Proper Sequence To Install Power Conditioner

[Anonymous user]

I have a Back-UPS 1500 for the main reason of keeping DVR from powering down. My power will flcker every once in awhile, usually just in large storms, but never stays off at all. Something is not right with my setup. I have a pretty good power line conditioner/surge protector to protect my AV equipment. When my power flickers my DVR and TV are going off, and my power conditioner's lights sit and flicker and just basically go nuts. My LCD screen shows that I have plenty of remaining juice shoudl the power go out, but when it does the DVR and TV lose power. Any help would be much appreciated. In what sequence should the power conditioner be in?

[Erasmus_apc · Accepted solution]

A Back-UPS unit outputs a stepped approximated sine wave when operating on battery as opposed to a true sine wave like you would see from a wall outlet. If your power conditioner is on the output side of the Back-UPS (a battery outlet) and is sensitive to sine wave form (many power factor corrected power supplies and high-end electronic equipment is) this could be causing your conditioner to "go nuts". If you feel you have to use a power conditioner, I would use it as the first source, with the Back-UPS getting its power from it:

Wall AC Outlet --> Power Conditioner --> Back-UPS 1500 --> Your Load

The output from the Back-UPS 1500 should be of more than sufficient quality for your load, so it should be fine to plug into the unit as long as you aren't overloading the UPS. As an FYI, the Back-UPS 1500s include AVR (automatic voltage regulation), surge protection and a basic level of noise filtering so the power conditioner may or may not be needed in your setup. That will be up to you.

[Erasmus_apc]

Marked as answered due to lack of followup questions for 1 week.

[Anonymous user]

Good response, and as a follow-on, power conditioning can be affected by what's going on at the zero-crossover point of the sine wave. Whether low, or high line voltage that must be corrected, the conditioner (within limits) doesn't care, but is does care about the quality of the sine wave at crossover.
One could probably drive a conditioner nuts by using...... car battery> crappy-power-inverter> power conditioner> load.