Help Needed with APC UPS

[Boomwebsearch]

I bought a used APC NS600VA UPS which when I plugged in my desktop computer, a monitor, a small NAS server and a Samsung Laser Printer, resulted in the overload protection alarm going off and the power being cut to these devices. Then I had a two US prong plug fan which I plugged into it while being connected to a power strip with a switch.The fan started and then a few minutes I suddenly pressed the off button on the power strip and the power cut to the fan causing it to turn off, and it beeped at a few second interval with the power light off. Although it did not prevent that fan from turning off. When I connected it to my computer and ran their Powers Chute Personal Edition application it stated that the battery backup is functioning normally. Is there something which I am doing incorrectly and the unit is working correctly or is there something wrong with this unit and I should get it returned (note that I did get a discount on purchasing it because it was a used unit)?

[W-L]

25 minutes ago, Boomwebsearch said:

I bought a used APC N600VA UPS which when I plugged in my desktop computer, a monitor, a small NAS server and a Samsung Laser Printer, resulted in the overload protection alarm going off and the power being cut to these devices. Then I had a two US prong plug fan which I plugged into it while being connected to a power strip with a switch.The fan started and then a few minutes I suddenly pressed the off button on the power strip and the power cut to the fan causing it to turn off, and it beeped at a few second interval with the power light off. Although it did not prevent that fan from turning off. When I connected it to my computer and ran their Powers Chute Personal Edition application it stated that the battery backup is functioning normally. Is there something which I am doing incorrectly and the unit is working correctly or is there something wrong with this unit and I should get it returned (note that I did get a discount on purchasing it because it was a used unit)?

What are your system and NAS specs, also drop a link to the unit you have on hand as 600VA doesn't tell us much. 

[Boomwebsearch]

2 minutes ago, W-L said:

What are your system and NAS specs, also drop a link to the unit you have on hand as 600VA doesn't tell us much. 

I have an HP Compaq Elite 8000 SFF computer system with 8GB of RAM, an Intel Core 2 Duo e7500, and a 1TB hard drive. I know that my NAS has 2x Seagate Barracuda drives in RAID 1 although do not remember the hardware specs of it, the NAS is the Buffalo LinkStation 200 which I will include a link to. The printer would be a Samsung Xpress M2880FW laser printer, and the monitor is a Dell 19 inch monitor. I will also link the specific UPS unit which I have and was referring to within my original post.

 

link to the NAS which I am referring to:   https://www.bestbuy.com/site/buffalo-linkstation-220-2tb-2-bay-external-network-storage-nas-black/1206113.p?skuId=1206113

 

link to the UPS unit which I am referring to:   https://www.ebay.com/i/253192874672?chn=ps

[W-L]

8 minutes ago, Boomwebsearch said:

I have an HP Compaq Elite 8000 SFF computer system with 8GB of RAM, an Intel Core 2 Duo e7500, and a 1TB hard drive. I know that my NAS has 2x Seagate Barracuda drives in RAID 1 although do not remember the hardware specs of it, the NAS is the Buffalo LinkStation 200 which I will include a link to. The printer would be a Samsung Xpress M2880FW laser printer, and the monitor is a Dell 19 inch monitor. I will also link the specific UPS unit which I have and was referring to within my original post.

 

link to the NAS which I am referring to:   https://www.bestbuy.com/site/buffalo-linkstation-220-2tb-2-bay-external-network-storage-nas-black/1206113.p?skuId=1206113

 

link to the UPS unit which I am referring to:   https://www.ebay.com/i/253192874672?chn=ps

Overall that shouldn't use too much power at all and that UPS should be able to power 360W. I assume you replaced the unit's battery with a new one as it didn't come with one originally. 

[Boomwebsearch]

2 minutes ago, W-L said:

Overall that shouldn't use too much power at all and that UPS should be able to power 360W. I assume you replaced the unit's battery with a new one as it didn't come with one originally. 

Note that the one which I had linked was not the exact source where I had purchased this item from and it linked was for reference purposes. I am using the used APC branded battery which was installed when I had purchased the unit.

