What is the right way to install UPS?

[BillP]

I am a bit confused. I have a APC Back-UPS 500, 230V on order for a HP Micro server (only 3 HD but we are rural so keep getting short power cuts).
Looking at the online documentation the instructions have you 1/ add power, 2-3/ connect the USP to equipment, 4/ switch it on and then 5/ connect USP and install software. BUT at stage 4 (switch on) you are told to charge the battery for a full 8 hours. Do I in fact need to charge the battery before connecting to the server? If so the instructions are a bit misleading and connect to power and turn on should be stage 1.

[BillP]

its up to you. the point of charging the battery prior to connecting everything is that if you have a power outage right after you connect your equipment and turn on the UPS, you can't expect full runtime with a partially charged battery. but, you can connect your equipment and turn the UPS on and the UPS will charge while still powering your load. thus, it's completely up to you. there is no right or wrong answer really its just that if you don't charge the battery first and there is an outage, you won't get much runtime.

if it were me, i'd just connect everything up and let the battery charge while connecting your equipment. if you have a power outage during this time though, it will disrupt and slow down battery charging but won't hurt anything.

[BillP]

Thank I have connected the server and UPS and all went well and its working. The only two outstanding issues was the self-test from software didn’t work, I take it the battery isn’t charge enough yet. (the one when turned on went OK both times it was turned on)
The more puzzling thing is what on earth to set the voltages at controlling battery intervention. The defaults of 266v and 180v look a bit high and low for the UK but I haven’t been able to find anything on it.

[BillP · Accepted solution]

for 230v, I am not sure. generally there is a drop down list associated with high and low transfer voltages so you could just tighten them to the lowest/highest voltage accordingly. i cant imagine the UPS would pass through anything that could damage your average power supply but it most likely depends on your attached equipment and how sensitive it may be.