APC Back-UPS ES 550 not shutting down computer during an outage/surge

[Anonymous user]

Hello.

I have a APC Back-UPS ES 550 running on a 64 bit Windows 7 system with Powerchute Personal Edition 3.0.2. Powerchute is not shutting down the computer at all during an outage/surge. The computer simply loses power without shutting down safely and dies due to the lack of power.

The options are set to "keep my computer on as long as possible" at 5 minutes. Sensitivity is set to high. Voltage sensitivity is set to above 139 and a below 88. The current voltage usually stays at around 119 during regular usage.

The Windows power options are set to never turn off display, never put the computer to sleep, never turn off hard disks, never sleep, never hybrid sleep, never hibernate.

The APC Back-UPS ES 550 has a solid green light always on and does not beep during regular usage. The router, monitor, and PC are connected to battery backup/surge protection. The printer and speakers are connected to surge protection only. Powerchute says "your battery backup is operating normally". The current status is electrical power is being supplied by AC utility power, remaining battery charge is 100%, estimated battery time 46 minutes, power source AC utility power. The APC Back-UPS ES 550 and its battery are several years old. I'm using an identical unit with another computer in the same room and it does not have any problems.

Please help. Thank you.

[BillP]

• Did this ever work properly with this set up?
• Does the UPS switch to battery power during the outage and beep 4 times every 30 seconds?
• After how long does the computer turn off?
• Is there anything interesting in Administrative Tools->Event Viewer on your computer?
• In PowerChute, have you left the program running and see when the UPS goes to battery that it reports that status change correctly?

[Anonymous user]

- Yes, this has worked properly with this setup in the past, since I never had a problem with the UPS not intervening like now. Does anything need to be set up differently for Windows 7?

- When there was a surge, the computer just lost complete power on the spot, dead. The UPS did not intervene in any way. When there was an outage, the same exact thing happened.

- The computer loses power instantly during a surge or outage. Going dead on the spot.

- There are 2 critical events showing for the past 7 days. What exactly am I looking for there?

- It does report the changes accurately. The only thing that doesn't make sense is that it says "time on battery: 3 hours 44 minutes", which is not true at all, since the computer just dies on the spot, without UPS intervention when a surge or outage happens.

Thank you for helping.

[BillP]

Thanks for the feedback. Here is some more from me:

• Nope, nothing different for Windows 7 if you've gotten PowerChute going and it detects the UPS.
• Does the UPS turn off itself during power events or does it remain on after all your equipment has powered down?
• In Administrative Tools->Event Viewer, I was just looking for any events related to the UPS. I wasn't sure what would be there but just anything relating to power loss.
• How old is the UPS and what is the exact model? This is located on the back or bottom. I would also like the first six characters of the serial number (i.e. JB0947) to help tell the age and let me know if you've ever replaced the battery.

[Anonymous user]

- By Powerchute detecting the UPS, do you mean it saying "your battery backup is operating normally"?

- The UPS remained on even though the PC was dead as soon as the surge happened. I was asleep during the blackout but I know the PC was not powered down properly. It was killed off due to the lack of power support.

- I didn't notice anything about power loss, but to be honest, I'm not really sure what I'm looking for in the Event Viewer.

- The UPS is at least 5 years old. I have never changed the battery.

Thanks again for helping. I really hope to fix this as soon as possible.

[BillP · Accepted solution]

Ok, this could just be that the battery cannot support the load. And yes, by PowerChute detecting the UPS, I am referring to see the UPS information in the software as you noted.

I would start by removing the computer and plugging something simple in like a lamp or similar to the battery back up outlets and then simulate a power failure by unplugging the UPS from the wall and see if the UPS supports the lamp compared to how it does not support your computer. Make sure to turn off and you unplug your computer as well as the USB cable temporarily.