ES750

[Anonymous user]

I have an ES750 (model # BE750BB, s/n AB0546243189). It has been in service for about 1 1/2 years. Yesterday, it went to battery power and I cannot get it to go back. I have power at the surge outlets and have also tried powering the unit with a different dedicated outlet. When I push the power switch, it just beeps once. When I force start it by holding the switch, it goes right to battery. Any ideas?

[Anonymous user]

What exactly was plugged into the Battery Backup outlets before?

[Anonymous user]

I just purchased a BE750BB unit, connected the battery properly and proceeded to set it up for use. I currently have a computer and associated equipment working properly in my apartment, with there being no indication that there is a grounding problem.

However, as a precautionary test, and after disconnecting all of my computer equipment from the building's AC power, I proceeded to plug this APC unit into the same wall outlet that I had been using for my computer equipment. Nothing was plugged into the APC outlets, either the plain surge protector outlets or the surge protector outlets plus battery backup. What I got was entirely unexpected. There was a big flash as the power plug on this unit made contact with the wall outlet, and the breaker for this circuit tripped.

With no power to the wall outlet, I then plugged the APC unit into this outlet and reset the circuit breaker with no difficulty. However, the red wiring fault indicator on the APC unit was now lit, although nothing was plugged into any of the outlets on this unit.The power switch on the unit was turned off.

I then disconnected the APC from the wall outlet and reconnected my computer equipment, which operated without any problems, as before. I bought one of these cheap outlet testers at the local hardware store to test this outlet for a grounding fault, as indicated by the APC red light fault indicator before I unplugged this unit. However, this little outlet tester gave no indication that there was any fault! No open ground, no reversed connection.

The only thing that I can assume from this is that there is a current overload in the neutral wire, which is being detected by the APC unit and indicated as a fault, but not by the cheap outlet tester. I am currently at a loss as how to continue here, particularly since I am certain to have difficulty convincing the owner of this building to call in an electrician just to troubleshoot my computer equipment, when there are no other complaints about the wiring from other occupants in this building, and the outlet tester indicates that there is no wiring problem, although this simple tester does not test for ground current flow.

So my question is: "What seems to be the cause of the wiring fault indication on the APC, and how do I go about convincing the owner of this building that there is indeed a problem which is not unique to _my computer equipment and APC battery backup unit?"


Musikon

[TheNotoriousKMP_apc]

First,

I would contact Tech Support to get a replacement as soon as possible. We don't know what damage, if any, was caused by that flash during plugging in. Secondly, I would take the UPS to either another circuit, or another portion of the building, and see if the LED still exists. If there are any other APC customers within that building who have APC units, they may be experiencing the same thing and just aren't aware of what it means. This would be a better test, an independant circuit at another location.

[Anonymous user]

I took this unit to another circuit in my apartment and tried the same thing again, after I had disabled that circuit by throwing the breaker. I plugged in the APC (with nothing plugged into it), then reset the breaker, which was easily done. However, the red fault light on the APC was now lit, just as it was after I had reset the breaker on the first circuit.

Also, the cheap outlet tester indicated that this second outlet was correctly wired and showed no fault. So the mystery remains. It could of course be the problem of an overloaded neutral wiring, but I have no way of checking this myself.

I do know of one individual in an apartment on a different floor who uses a smaller APC unit, and I plan to check this out quickly to see if his unit is operating normally--without that red wiring fault light being on. If so, then this points to some problem in my apartment or to a problem with my APC unit. Somehow or another, my instinct tells me that this is due to current flow in that neutral wire, which is sensed as being excessive by the APC unit.

I can also probably take my unit to his apartment and plug it in there to see if still indicates a building wiring fault, while his unit does not.

What puzzles me is that my computer equipment has been working happily along, without any problems on this same circuit, and I cannot see why I got the reaction that I did when I plugged the APC unit into that same wall outlet when there was nothing plugged into it.

I have some more work to do on this.


musikon

[TheNotoriousKMP_apc]

Al,

At this juncture, I'm leaning towards an overloaded neutral as well. However, your question as to why everything was functioning properly before? Well if the neutral is above 3VAC, then it's going to be considered "overloaded" and the SWF indicator will be triggered. However, keep in mind that the APC UPS's are more sensitive and desire ideally a perfect wiring system. Therefore, it's quite possible that the equipment you had running before was also being provided with return on the neutral line, but is not large enough to do significant damage.

[Anonymous user]

Hello,

Have you tried something else into the outlet, like a lamp, to verify good voltage? If the power is being passed through the Surge Only outlets, you may want to try our cold start procedure. Make sure the battery is properly connected inside the UPS first. Leave the UPS unplugged from the wall power with no load attached. Push and hold the ON button until the UPS starts on its own battery power. Then check the battery outlets with a load, like a lamp. Leave the test load plugged in, and connect the UPS direct to AC wall outlet. If the lamp stays on, and the UPS stops beeping as if indicating it is on battery, then you're good. If the lamp drops, there could be issues with the relay in the UPS. If the UPS stays on battery, then try lowering the sensitivity of the UPS through the PowerChute Personal Edition software. There could be distorted power coming through the wall outlet.

Thanks.

[Anonymous user]

Thanks. I tried that before but I did not take out all the plugs from the battery outlets. Once I did it with just one small load, it kicked over to AC power. Is there any reason why this might have happened? I've never had problems before and there have not been any power issues that I am aware of (if there is a drop in voltage, my microwave normally resets) and I had previously reduced the sensitivity using powerchute.

[Anonymous user]

Computer, monitor, and my phone.

[Anonymous user]

What type CPU and Monitor?

[Anonymous user · Accepted solution]

I have an ES750 (model # BE750BB, s/n AB0546243189). It has been in service for about 1 1/2 years. Yesterday, it went to battery power and I cannot get it to go back. I have power at the surge outlets and have also tried powering the unit with a different dedicated outlet. When I push the power switch, it just beeps once. When I force start it by holding the switch, it goes right to battery. Any ideas?