What UPS will provide battery backup without surge protection?

davedosch_apc · ‎2021-06-29

This was originally posted on APC forums on 1/7/2014

What UPS will provide battery backup without surge protection? My TV, DVR, Bluray and network switch are plugged into an old ungrounded outlet and I would like to provide battery backup. I understand that I can not provide surge protection without a ground, but all I want is to provide battery backup for when we have a power outage. I bought an APC BE550G but there is no way to disable the "Wiring Fault" alarm and use it as a battery backup only. What UPS will work without ground?

BillP · ‎2021-06-29

This reply was originally posted by Angela on APC forums on 1/7/2014

You can still use the UPS and ignore the wiring fault light as long as you know you don't have a ground. I cannot think of a consumer level UPS device we manufacture that does not check for a ground (and any other scenarios like overloaded neutral or reverse polarity that cause a site wiring fault)..

The only issue would arise when something happened and you were trying to make a claim - this would likely void any claim made due to the missing ground but it sounds like you've accepted the fact that your outlet is missing a ground and choose to operate the equipment connected anyway.

Also, beyond shunting a surge to the ground, this UPS has some Metal Oxide Varistors in it that would potentially accept some of the surge voltage as far as I know and also attempt to sacrifice itself before passing the surge through to the equipment.

See Answer In Context

BillP · ‎2021-06-29

This reply was originally posted by Angela on APC forums on 1/7/2014

You can still use the UPS and ignore the wiring fault light as long as you know you don't have a ground. I cannot think of a consumer level UPS device we manufacture that does not check for a ground (and any other scenarios like overloaded neutral or reverse polarity that cause a site wiring fault)..

The only issue would arise when something happened and you were trying to make a claim - this would likely void any claim made due to the missing ground but it sounds like you've accepted the fact that your outlet is missing a ground and choose to operate the equipment connected anyway.

Also, beyond shunting a surge to the ground, this UPS has some Metal Oxide Varistors in it that would potentially accept some of the surge voltage as far as I know and also attempt to sacrifice itself before passing the surge through to the equipment.