BR1500GI Shutdown Concern

[BillP]

I just have a concern with my BR1500GI UPS. When on battery power, after the UPS sends a signal to the PC that it should shutdown is it possible that the UPS also shuts down itself? I mean if only the PC is shutdown, the UPS will continuously drain its battery even though it doesn't have any TURNED ON load connected to it, right? I do not want that to happen since it degrades the battery.

[Techie_apc]

the UPS will turn off itself after the PCPE software shuts down the PC gracefully. In this case, the UPS battery power will not be drained.

[BillP]

Oh ok, is this the same if I use it with a Thecus N8800 media server?

Also, what happens if the AC turns back on? Will the UPS turn ON automatically also?

[Techie_apc]

As long as the PC/Server OS is compatible with APC Power Chute Personal Edition software, then the UPS battery backup outlets output power will be turned off after the APC management software or PCPE software gracefully shuts down your PC/Server. You can check the PCPE software CD that came with the UPS or on the APC website(http://www.apc.com/tools/download/index.cfm) to know the PCPE software compatibility chart. The RJ45 to USB cable that is supplied with the UPS need to be connected between PC USB port and the UPS RJ45 port in order for the PCPE software to communicate and signal your PC to shutdown on battery mode.

If the Master controlled feature is enabled on your UPS, the controlled outlet will also be turned off when the Master outlet equipment shuts down or goes to sleep mode. this feature will conserve energy while your PC is not used.

the UPS will turn back on itself when power restores.

[BillP]

Well, yes, the battery backup outlets will be turned off after the PC gracefully shuts down but what about the UPS itself? Will it turn off? Because the power will be consumed when the unit is still on, right?

[Techie_apc]

yes, the UPS also will be turned off..

[BillP]

Bump!

[Anonymous user]

Ypur UPS should shut itself off, after it signals the computer to shut down. Actually, the UPS goes to a hibernate state, about 10 seconds after it signals your computer to shut down. It remains in that condition, until power is restored, when it switches itself on again. If your computer is set up correctly, it can power itself up again, after power is restored.

[BillP]

This means that the agents gave me wrong info?

This only works if powerchute is installed, right?

[voidstar_apc]

Hi Kevin,

I think the confusion here is that operation depends on what the computer tells the UPS to do.

Without a computer, the UPS will run until the battery is low and then turn off. I think low battery is 2 minutes runtime remaining by default, but I might be remembering wrong. So you can think of it as just running down the battery.

During a power outage, a computer attached to the UPS with the data cable may tell the UPS to turn off after a certain amount of time. PowerChute, for instance, will start a shutdown of the computer and ask the UPS to turn off after 2 minutes. That will give your computer time to safely shut down before turning off the UPS to preserve battery life. Sv1cec above mentioned having 10s to shutdown--he's using APCUPSd which has different default settings from PowerChute. Also, most operating systems have native support for UPSes and can be configured to shut down and turn off the UPS.

[BillP]

What if the while the UPS is turned ON and the computer is OFF there is a blackout, what happens to the UPS? Won't it turn off?

Also, I noticed that Powerchute actually hibernates my computer and not shutdown. Is there a way to set it to shutdown my computer?

One more thing, when AC power to the UPS goes off, I noticed that the energy-saving LED setting resets to its default of staying ON all the time. I always have to set it back to energy-saving mode (LED display turns off after 60 seconds of inactivity) when AC power goes back. Is this normal behavior?

Message was edited by: kevindd992002

[voidstar_apc]

>
What if the while the UPS is turned ON and the computer is OFF there is a blackout, what happens to the UPS? Won't it turn off?
>

Not immediately. Without computer intervention, the UPS runs on battery until it can no longer support the load. The SmartUPS' have a configurable low battery duration to turn off the UPS earlier, and you can look for such a setting in PowerChute, but I'd be surprised if the BackUPS' have this.

>
Also, I noticed that Powerchute actually hibernates my computer and not shutdown. Is there a way to set it to shutdown my computer?
>

Try looking in PowerChute's shutdown settings... APC's website says it can Shutdown or Hibernate. I would've thought Hibernation would be preferred as it saves your work.

>
One more thing, when AC power to the UPS goes off, I noticed that the energy-saving LED setting resets to its default of staying ON all the time. I always have to set it back to energy-saving mode (LED display turns off after 60 seconds of inactivity) when AC power goes back. Is this normal behavior?
>

I'm not sure. Maybe someone else here might know.

[BillP]

Kevin -

Just like what voidstar has said, if there is no PC intervention the UPS would run on battery until it gets drained. With regards to your hibernation issue, PowerChute Personal Edition follows what is setup on your PC. If hibernation is enabled on your computer that is what it does, if it is disabled then it will do a shutdown.

Depending on your Operating System, there's a lot of ways for you to disable hibernation. On a Windows XP machine you just simply go to Control Panel - Power Options - Hibernate Tab and uncheck the Enable Hibernation Box. On Windows Vista and Windows 7, you might need to use the powercfg command via the Command Prompt.

[BillP]

You mean, the UPS will consume all its battery power left before turning itself OFF?

I don't see any setting in Powerchute regarding shutdown or hibernation? I don't like Hibernation, so no worries on that.

[BillP]

Bump!

[BillP]

Thanks. What if the computer is setup to have hibernation enabled, can you not set Powerchute to shutdown the compter anyways?

[BillP]

If hibernation is enabled, that is what PCPE would follow. It will only perform a shutdown if hibernation is disabled.

[BillP · Accepted solution]

I'm talking to different APC agents and all of them say that the UPS will stay ON (during blackout) until the battery is drained. I thought it is supposed to turn OFF after it gracefully shuts down the computer connected to the master outlet?