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Author Topic: Tripp-Lite Smart UPS troubleshooting Carsten Kurz Film God Posts: 4340 From: Cologne, NRW, Germany Registered: Aug 2009 posted 04-22-2018 05:13 PM                     While replacement battery packs do not cost much nowadays (and it would be stupid to save a few bucks on a device that is explicitly built to ensure operations relibility), it is easy to test them. You do not need to test them with your server or projector head actually running. Just plug in an extension cord and connect a decent load. Cut power, see what happens. Most UPS have built-in or power-up tests, but they rarely test battery voltage drop with a typical load. Cheap test loads could be tungsten bulbs in the 100W-300W range. Check if the UPS runs at least for 5-10min after mains has been switched off. If the UPS shuts of already after a few seconds, the batteries are unusable. - Carsten  |  IP: Logged Marcel Birgelen Film God Posts: 3357 From: Maastricht, Limburg, Netherlands Registered: Feb 2012 posted 04-23-2018 01:30 AM                     quote: Philip Jones Is there any way round this? Ideally to keep the lamp on during these brownouts (we're talking literally the lights front of house dim\flicker and it's 50\50 to whether it will have knocked the xenon out) so the show isn't interrupted. - Call your power company and tell them about the brownouts. If that doesn't work, call your local newspaper. I bet you're not the only one suffering from them. - Like Steve Kraus already mentioned, if it's just on one phase, switch your affected equipment to other phases. Your power supplier might hate you for doing so, but they should deliver a stable supply. - Last resort would be a UPS, but if your lamp is on e.g. 4kW, you would need a 5 kVA UPS and those aren't exactly cheap and also require extra space in your booth. Furthermore, UPSes are an actual fire hazard. I'm personally fighting to get them out of the booth, datacenter or closet and into a dedicated power room. The reason? I've witnessed several UPSes going up in smoke over the years, in two cases even causing a serious fire. Notice that all of them were from the brand APC, a brand I've since started to distrust. Unfortunately, their parent company eliminated MGE from the market. I've never seen an MGE UPS go up in flames...  |  IP: Logged Carsten Kurz Film God Posts: 4340 From: Cologne, NRW, Germany Registered: Aug 2009 posted 04-23-2018 07:17 AM                     It's also a good idea to have some stickers for UPS indicating last or next battery change/test. This is also useful for servers/media block/main board batteries, ICPs, etc. to always have them on your mind. - Carsten  |  IP: Logged Steve Kraus Film God Posts: 4094 From: Chicago, IL, USA Registered: May 2000 posted 04-23-2018 03:19 PM                    I just ran the following test. With the projector off & disconnected, I moved the server to other power (easy to do, one cord at a time). I put a nominal 200W load (two light bulbs) on the UPS and pulled the plug. I did not let it run down but let it go 3 minutes while keeping an eye on output voltage (about 118). Before I plugged it back in a took a look at the battery display on the UPS which is 4 LEDs. The 100% LED was flashing but not lower than that. No issues. I would say my battery pack is good. Still might replace on principle though given their five year age. Might be able to stuff them in a UPS I have at home that is lacking.  |  IP: Logged Mark Gulbrandsen Resident Trollmaster Posts: 16657 From: Music City Registered: Jun 99 posted 04-23-2018 05:42 PM                     quote: Steve Kraus I would say my battery pack is good. The older they get the more likely they are to fail!! Remember there was some dead stock time involved with that UPS after it went in the box. So it sat for X number of months before it was sold. I have opened up Tripplite UPS's that I assumed were at the 5 year mark only to find they were really 7 years old. There are dates on some Tripplite battery packs... but not on all. Mark  |  IP: Logged

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