Backs-Ups BR1200 goes to overload when power returns after managed shutdown

[Anonymous user]

This is an interesting problem, and one that I thought was just a defective unit, but it's now occurred with 2 units. APC is sending a BR1300LCD as a replacement, but I actually prefer the BR1200 if I can solve this.

Anyway, with the unit, after a managed shutdown after a power loss (the PC hibernates), when power returns, the UPS stays on battery for about a minute, and then the lights go to OVERLOAD, and then the UPS reboots. This causes anything that was still being powered by the UPS at the time to shut down as well.

I spent 2 hrs with APC tech support this morning (very helpful, but no solution), and the unit was deemed defective. But this is the second one, yet I can't find any references on the internet from others having this problem. The firmware was 8.g3 .D. Unit was manufactured in Sept 2009.

Does anyone else have a similar situation?

The steps I use to easily reproduce are as follows:

1. Have Powerchute set to shut the PC down after one minute on battery (just to speed up the process, it happens at all intervals).
2. Unplug the UPS. UPS goes to battery. PC hibernates in a minute.
3. Wait a minute or so and plug the UPS back in (simulating a power restore)
4. UPS stays on battery for one minute, then goes to overload and power cycles.

The PC is set to NOT power on on AC restore and remote wakeup is off. We also were able to reproduce it with NOTHING plugged into the UPS once the PC was shut down. We unplugged everything (no load) and plugged the UPS back in, and it still did it. Additionally, if you restore power before the PC hibernates, the UPS works correctly. It's only an issue after a managed shutdown is performed. I actually just reproduced it with a laptop too, which only draws 20watts of power.

Very odd, and certainly it can't be the only 2 units that I was lucky enough to get.

Anyone have anything similar happen? Can you run a test?

Thank you.

Message was edited by: steveg_nh

[Anonymous user]

I don't believe I heard a tone. Interesting though, that's for sure. So once a managed shutdown occurs, you CANNOT interrupt the UPS shutdown timer (sleep mode) if the power comes back. Once it commits to it's countdown, it must continue? Is that correct? Further, if you don't restore power before the UPS goes to sleep, would you see the led flashing pattern, or would it just go online? The part that I didn't like, which is what I considered either a defect or design flaw, is that when power comes back all other devices plugged in get power cycled, causing them all to reset as well.

Do they all work that way? Maybe I never paid attention to how my Backups ES 725 works. I have a new battery on the way and will see.

Thanks

Message was edited by: steveg_nh

[BillP]

Steve,

I really appreciate your patience and all the information that you have provided so far. If you are set to shutdown your PC using the Preserve Battery Power option, once the Hibernation/Shutdown process has started a countdown timer/signal is also being sent to the UPS. During this point of time even if the power restores you wouldn't be able to interrupt/cancel the UPS shutdown. Once the countdown timer is done the UPS will then stay on sleep mode, this is where you will see the online and overload LED flashing alternately and it also cuts the power on the battery outlets. It will stay at this way and waits until power is restored, once it gets restored it will check if the power is acceptable and then it would turn on the battery outlets.

If the UPS has started the countdown timer and the power was restored, it will still proceed with the shutdown. Power will be cut from it's outlet but then again since there is an acceptable voltage it will go back to online, during this period all the loads attached to the battery side would turn off and turn on again.

Let me see if this can help you further:
# UPS has detected that there was a blackout and goes to On Battery mode.
# PowerChute Personal Edition will then start the preserve battery power counter.
# PCPE counter expires, a command is then sent to the UPS to start the UPS Shutdown timer and at the same time tells the Operating System to hibernate/shutdown.
# OS will then complete the shutdown/hibernate process and at the same time the UPS continues the turn off delay. At this point of time, once the UPS has reached the shutdown timer it will reboot and it can't be stopped.
# UPS cuts the power from the battery outlets to see if the incoming power is acceptable, if not it will just wait until power returns.

JonPro

[BillP]

Hi Steve,

Can you tell me how was your PowerChute Personal Edition configured to hibernate/shutdown your PC? Is it set to Preserve Battery Power or Keep My Computer On as long as possible?

If is set to Preserve Battery Power, it will hibernate/shutdown the PC first and then it also sends a turn off/sleep signal command to the UPS. If power returns and the signal has been sent to the UPS there is no way that this can be stopped, the UPS will proceed to turn itself off/sleep for about a minute and then it would turn itself back on and stay Online. It was during this cycle that your PC or the load drops. The reason why you can see the Overload and Online flashing is because, it has entered the UPS Sleep mode.

JonPro

[Anonymous user]

I witnessed the behavior with "preserve battery power" for sure. And I'm pretty sure I experienced it with "Keep My Computer On as long as possible."

So what you're saying, is if the setting is "preserve battery power," as soon as the UPS shuts the PC down, it shuts itself down in a minute or so. If power comes back during that time, it will ignore the AC power, still shut itself down and then cycle to overload and go back online?

If it was set to "keep my computer on as long as possible," it would hibernate the PC, but the UPS would stay on indefinitely (until it dies)? If power came back before it died, it would just go back online?

I actually decided I didn't want to deal with it, so I've sent it back already for a refund. I am 99% sure I tested it both ways with the same result, which is why it was so puzzling. Can't you guys test one there to see?

Thanks.

[BillP]

Steve,

If it is set to Keep My Computer On As Long As Possible+ the UPS would run on battery and would exhaust it's charge until it reaches the low battery state which will then command the PC to either hibernate/shutdown depending on the configuration. Under the Preserve Battery Power+ once it hits the marked time it will command the PC to shutdown/hibernate and then it will turn off the UPS to preserve the charge on the battery.

I personally have tested it in our laboratory and it worked.

JonPro

[Anonymous user]

But even with "keep my computer on as long as you possible" you set a shut down time. I believe I tested that by setting the PC shutdown to 3 minutes. The PC hibernated after 3 minutes. I restored AC power a minute or so later. The UPS stayed on battery for about a minute, then went to overload, online, overload, online...then it stayed online.

Anytime a managed shutdown was performed, if power was restored, the UPS went to overload, it never just came back online.

Am I making sense?

[BillP · Accepted solution]

The keep my computer on works wherein if you only have this amount of runtime left on the UPS while the other one, preserve battery power would let the UPS run on battery on the specified time. When you said that the UPS went to overload, online, overload and online do you hear a tone or this is just a pattern of flashing LEDs that you see on your UPS? If this is just the LED pattern, I've seen this one as well and this is what I've mentioned earlier which was the UPS sleep mode. These two settings that you can choose in PowerChute Personal Edition is our way to perform a managed and unattended shutdown.