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Electronics Repair (sci.electronics.repair) Discussion of repairing electronic equipment. Topics include requests for assistance, where to obtain servicing information and parts, techniques for diagnosis and repair, and annecdotes about success, failures and problems. |
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#1
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I just bought two APC ES 750s.
The feature set touted on the box cites a "Master" outlet that controls several "Controlled By Master" outlets. My expectation was that the "Controlled" outlets would run on battery until the "Master" device shut down. The idea is that we can keep the router/switches working while the NAS is on backup, but that they will not drain the battery once the NAS shuts down. Reading other threads, it seems like the "Controlled" outlets are not really controlled by the master in the case of power loss: they just shut down immediately. Direct experience confirms this. The Question: Has anybody hacked one of these things so they actually function as advertised? i.e. when power is lost, the devices connected to "Controlled By Master" outlets stay powered up until the device connected to the "Master" outlet shuts down. My inner electronic/electrical illiterate is hoping that it might be a simple as disconnecting a couple of wires in there and re-connecting them to a different place. Anybody? -- PeteCresswell |
#2
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The specs for this discontinued product state that the five outlets across
the top are backed up by the battery. These outlets will run until the battery voltage drops to where it can no longer power the outlets. At that point, those five outlets will all shut off. KA-CHOOM! IF the device has a "master" outlet (I don't see it in the specs or the photos), the "controlled" outlets turn on and off with the master, either for convenience, or to save energy. (My audio system is wired this way -- the electronic crossovers turn the power amps on and off.) Once the battery poops out, /everything/ powered by the battery shuts off. There is no graceful shutdown. You're confusing a convenience feature with operation of the device as a source of backup power. The two (apparently) have absolutely nothing to do with each other. http://www.apc.com/resource/include/...0bb&tab=models |
#3
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Per Nelson:
Your understanding of how it should work is the same as the user guide's: Idle peripheral devices (printer/scanners, speakers) continue to draw power when not in use. To conserve power, the Back-UPS uses ³master controlled outlets². The Master outlet senses when the master device (computer) that is plugged into the Master outlet is no longer drawing current, and automatically shuts off power to the Controlled outlets. Pressing the MASTER ENABLE button for one second enables and disables this feature. When enabled, the green MASTER ENABLE LED is lit (on). When it is disabled, the LED is not lit (off). The Back-UPS ships with MASTER ENABLE activated. Note: Do not connect peripherals to the Controlled Outlets if you want them to continue to run when your computer is turned off. Perhaps you have inadvertently disabled it? Did you try pushing the button as mentioned? The lawyers or some other clever souls added weasel words in the User's Guide | 2 Connect Equipment | Master/Controlled Outlets | "Note: Do not connect peripherals to the Controlled Outlets if you want them to continue to run when your computer is turned off." For the life of my I can't imagine why they would inflict such a flawed implementation on their customers. I mean... this is an Uninterruptible Power Supply, not a friggin power strip... it's all *about* function when the power fails. The least they could have done is put that little disclaimer on the outside of the box. -- PeteCresswell |
#4
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Per (PeteCresswell):
The lawyers or some other clever souls added weasel words in the User's Guide | 2 Connect Equipment | Master/Controlled Outlets | "Note: Do not connect peripherals to the Controlled Outlets if you want them to continue to run when your computer is turned off." For the life of my I can't imagine why they would inflict such a flawed implementation on their customers. I mean... this is an Uninterruptible Power Supply, not a friggin power strip... it's all *about* function when the power fails. Sorry.... that was a non-sequitur..... I'm so ****ed off over this that I'm not even thinking clearly any more. But, to answer your question, yes - I have the feature enabled. It's just that it does not work when the user needs it the most: when the power fails. -- PeteCresswell |
#5
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Per Nelson:
I don't understand what you want. Do you want the "controlled" outlets to continue to have power after the computer shuts down? There are other outlets that operate independent of the "master" which do that. As I understand it the idea behind the "controlled" outlets is that a peripheral which is only used by the computer, eg a printer, doesn't need power if the computer is down, so to conserve the remaining battery power for the useful items, these are shut down in synchrony with the computer. I want the "controlled" outlets to be controlled by the "master" outlet - at all times, as I think most people would impute from what it says on the box the power supply comes in - not just when there is external power. The reason: if the power goes out, I still want connectivity across the LAN, but I don't want the UPS' battery tb drained (which shortens it's life). Sequence Of Events: ---------------------------------------------------------------- - Power fails - UPS keeps supplying power to PC connected to "Master" and to devices connected to "Controlled" - UPS sends message to PC telling it that we're on battery backup - PC keeps on truckin'.... with LAN connectivity still intact - PC's Power Management utility kicks in and, after a preset time or a preset remaining battery life, commences a graceful shutdown of the PC - PC shuts down. - UPS then shuts down the router, switches, and whatever else is plugged into "Controlled" outlets. - The