[W-L]

4 minutes ago, Boomwebsearch said:

Note that the one which I had linked was not the exact source where I had purchased this item from and it linked was for reference purposes. I am using the used APC branded battery which was installed when I had purchased the unit.

Did you have a power outage or brown out when this occurred? Usually the overcurrent protection will not kick in on regular use when plugged into the wall only when during battery backup. If so it sounds like your unit's battery has reached the end of it's lifespan as it was previously used for an unknown amount of time and will require a replacement

[Windows7ge]

Is it cutting power as soon as you try going to battery or even while its plugged into the wall? What happens if you try running off battery?

[Boomwebsearch]

5 minutes ago, Windows7ge said:

Is it cutting power as soon as you try going to battery or even while its plugged into the wall? What happens if you try running off battery?

The power to the fan itself plugged in while the unit was plugged into a power strip which was connected to a wall outlet allowed for the operation of the fan although when I pressed the off button on the circuit breaker to try to get it to run on battery it would cut off the power to the fan almost instantly and then beep at few second intervals of time. Note that when I try to run on battery I can hear the chirping noise although the light for power on the unit which is green switches to the off position.

 

 

11 minutes ago, W-L said:

Did you have a power outage or brown out when this occurred? Usually the overcurrent protection will not kick in on regular use when plugged into the wall only when during battery backup. If so it sounds like your unit's battery has reached the end of it's lifespan as it was previously used for an unknown amount of time and will require a replacement

I have had a power outage around last week and it cut out the power to my system while I had not saved the word document which I was working on creating and I had to restart. This is why I decided to purchase this unit although I am not sure what point of time you were referencing when you stated "Did you have a power outage when this occurred?". The unit was previously used for an unknown time amount as it is used, so I do not know if the battery needs replacement although I would think that it would have some life in it when I purchased the unit. And when I connected it with the included cable to my computer and downloaded APC's software it stated that the UPS unit was operating normally.

[Windows7ge]

22 minutes ago, Boomwebsearch said:

The power to the fan itself plugged in while the unit was plugged into a power strip which was connected to a wall outlet allowed for the operation of the fan although when I pressed the off button on the circuit breaker to try to get it to run on battery it would cut off the power to the fan almost instantly and then beep at few second intervals of time. Note that when I try to run on battery I can hear the chirping noise although the light for power on the unit which is green switches to the off position.

If it refuses to run off battery then bad battery sounds like a good place to start. You also mentioned it was complaining about overload? Was that while plugged into the wall or was that also a on battery test?

[Boomwebsearch]

1 hour ago, Windows7ge said:

You also mentioned it was complaining about overload? Was that while plugged into the wall or was that also a on battery test?

When it was mentioning the overload that was plugged in directly to the wall and at that point I was not trying to get it to run off of its battery. I am thinking that I may have overloaded it with the laser printer which does make the lights dim/lower in brightness usually when it powers up although it could be that there is some internal problem with the unit which I am not sure if is present.

[W-L]

1 hour ago, Boomwebsearch said:

The power to the fan itself plugged in while the unit was plugged into a power strip which was connected to a wall outlet allowed for the operation of the fan although when I pressed the off button on the circuit breaker to try to get it to run on battery it would cut off the power to the fan almost instantly and then beep at few second intervals of time. Note that when I try to run on battery I can hear the chirping noise although the light for power on the unit which is green switches to the off position.

 

 

I have had a power outage around last week and it cut out the power to my system while I had not saved the word document which I was working on creating and I had to restart. This is why I decided to purchase this unit although I am not sure what point of time you were referencing when you stated "Did you have a power outage when this occurred?". The unit was previously used for an unknown time amount as it is used, so I do not know if the battery needs replacement although I would think that it would have some life in it when I purchased the unit. And when I connected it with the included cable to my computer and downloaded APC's software it stated that the UPS unit was operating normally.

You don't press the button that cuts power to everything, you pull the plug physically at the wall to test the unit or run the self test in the software. As for the battery if it's used for and unknown amount of time and will not sustain power I would replace it, even if the software says it's fine it's under load where it counts as it can show an adequate idle voltage but fail even under a small load.

