BE550G Questions

[Anonymous user]

Hi! I hope to get some helpful answers here!

I just got the 330 watts model UPS and want to be sure it's what I need. I plugged into it my monitor, computer, wireless router, desk lamp, computer speakers, and phone line plug from my cable modem.

I also want to be sure what to do in case the power goes out: I installed the software for auto shut-down in case I'm not here when the power goes out. So tell me, after installing the software, is there anything else I need to do with the software in order to have it do what it needs to?

I also have a question about electrostatic discharge coming from my vacuum cleaner. I have one of those bagless vacuums and ran it the other day...when I vacummed up near the wall where my power strip/surge protector was plugged into (for my computer), there must have been quite an ESD because it tripped the breaker and blew out the surge protector for the power strip. That's when I went out and bought the APC UPS.

So what went wrong?? Now I'm terrified of vacuuming this room again until I figure out how to prevent that from happening again. I of course couldn't care less about the vacuum cleaner...it's my computer I care about!

Thanks for any help and advice!

Vicky

[Anonymous user]

Hey, thanks for the quick responses...very helpful.

Nope, that prior power strip/surge protector was brand new! Only had it a couple days. I was shocked (ha ha) that that minor catastrophe had happened, but very happy that I at least had a brand new surge protector in place when it did. The previous one before that was several years old and I had replaced it on a whim. Only my computer, monitor, wireless router, desk lamp, and modem were plugged into it--I don't think that's too much for one surge protector.

So here's the thing...the vacuum was not plugged into the power strip or that same wall outlet, but was plugged into the living room outlet downstairs. However, that living room wall outlet is on the same breaker as my bedroom. That's the only reason I can figure why this would have happened. The vacuum wasn't causing any problems while I used it in my bedroom, though, until I was vacuuming near the wall where the surge protector was plugged into, then POP, it suddenly all went out. It had to have been due to ESD since it killed my surge protector, right? I'm assuming that just the breaker tripping should not have killed the surge protector in the strip.

Anyway, thanks for your advice and responses!

Vicky

[Anonymous user]

Never use vacuum cleaner from your UPS's power outlets, or from the same wall power outlet outlet that your UPS uses. Vacuum cleaner ( or anything with high watttages!) must be used from a different wall outlet. Also directly vacuum cleaning the UPS may not be a good idea because of ESD. Instead use a dry cloth. Merry Christmas! And happy new year!:) I could provide amateur help only before the new year! I hope someone more professional will help in a short time!

[Anonymous user]

After installing the software the thing you can do is to set the amount of time your PC runs on battery before turning off. After the auto turning off is done, the UPS turns itself off after a few seconds, at least this is what happens to the model I have.

How old was your surge protector when the thing happened? Surge protectors has a component called MOV or Varistor which is the main component used to absorb/divert surges and its lifetime is finite. Its lifetime gets shorter and shorter after each surge is absorved/diverted. Many home appliances like refrigerators, vaccuum cleaners, water pumps, air conditioner, dishwashers and all sorts of appliances that has some kind of motor inside, produces small to medium power surges. What could have happened is your surge protector was about to die after the next surge and since you plugged the vacuum cleaner to an outlet close to the surge protector, it "killed" the already dying surge protector. It was just waiting for the next surge.

One advice I give you is when using these kind of appliences try to unpplug the surge protectors if possible. I'm almost sure if the surge protector were new and used correctly dimensioned MOVs, it wouldn't have happend and the unit would last much longer even getting a good amount of surges during the day.

Message was edited by: rau

[BillP · Accepted solution]

hi,

a normal household has 15 amp circuits which should only pull 12 amps per national electrical code. the breakers trip at 15 amps though. vacuum cleaners pull a lot of amperage (it probably says something on it since the vacuum i have does) and thus could trip the breaker if you have a lot of other things running. what rau mentioned could have happened as well.

example: i have tripped the circuit breaker while running the microwave and dishwasher at the same time. to me, it sounds like something similar happened to you while running the vacuum and all the other stuff.

a lot of your questions have been answered in the above posts too but about the software: as long as its installed, with the default settings, the UPS will run as long as it can pretty much, THEN shutdown your equipment. if you look under powerchute under the Configuration->Runtime section, you can adjust the settings the way you want - incase you want to preserve the battery power or something. there should be descriptions on those screens to explain the options rather than me typing them out.

let us know if you need anything else!