're planning to replace it within a year.

That sure sounds like a fun story for sure...but still, 2KVA is downright tiny for a house...I mean you'd be stuck being super careful with not overloading the UPS all of the time...

 

Good luck with the replacement...Though have you considered a home generator if your power goes out that much?

[Vishvas Sudarshan]

2 minutes ago, scottyseng said:

That sure sounds like a fun story for sure...but still, 2KVA is downright tiny for a house...I mean you'd be stuck being super careful with not overloading the UPS all of the time...

 

Good luck with the replacement...Though have you considered a home generator if your power goes out that much?

A 2Kva UPS is just fine for us, we haven't had problems running stuff like iron, rice cooker or mixer grinders, and without any worry about overloading it. Maybe we can get something of higher capacity when we replace it.

A generator would be very nice, but the thing is, we don't need that much power. 

Thanks !