[Boomwebsearch]

4 minutes ago, W-L said:

You don't press the button that cuts power to everything, you pull the plug physically at the wall to test the unit or run the self test in the software.

The reason which I used the button that turns everything off on my power strip is so that it would have an available route to the third prong which would be a ground source. I have been informed by other sources that it could possibly cause damage to the unit itself and result in smoke, sparks, fire, etc.

 

link to the "other: source of information which was referenced to within this post:   https://serverfault.com/questions/56999/testing-a-ups-by-unplugging-it-from-the-wall

[W-L]

4 minutes ago, Boomwebsearch said:

The reason which I used the button that turns everything off on my power strip is so that it would have an available route to the third prong which would be a ground source. I have been informed by other sources that it could possibly cause damage to the unit itself and result in smoke, sparks, fire, etc.

 

link to the "other: source of information which was referenced to within this post:   https://serverfault.com/questions/56999/testing-a-ups-by-unplugging-it-from-the-wall

You can put it into a power bar if you are worried and cut the power that way, either works perfectly fine but if you press the button it will cut out the whole unit inducing the battery.

[Boomwebsearch]

18 minutes ago, W-L said:

You can put it into a power bar if you are worried and cut the power that way, either works perfectly fine but if you press the button it will cut out the whole unit inducing the battery.

Sorry for the misunderstanding, I actually did not test using that button within the unit which would cut power to the entire unit. I was referring to the switch button which was on the power bar to turn it off using that method. Should I try having it unplugged directly from the wall while it is on load, would that be able to prove possibly that the unit is functioning correctly or would that not be needed? I am not siding towards there being something wrong internals-wise of this battery-backup unit.

[W-L]

2 minutes ago, Boomwebsearch said:

Sorry for the misunderstanding, I actually did not test using that button within the unit which would cut power to the entire unit. I was referring to the switch button which was on the power bar to turn it off using that method. Should I try having it unplugged directly from the wall while it is on load, would that be able to prove possibly that the unit is functioning correctly or would that not be needed? I am not siding towards there being something wrong internals-wise of this battery-backup unit.

If you unplug from the wall under load and it just shuts down even with a light load like a 40W bulb then your first probable cause would be a bad battery. Use a simple resistive load like a light bulb or basic soldering iron. 

[Boomwebsearch]

On 11/17/2018 at 9:28 PM, W-L said:

If you unplug from the wall under load and it just shuts down even with a light load like a 40W bulb then your first probable cause would be a bad battery. Use a simple resistive load like a light bulb or basic soldering iron. 

I tried out this experiment with having it connected to a power strip to provide power to a light bulb and then I plugged out the unit from the power strip and two things occurred. The power was cut off to the light bulb and the power was somehow taken away from the power strip's other connected devices which were a computer and a monitor which happened to be turned on and therefore were cut off from power. I thought that I had somehow gotten the computer fried although after switching on and off the power bar and resetting it it was able to start the connected devices again. I think that there is definitely something wrong with this unit and I am going to return it to the store. I am looking towards buying a different one new after getting this one returned. Any suggestions for other models of UPS units which would be able to power my computer which I have provided specifications for within this thread, my NAS server unit, and a 19 inch Dell monitor? I think that I will not connect my laser printer to the UPS as I do not really need it to be protected by backup power and will have it plugged into a basic surge protector.

[W-L]

8 hours ago, Boomwebsearch said:

-SNIP-

Yeah that sounds like an internal fault or a bad battery if the light bulb just turned off immediately when power was cut to the UPS. As for it affecting stuff upstream that is very odd might be some kind of protection built into that power strip you have. 