UPS battery does not get totally drained. ---------------------------------------------------------------- Maybe I'm the only one.... But this seems so obvious that I just can't imagine any other implementation in the context of an Uninterruptible Power Supply. The power-saving thing sounds nice, but I go back to the fact that this is an Uninterruptible Power Supply, and not just a power strip. I have one of these and it works just fine. There are "uncontrolled" outlets which are supplied with power whether the computer is up or down, "controlled" outlets which are only supplied with power when the computer is up, This may sound like nit picking.... but it's not quite true that they are only supplied with power when the computer is up. What's true is that they are only supplied with power when the computer is up *and* there is external power. and surge protected only outlets which are not supplied with backup power. I would have chosen the mix between these differently, but that is easy enough to get around by plugging power strips into one or the other types of outlets. In my set up, I have the external hard drives and printer connected to the "slave" outlets and the cable modem and VOIP modem connected to the "always up" outlets. When the battery is down to 25%, the computer shuts itself down along with the peripherals and the modem and router continue to provide telephone service. Isn't that the same thing you want? Where are they getting power, if not from the UPS? -- PeteCresswell |
#6
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"(PeteCresswell)" wrote:
I want the "controlled" outlets to be controlled by the "master" outlet - at all times, as I think most people would impute from what it says on the box the power supply comes in - not just when there is external power. The reason: if the power goes out, I still want connectivity across the LAN, but I don't want the UPS' battery tb drained (which shortens it's life). Sequence Of Events: ---------------------------------------------------------------- - Power fails - UPS keeps supplying power to PC connected to "Master" and to devices connected to "Controlled" - UPS sends message to PC telling it that we're on battery backup - PC keeps on truckin'.... with LAN connectivity still intact - PC's Power Management utility kicks in and, after a preset time or a preset remaining battery life, commences a graceful shutdown of the PC - PC shuts down. - UPS then shuts down the router, switches, and whatever else is plugged into "Controlled" outlets. - The UPS battery does not get totally drained. ---------------------------------------------------------------- Maybe I'm the only one.... But this seems so obvious that I just can't imagine any other implementation in the context of an Uninterruptible Power Supply. The power-saving thing sounds nice, but I go back to the fact that this is an Uninterruptible Power Supply, and not just a power strip. This may sound like nit picking.... but it's not quite true that they are only supplied with power when the computer is up. What's true is that they are only supplied with power when the computer is up *and* there is external power. Where are they getting power, if not from the UPS? And would you want your laser printer to keep running from the battery? The design seem sensible to me. Jerry |
#7
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Per Jerry Peters:
And would you want your laser printer to keep running from the battery? The design seem sensible to me. No - so I would plug it into one of the uncontrolled outlets. ?? -- PeteCresswell |
#8
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Per (PeteCresswell):
No - so I would plug it into one of the *uncontrolled* outlets. Oops.... "uncontrolled" SHB "surge-only" -- PeteCresswell |
#9
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Per Nelson:
I find it a good little UPS for the money. I bought it to get through short duration outages and it does a good job of it. I don't find the lack of computer controlled, back up power outlets to be that much of an issue, certainly at this price point. Not worth getting upset over anyway :-) Agreed - I just have this tendency to go ballistic when I see (according to me.... -) especially-egregious violations of common sense. The thing about avoiding the router/switches draining the UPS battery seems to me tb totally basic to the power loss situation. I'd been using one of these guys http://tinyurl.com/6ce4f2a with a conventional UPS and I guess I'll try to find a couple more. -- PeteCresswell |
#10
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Per (PeteCresswell):
I'd been using one of these guys http://tinyurl.com/6ce4f2a with a conventional UPS and I guess I'll try to find a couple more. Or one of these: http://tinyurl.com/3bp3myu -- PeteCresswell |
#11
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Per Nelson:
You must have really ****ty power if you worried about draining the battery. My outages are generally not long enough to cause the computer to shut down much less discharge the battery completely. I doubt if completely discharging the battery once or twice over it's lifetime will have much of an impact. Our outages are rare (as in 1-2x per year max) but when they happen they can be a day or two. The one we just had was a couple hours short of two days for us, about 4 days for the guys across the street. Within those outages, of course, are many mini or micro outages where some high-startup-current device kicks in and the lights dim for long enough to trip a UPS. But in those cases my concerns are moot. I don't know enough about batteries to have an authoritative opinion, but what I've always heard is that total discharge damages lead-acid batteries from the get-go. I'm pretty sure I've cooked a couple of batteries on my automobiles by totally discharging them two or three times. I think that is what's behind the special "Deep Cycle" marine batteries: they're specially made so that deep or total discharge will not harm them as much. But, to address what I perceive is the real issue: yes, I might be over-thinking this and yes, it's much more theoretical than practical.... but that's just my inner obsessive.... -) -- PeteCresswell |
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