UPS clicking?

[mcewinter]

My UPS is making a clicking noise and at times the fan runs high but not too frequently.

It seems to function okay and no events are logged when it happens. Is my battery going bad?

[Scallica]

What make/model UPS do you have? How old is it?

[mcewinter]

What make/model UPS do you have? How old is it?

http://www.amazon.com/POWER-SAVING-BACK ... pc+xs+1500

APC XS 1500

It's at least two years old.

[STC]

It's usually indicative of an under voltage below around 105v. Do you have an air con unit close by? Is the UPS smart with a USB interface? If so the APC software could tell you what's going on.

[barnabas1969]

How often does it "click"? Mine does it occasionally when there is a voltage surge... especially when someone turns on the bathroom lights (5 CFL's on a single switch). It seems that the ballast in the CFL's sends a large enough spike back through the line that every UPS in the house momentarily switches to battery. This only seems to happen when the CFL's are cold (not used for a long period of time) when turned on.

[Scallica]

Is the UPS smart with a USB interface? If so the APC software could tell you what's going on.

Yea, if you have a USB cable between the UPS and PC, definitely install PowerChute and run a self-test.

http://www.apc.com/tools/download/index.cfm

[STC]

Referring to Barnabas' post, over voltage within spec is much more easy for equipment to deal with. What you're describing is a dip in voltage as all the CFL's want all of the available current to kick start their ballasts when they turn on. That would send the 110v circuit into under voltage for a second or so. The ballasts would need less current to start up when warm.

[STC]

Is the UPS smart with a USB interface? If so the APC software could tell you what's going on.

Yea, if you have a USB cable between the UPS and PC, definitely install PowerChute and run a self-test.

http://www.apc.com/tools/download/index.cfm

If it passes, leave PowerChute running for a while and it will log what the problem is for you. You could even watch in real time if the issue is frequent enough.

[barnabas1969]

^^ Over voltage within spec is much more easy for equipment to deal with. What you're describing is a dip in voltage as all the CFL's want all of the available current to kick start their ballasts when they turn on. That would send the 110v circuit into under voltage for a second or so. The ballasts would need less current to start up when warm.

I never measured what was happening. It could be under- or over-voltage. The ballasts are inductive, and an inductive load is capable of sending a spike of reverse current when first turned on.

Either way, if the OP's UPS is doing this infrequently (once or twice a day, or only when certain appliances are turned on), it is probably normal behavior. If his UPS is doing it more frequently than can be explained by possible voltage surges, then there might be something wrong with the UPS.

[STC]

The loads are balanced and filtered so as not to spike the supply. The overwhelming effect is current drain, just like the compressor of an air con unit firing up.
Most modern CFL's use about 5 seconds worth of juice in 1/10th of a second upon startup, hence the hit.

This is where ring circuits such as those used in Britain come into their own, because the supply of AC is balanced from two points. Effectively prevents most low voltage issues from occurring, no matter what load on a particular circuit requires current.

[mcewinter]

It's usually indicative of an under voltage below around 105v. Do you have an air con unit close by? Is the UPS smart with a USB interface? If so the APC software could tell you what's going on.

Bingo. I have a window shaker on the same floor. As it gets cooler at night and the compressor is actually switching off and back on is when it is most problematic (hind sight being 20/20). My Ooma (VOIP) was seeing symptoms as it occurred (plugged into the UPS) so I guess the good news is that nothing needs replacing. Perhaps if I keep the AC at a cooler setting keeping the compressor running it will stabilize my issue.

[STC]

Over time at best it will trounce your batteries. At worst it will blow the charging brains of the APC.

[STC]

So now the famous catch 22 appears.- Do you make your air con work harder and pay higher electricity, or feed your APC from another leg OR get an electrician in to fix your voltage drop problem OR etc etc etc....

[barnabas1969]

I'm not sure it will harm your UPS. It will definitely put a little wear on the relays in the UPS, but they are probably designed for hundreds of thousands or possibly millions of operations.

Still, it's probably a good idea to make sure that your air conditioner and UPS are on different circuit breakers.

[STC]

Please take no notice from Barnabas as in this instance he does not know what he is talking about. You are welcome to leave it doing what it's doing and report back in a few months. YMMV.

Recently I found the problem to a new clients 5000VA UPS that has been replaced three times in two years. It was fed from the same leg a large color laser printer was fed from in another room. Every time the fuser unit took a warm up cycle, it took most of the current on the leg and the UPS's went into battery mode for short time.

Sooner then later they all blow the charging circuits if left trying to cope with this. Especially the smaller home versions we all use.

[STC]

You're not really supposed to flick into battery mode 200 times a day, day in day out.
Something is going to go blow if so.

[mcewinter]

So now the famous catch 22 appears.- Do you make your air con work harder and pay higher electricity, or feed your APC from another leg OR get an electrician in to fix your voltage drop problem OR etc etc etc....

With temps approaching 100 degrees fahrenheit in Chicago my temporary solution was to crank the AC as it was set too low anyhow. I wouldn't be surprised if this was happening every summer as I do recall hearing a click or two in the past but never really investigated it. I just happened to be sitting near it and heard it click a few times in a day. I live in rental property and have no ambition to call and try to get them to make any changes to our electrical structure.

[STC]

Scorchio!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MuSPdsPWit0

[mcewinter]

Scorchio!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MuSPdsPWit0

Scorchio indeed.