APC UPS battery backup keeps shuttin off

S

Somnambulator

Gawd
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Apr 13, 2008
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My main rig is plugged into the battery backup plugs of an APC 550 UPS. last few days under heavy stress while gaming it has shut off while beeping. i need to hit the button on the unit to turn the battery potyion back on, then power up my PC. the PC hooked up to the Surge Protection Only ports stays online. is the battery bad or should i RMA the whole unit? it saved my PC a handful of times during T-Storms, but turning off randomly under stress concerns me.

like i said, only the things plugged into the battery backup turn off, and only seemingly when the PC is under a lot of stress when gaming, plugged into the standard surge outlets it hasnt shut off once. the PC is fine, the battery outlets of the UPS shut down while beeping simultaneously as if power was cut off.
 
Its probably from high load. What model is the UPS? Gaming will draw alot to power the cards. So the load is to high and it starts to beep.
 
Well the max the UPS puts out is 330 Watts / 550 VA. What else is plugged into the ups?
 
Somnambulator said:
the 2nd PC listed in my sig, Logitech Z5500 speakers, and a basic wired-only Netgear router.
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Yup your definitely overloading the UPS, it can handle up to 330w and your main rig is pulling over that at full load. Then add 120w+ for the 2nd pc and then a bit more for the speakers and router.
 
Those are all on the battery backup ports? or do you have some of those on surge only? Those APC units power directly from the battery, IIRC.
 
enginurd said:
Those are all on the battery backup ports? or do you have some of those on surge only? Those APC units power directly from the battery, IIRC.
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Even with some on the surge, its still being overloaded with just the main rig hooked upto the battery backup side.
 
enginurd said:
Those are all on the battery backup ports? or do you have some of those on surge only? Those APC units power directly from the battery, IIRC.
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no the second, Opteron, PC is on the Surge Only. my Main PC, router, and speakers are on battery backup.
 
So whats in your wallet? You should be able to find a Back-UPS RS/XS 800/900 for under $100.
 
well i have about $150 saved up for possible EVGA step-up, but i have 2 month for that. cheaper is better, but i gather i;d need the 800 or 900 series? Should i stick with APC? my unit definitely saved my PC at least twice.

oh, forgot i'm running a 32" 1080p LCD on the batteyr backup as well. thinking about it...it's about when the shut-offs started...
 
Well yah, grab a 800VA or so for your main system and run the HDTV and 2nd system off the 550VA.

Check with the Power subforum for more suggestions on which one to get.
 
Somnambulator said:
RS 800 and 900 look completely identical in terms of performance and overall uptime. i see no reason to get the 900 over the 800. am i right?

i see the XS 900 on circuitcity.com: http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/APC-...53342/catOid/-13021/rpem/ccd/productDetail.do but on APC.com it shows less performance.
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The XS 900 is way better then your old one and the up time is higher. The XS 900's
max output is 540 Watts so you can run your rig easily, and use your other ups for your secondary rig.
 
Somnambulator said:
speakers are on battery backup.
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Why? You back up the stuff that's critical. The rest you just surge protect.

If you are not running a server, the router should probably not be on backup either. Decide what needs to be on in the event of a power failure and only keep that on backup. If you have your computer set up to shutdown on power outage and you've tested that it works, your monitor does not have to be on power backup either.
 
I picked up the BE750G for $79.99 at Best Buy yesterday so I haven't had a chance to check out how much it can handle. The XS 900 for $100 seems like a good deal, but I'd rather not have one with a fan.
 
dhc014 said:
...The XS 900 for $100 seems like a good deal, but I'd rather not have one with a fan.
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The XS has a fan!?!? :eek: I can't even hear it. :p I got a few of them from CompUSA when they were liquidating in my area... they were like $60each. :D
 
hrm. i just always liked the idea of manually turning things off if possible. i guess i had the idea in my head that the battery offered extra protection from surges versus the standard surge outlets. assuming that's wrong now
 
Somnambulator said:
hrm. i just always liked the idea of manually turning things off if possible. i guess i had the idea in my head that the battery offered extra protection from surges versus the standard surge outlets. assuming that's wrong now
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no the battery is solely for giving a little bit of extended power during a power outage so you can save your files and properly shutdown your pc so you dont loose whatever data you are working on. a good thing to have on a server or workstation pc. for a gaming rig youre better off using quality surge suppressors (personally i find the apc ones to be the best if you look at the price/specs/functionality) unless you need to be able to game for an extra 10-30 mins during a blackout, or your area is prone to brownouts/blackouts then to me using a battery backup is really overkill. you also end up using more power because the backup unit is constantly on and charging so it uses power 24/7 assuming you leave it on.
 
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