Smart UPS X1500 - On battery power in response to an input power problem.

[mkuhn22]

Hello - 

  I am regularly having the above device alarm on a newly installed Smart UPS X1500.  When this happens no power event is appearing to take place.  In fact, I have an older Smart UPS 1000 plugged into the same outlet group that does not throw any alarms at the same time.  I have attached the logs of the chatty X1500 and the 1000 plugged into the same outlet group for comparison.  Any help is certainly appreciated!

[mkuhn22]

Hey all, was wondering if anyone had seen anything in the logs to indicate what the issue is?  We've basically had to stop monitoring this device thanks to the amount of false positives it's throwing. 

Assuming nothing can be seen in the logs is there any way to adjust the sensitivity of the device, or to possibly set the device to only alarm if on battery power for more than ~5 seconds?

Again, any information is greatly appreciated.  Thanks!

[BillP]

Hi Michael,

Can you provide the full .tar file from About->Support menu from each UPS's web interface? I am looking to check some other detail not available in the log files you've already shared.

These UPSs, once I confirm some details, are likely two different platforms/models and may have different sensitivity settings, etc so they could be reacting differently to little power fluctuations not apparent to the naked eye.

Each UPS does have power quality and/or sensitivity settings that can be adjusted. The network management cards also offer the ability to adjust how email notifications are handled which means you can delay them unless the event lasts for X seconds/minutes. You'll find the ability to do that under Configuration->Notification->Event Actions->By event and look under Input Line status events for this one, click on it, and then click on each recipient receiving it to tweak the delay/notification settings for it while we sort this out. I do not recommend you disable it from the event logging, just delay how email and/or SNMP trap receivers get notified. Let me know if any questions on this part.

[BillP · Accepted solution]

Good thing I got a StruxureWare Data Center Expert training last week! So you're getting ALL of your notifications from DCE, right? Not the devices themselves?  (if you have a screenshot of one, I can verify) Are they emails, traps, etc? I wasn't sure what you had but assumed email.

And we are talking about actions you have set up under Alarm Configuration->Create Notification Policy and alarm actions defined there? From looking at this screen, it seems like the most granular level we can modify the notifications is at the group level. On the UPS/management card itself, we can modify specific events/alerts and delay them, etc.

Thank you for the log files. Looking at them seems to confirm no notifications are set up on them specifically.

The SMX1500 is very new so that rules out an old firmware issue I was thinking of. It does have a sensitivity setting you can try changing via the web interface under Configuration->Power Settings and try changing it down from Normal (what it is set to now) to Reduced and if that doesn't help, try it on Low and apply that and observe. I do not see any glaring problems in the data log. 

But, both units are set to Normal currently. They are different models but on different firmware versions. Both of them are not at the latest versions I noted.

I think you should try adjusting the sensitivity setting on the one first, see if any change, as it is the simplest option. After that, I would want to pursue a UPS firmware upgrade - which unfortunately cannot be done through DCE - but can be pushed via the Network Management Card in the UPS to the UPS itself. Though, the major caveat is that the UPS power output needs to be turned off when doing the upgrade. I can give more details on that if we decide and are able to go that route. I didn't see anything flat out explaining this specific issue in the UPS firmware release notes but general references to tweaking UPS behavior.

[mkuhn22]

Angela -

  Thanks again for all the info!  Yes, we get all of our notifications from DCE, a one stop shop to manage our 60ish devices.  Indeed, I didn't see any way to get more granular within DCE either. 

  I have changed the sensitivity on the X1500 to reduced to see if that makes a difference.  If not I will adjust again to low and try.  I will let this sit for a few days and will follow up. 

Thanks again for your time!

[BillP]

You're very welcome.

[mkuhn22]

Angela -

  I just wanted to follow up.  Since making the change we have seen a marked decrease in false positives.  We've still had a couple, but the numbers are significantly lower than before.  This adjustment has made all the difference.  Thank you again for your support.  We will probably go ahead and move both devices to the lowest sensitivity just to completely put the problem to bed.

Thanks again!

[BillP]

Hi Michael,

Glad to hear. You're very welcome!