SUA1000RM2U and PowerChute logs innacurate

[Anonymous user]

Whenever I come in to work and discover there was a power failure, I check PowerChute's log. It always states the time the power failed and the time it went to low battery state as the same time. I can never tell exactly what happened. The UPS is under 45% load and was recently tested to hold power for about 28 minutes.

It would be nice if I knew

When the power went down.
When the battery went to low state.
When PowerChute decided to shut down.

Any ideas?

[BillP]

hi,

can you check what your low battery signaling time is set to in powerchute? also, about how old is the UPS? if you can provide the first digits of the serial number - such as XX0625 that can tell us the age.

to find the low battery signaling time via the business edition console, right click on the device and go to device properties. on the left hand side, expand the shutdown section and then choose power failure. please let us know the settings you have chosen in here.

if you access the agent via the web interface, click on protected system on the left hand side, and then let us know what you see on that first screen. mainly i need the "Low Battery Signal" but everything on that screen would be nice. to access this screen - you can go to http://127.0.0.1:3052 on the machine connected to the UPS or go to http://:3052 if you are remote. this may be easier.

if you can access it via the web browser interface, see if you can copy and paste a little bit of the event and data logs so we can take a look at those.

also, how much runtime does the UPS actually report? i see that you say it lasted 28 minutes but is that what the software says as well?

hope this helps!

[Anonymous user]

Thanks for the reply. The test I did was from simply pulling power cord and monitoring the led level. I did not let it get too low so it could have gone longer than 28 minutes.

Serial # AS0632330255
Manufacture date 8/1/06
Firmware is 618.3D

Runtime says 33min
Power Fail procedure is as follows:

Begin Shutdown After UPS has been on battery for 15 minutes
When Power returns, reboot UPS immediately.

Thanks

[Anonymous user]

Time Required For Shutdown Sequence 5 Minutes
Low Battery Signal 120 Seconds
Command File Enabled No
OS Shutdown Delay 3 Minutes
OS Shutdown Type Shutdown
Enable OS Reboot Yes
UPS Turn On Battery Capacity 0 %
UPS Turn On Delay 0 Minutes
Enable SMTP E-mail No
Enable Notification No
Enable Logging Yes

Message was edited by: fizzak

[Anonymous user]

The log...Two things I dont get, one is time between power failed and low batt and two, it appears the power failed for only a few seconds...

8/20/08 09:37:42 Sufficient Runtime Available
8/20/08 09:35:18 Insufficient Runtime Available
8/20/08 09:35:03 Sufficient Runtime Available
8/20/08 09:34:54 Insufficient Runtime Available
8/20/08 09:34:08 Sufficient Runtime Available
8/20/08 09:33:35 Insufficient Runtime Available
8/20/08 09:33:35 Communication Established
8/20/08 09:33:35 Monitoring Started
8/20/08 09:09:59 Monitoring Stopped
8/20/08 09:09:52 Insufficient Runtime Available
8/20/08 09:09:52 Power Restored
8/20/08 09:09:49 Shutdown process started
8/20/08 09:09:49 Insufficient runtime has been detected, PowerChute Business Edition will now start an immediate shutdown.
8/20/08 09:09:49 Low Runtime Remaining
8/20/08 09:09:49 Low Battery
8/20/08 09:09:49 Power Failed
8/20/08 09:09:42 Insufficient Runtime Available
8/8/08 15:09:21 Communication Established
8/8/08 15:09:21 Monitoring Started
8/6/08 09:12:06 Self Test Passed
8/6/08 09:12:00 Self Test Initiated
8/1/08 12:08:57 Communication Established
8/1/08 12:08:57 Monitoring Started
8/1/08 12:05:24 Monitoring Stopped
8/1/08 10:50:14 Communication Established
8/1/08 10:50:14 Monitoring Started
8/1/08 10:49:35 Monitoring Stopped
7/29/08 23:41:51 Communication Established
7/29/08 23:41:51 Monitoring Started
7/29/08 23:39:57 Monitoring Stopped
7/23/08 09:12:29 Self Test Passed
7/23/08 09:12:26 Self Test Initiated
7/23/08 07:18:43 Communication Established
7/23/08 07:18:43 Monitoring Started
7/23/08 07:16:22 Monitoring Stopped

[BillP]

hi,

you are right. this doesnt really make sense. these "Power failed" events dont look legitimate to me. based on your shutdown configuration, which looks fine, it shouldnt shut anything down immediately or even attempt to.

has this UPS always done this?

i was going to suggest braindeading the UPS to reset the communication inside of it.

to do that:

you'd need to power down your UPS load and then unplug it. turn off the UPS and remove any communication cables - so USB or serial. unplug the UPS from the wall. then hold down the off (o) button until you hear a click and see the LEDs flash. hold it down for at least 10 seconds if you dont hear anything. then plug it back in, and reconnect everything and lets go from there.

at least we can get a fresh start and see if it needs a simple reset.

i just remembered - i have seen a bunch of "Power failed" events when the power/electrical company "pings" their meter at your location for information and the UPS interprets them as power outages because it causes a problem with the waveform on the line. do you know of anything like this? it doesnt explain the low battery events right after but who knows if thats related to the "power failed" events. just throwing it out there! let's braindead first if you can.

[Anonymous user]

Yea, it did this once before. Thats why I decided to try the unplug test. I'll try cycling the power like you suggested. Will be a few days before I can post a result.

The ping is entirely possible like you said but doesn't explain the transition to low batt and shutown within 4 seconds. Perhaps its freaking out the UPS?, perhaps I dont have it grounded well enough? I don't know.

Appreciate your help.

[BillP · Accepted solution]

hi again,

yeah you are right - the pings dont explain the low battery warning coming up so fast so thats why I am skeptical on that.

look forward to seeing the results!

glad to be of help.