RS1500 battery replaced Powerchute failed after power failure

[Anonymous user]

I have a Back-UPS RS1500. I recently replaced the battery, and Powerchute failed to intervene after a power failure. I am running Windows 10 Anniversary Update 64-bit, I have a power supply of 850 watts, and I installed Powerchute with PCPEInstaller.exe version 3.0.2.0.

[BillP]

Hi,

What do you mean by "failed to intervene? 

Does PowerChute list the communication status with the UPS as good?

Was the power failure logged in PowerChute?

If you kill AC to the UPS does PowerChute record the event?

[Anonymous user]

Bill,

1. I'm merely using the terminology that PowerChute uses - see answer to fourth question.

2. Where do I look in PowerChute to answer that?

3. No - the problem I'm talking about is that the power failure trips the circuit breaker and the computer shuts off

- I have PowerChute set to give me 10 minutes to close all the applications and shut down gracefully but that didn't happen.

4. This morning we had a brief power failure that didn't trip the circuit breaker but I could hear the GFCI's pop. PowerChute

said "Your battery backup last intervened on 11/28/16, at 11:18:59 AM".

[Anonymous user]

If the PowerChute  software appears to be providing valid statistics (how much load is attached to the UPS, line voltage value, estimated runtime  remaining, and/or the firmware revision, model and serial numbers of the UPS) communication is probably taking place between the UPS, your computer and the software. As PowerChute  appears to be aware of what the UPS has done in the past, this would also tend to suggest that communication is taking place.

You mentioned that a circuit breaker is tripping. Is this a circuit breaker within your building, on the UPS itself or somewhere else?

850 watts is pretty close to the maximum rating (865 watts, if memory serves) of a 1500VA UPS. If your computer is actually utilizing anything like that much electrical power, things may be running too close to the limit.

However, I am more troubled by mention of a GFCI  tripping.

As a test, I would suggest taking the UPS to a properly wired and known working outlet. Plug it in there and hook up some non critical loads (a few lamps would work well). See if it will transfer to battery and function as it should. If it does, you have a valuable data point in that the UPS should be working properly.

[Anonymous user]

William,

I bought the RS1500 in 2006 when we were living in a house near where we are now because we had a lot of brownouts and power surges. I replaced the battery in 2009.

Unfortunately I forgot about replacing the battery again until this summer, when the UPS started acting strangely - the yellow light would blink, but the green light wouldn't come on. After resetting it a few times, it would eventually work.  So, before I replaced the battery, it was working every time we had a power surge or a power failure.

This apartment complex was built om 2008 and we have been living here since 2010. The wiring in this apartment is, to put it mildly, fluky. We have GFCI's in two outlets in the kitchen, and the circuit breaker for the room that the computer is in is labeled with the following: ARC FAULT Breaker Type BRAF. The outlet that the UPS is plugged into also has a surge protector plugged into it that is used for the printer and the router (the monitor and computer is plugged into the UPS). Another outlet on the same side has a surge protector that is used for a 3-way floor lamp. Across the room, the outlet has two surge protectors, one for a floor lamp, a table lamp and a lighted mirror. The other one is used for a TV and DVD recorder. Of these devices, normally the two floor lamps, the router and the UPS are usually on most of the day.

When the power failure occurred recently, the circuit breaker tripped for this room and everything turned off. As I mentioned before, the GFCI's in the kitchen turned off as well. My husband said he heard a pop outside, which may have been a transformer.  Also, there have been instances in the past when I would turn on the floor lamp across the room, the UPS would beep and do its thing.

This morning after I turned on the computer and Windows had started but I hadn't opened any applications, I turned the switch off in back of the computer and it shut off - the UPS didn't beep.

I don't want to get into moving the UPS - I have a bad knee.

In another thread, someone said that they replaced the UPS occasionally instead of just the battery - I'm wondering if I should get the BR1500G (the replacement for the RS1500).

[Anonymous user]

With your RS1500 dating from 2006, I think your best course of action is probably to replace the unit. Unfortunately, my experiences with a lot of these units have not been the best. (I've personally seen lots of them with bad capacitors, one with an intermittent low voltage regulator, and an RS1500 that I've got in active service right now that does similarly to yours in that it won't easily come off of battery and switch to line power...in fact, on the higher sensitivity modes of operation, it won't come off of battery at all. I'm unsure as yet what causes this defect.)

After ten years, and especially in an environment where you had frequent issues with bad electrical power, other parts of the unit might be worn out.

The BR1500G appears to be vastly more reliable and I think you'll appreciate the status display that those units have.

Regarding the circuit breakers/AFCI  and GFCI  units that tripped: I think it would be a very good idea to bring your landlord, a qualified electrician or even your electrical utility company into this. Something strange is going on and the cause should be investigated before the result is a major failure or property damage through something like a fire.

I'm not sure what you mean by "the switch off in back of the computer". If you are referring to the switch that is located near the power cord connection on many desktop (or tower) computers, this would indeed forcibly shut off all electrical power to the computer. Your UPS wouldn't sense this as a problem because that switch comes after its protective/monitoring circuitry and there's nothing it could do in normal use to keep the computer on if you turned that switch off.

[Anonymous user · Accepted solution]

William,

Yes, the switch near the power cord connection. Oh, well.

RE: Contacting the landlord - yeah, she'd appreciate a good laugh! You've heard the phrase "built by the lowest bidder"? Brownouts and power failures

are a fact of life in this area (Southeast Texas) - that's why I got a UPS in the first place. If a thunderstorm is imminent, I close everything on the PC and shut down.

My best bet is to get a working UPS - thanks for your replies.