APC Gaming Back UPS Pro - Fans constantly on

[MikeUK]

Hi all,

I have the APC BGM2200B-UK. I mainly use it due to dirty wall power more so than as a blackout backup. The UPS normally shows around 245 to 250V coming in from the wall socket, and as a result the "AVR" mode indicator is on a lot. That is all well and good, since it's the main reason I bought it.

The issue however, is that the fans are constantly on and it is rather loud. To give a more detailed account of the situation;
If I start with the UPS off, then turn it on and start up my pc, everything is fine and the fans won't spin. Then after a couple hours of gaming, the fans will start up and never stop spinning. Even after I turn my PC off (so there is no load on the UPS), the fans will stay spinning and not shut off the entire time. This is with the battery full, so its not charging. I am then forced to turn the UPS off, so I can go to sleep without these loud fans constantly going.

Is this a defective unit, or is there a temperature issue? The UPS is up on a desk, and well ventilated, so don't think airflow is the issue. Is there some way I can troubleshoot this issue? Honestly, I would prefer not to have these fans going full tilt all the time as it is extremely loud.

Any help would be appreciated, thank you.

[Teken]

The behaviour of the fan is hardware specific. Generally speaking if there is a fan and it comes on vs always being on like on a double conversion system.

The fan will come on or increase in speed based on the following conditions:

On battery, charging, high temperature, load is above 50%. Let me know if you have more questions. 👍

[MikeUK]

Hi @Teken, thanks for the response, 
So maybe I am getting the noise maybe I am getting confused and it's not actually the fans but the noise made by the inverter? After monitoring it a bit today, I noticed that the noise only starts when the AVR is engaged (It is very loud).
The issue is that after AVR starts, it never goes off and so the unit just continually makes this noise. Here are the logs outputted on powerchute:

Is there anyway to control the AVR so it turns off again once the input voltage is below 251? I am not sure what the voltage limit is that is triggering AVR to turn on in the first place. I can't seem to see it in the settings or docs anywhere.

A second question I have around AVR, is while the input generally sits at 249v coming in from the wall power (as seen in logs above), the output with AVR on is only 210v, which seems really low when it should be targeting the UK standard of 230v with a variance of -6% and +10%. Therefore the UPS is supplying below the minimum voltage of 216v.

Any help on this would be appreciated, as the more I try to educated myself the more it seems my unit is defective.

[Teken]

Hi Mike,

Your specific model only has a sensitivity setting which APC decided this will control (both) the sensitivity and AVR circuitry. 🤢

In the more expensive models such as the Smart-UPS Series. The end user could define the sensitivity which manages when the system will go into battery only mode.

The AVR is managed by the user defined upper / lower transfer voltage setting. This circuit is intended to trim / boost the output voltage to a safe level.

A safe level is quite relative in APC speak! 🤢 Your specific model advertises a trim / boost of +/- 15.7% as seen in the manual:

https://download.schneider-electric.com/doc/GamingUPS_230V_UserManual_EN/SU%20UM%20TME26236%20MN01%2...

Based on your image capture the output voltage of 210 vs 230 (20 VAC Difference)

it’s not as bad compared to cheaper model APC UPS! 👍

As an example a Line Interactive SMX Series UPS will only Trim / Boost the output to 10 VAC - if defined. Meaning here in North America a 120 VAC input that is trimmed due to a high input voltage condition would do so at 10 volts and the resulting output would be well within what must people would consider safe of 110 VAC! 👍

The system can obviously be programmed and defined to a wider voltage if the attached loads can tolerate the same. 

A SRT Series UPS (On-Line) Double Conversion the output is always what ever you define it to be. It will never swing high or low and in this case if this was a 120 VAC North American system during the AVR Trim / Boost of the (Input) the output will always be a solid 120 VAC 60 Hz. 🤟

It should be noted that even in North America a voltage range from 100 ~ 127 VAC is considered within the operating range for consumer electronics. 🤦‍♂️

If the system is still under warranty you may consider requesting a RMA. If you believe the unit is not providing the advertised protection during a high voltage condition.

Thoughts?