 

As for a good UPS units I usually recommend these units, wattage wise they would be excessive but provide enough overhead for your equipment including networking and accessories. 

https://www.apc.com/shop/us/en/products/Back-UPS-PRO-BR-1000VA-SineWave-10-Outlets-2-USB-Charging-Ports-AVR-LCD-interface/P-BR1000MS

https://www.cyberpowersystems.com/product/ups/cp850pfclcd/

[Boomwebsearch]

16 hours ago, W-L said:

As for a good UPS units I usually recommend these units, wattage wise they would be excessive but provide enough overhead for your equipment including networking and accessories. 

https://www.apc.com/shop/us/en/products/Back-UPS-PRO-BR-1000VA-SineWave-10-Outlets-2-USB-Charging-Ports-AVR-LCD-interface/P-BR1000MS

https://www.cyberpowersystems.com/product/ups/cp850pfclcd/

I would prefer longer run-time for the devices if possible even if I know that they would be excessive in wattage in case I get more equipment in the future. I noticed that both of the units which you have recommended are pure sine wave units. I am considering getting the CyberPower CP1500AVRLCD unit although this one is not a pure sine wave unit and is one which delivers simulated sine wave output. Would I need sine wave output for this case and would a sine wave benefit me because I do not think that I have an active FPC power supply? The units which you have recommended are sine wave output and less in terms of battery capacity and output wattage but are within the price range of a simulated sine wave CP1500AVRLCD's cost. I highly do not that I am going to ever use a active FPC power supply in this system and by the time when it comes time to upgrade the batteries are probably going to have gone bad and need replacing. CyberPower gives a 3 year warranty on the batteries plus that same warranty time for possible damages on connected devices, after they die completely and need replacing I am most likely going to get the unit changed out because I would want another protection guarantee for my equipment in case it gets damaged.

[W-L]

45 minutes ago, Boomwebsearch said:

I would prefer longer run-time for the devices if possible even if I know that they would be excessive in wattage in case I get more equipment in the future. I noticed that both of the units which you have recommended are pure sine wave units. I am considering getting the CyberPower CP1500AVRLCD unit although this one is not a pure sine wave unit and is one which delivers simulated sine wave output. Would I need sine wave output for this case and would a sine wave benefit me because I do not think that I have an active FPC power supply? The units which you have recommended are sine wave output and less in terms of battery capacity and output wattage but are within the price range of a simulated sine wave CP1500AVRLCD's cost. I highly do not that I am going to ever use a active FPC power supply in this system and by the time when it comes time to upgrade the batteries are probably going to have gone bad and need replacing. CyberPower gives a 3 year warranty on the batteries plus that same warranty time for possible damages on connected devices, after they die completely and need replacing I am most likely going to get the unit changed out because I would want another protection guarantee for my equipment in case it gets damaged.

The pure sinewave units do help espically with efficiency and in very specific use cases for compatibility. It is not unheard of for a PSU to reject a poorly generated sinewave, all if not all these days should work with stepped simulated sinewaves. For UPS’s they rarely go bad themselves it’s usually he battery that dies overtime. 

[Boomwebsearch]

28 minutes ago, W-L said:

The pure sinewave units do help espically with efficiency and in very specific use cases for compatibility. It is not unheard of for a PSU to reject a poorly generated sinewave, all if not all these days should work with stepped simulated sinewaves. For UPS’s they rarely go bad themselves it’s usually he battery that dies overtime. 

Can the use of a simulated sine wave UPS with my computer, NAS, and monitor connection cause damage to the components of these machines? I do not think that this PC has active FPC protection as it is not very modern as when being compared to today's high end standards although I do not want anything to be potentially damaged if connected to the device because the UPS was a simulated sine wave which was not compatible with the power supply of one or more of the connected client devices. 

[W-L]

5 hours ago, Boomwebsearch said:

Can the use of a simulated sine wave UPS with my computer, NAS, and monitor connection cause damage to the components of these machines? I do not think that this PC has active FPC protection as it is not very modern as when being compared to today's high end standards although I do not want anything to be potentially damaged if connected to the device because the UPS was a simulated sine wave which was not compatible with the power supply of one or more of the connected client devices. 

It won't damage it but will be less efficient in most cases, if it's an issue with compatibility the PSU will just reject it and shut down. Active PFC correction is on all good quality switch mode PSU's, if it doesn't have PFC then you wouldn't be able to get the full rated wattage out of the unit if your power coming in was horrible.

 

Personally I've used stepped approx units from APC without any issues, only thing I've noticed is excessive electrical noise due to the imperfect sinewave when on battery backup.