Exceeding UPS capacity

D

Ducman69

[H]F Junkie
Joined
Jul 12, 2007
Messages
10,550
So I added another 290x to my 295x2 rig, with an overclocked i7 and plenty of drives to boot, so obviously I'm thinking globally and acting locally to contribute to global warming since I really enjoy flipflops and hate socks.

Unfortunately, in the process I have immeidately upon benchmarking run up a powermeter software popup informing me:
HEY JACKASS! YOU HAVE EXCEEDED THE UPS LIMITS!

An actual 1500 watt UPS will likely cost me a fortune, and I'm just using a Back-UPS VS 1500 right now (fresh batteries), and am wondering if I can safely disregard and disable this warning?

I don't mind if I get backup for regular usage, and just know that I have no battery backup when I'm gaming, and it will instantly shut off, but I'm worried if its a problem outright to run that much power through the UPS period.

Anyone know?

power-outage-puzzle.jpg

Thanks AMD!
 
yeah, if you were to have an outage while benching the UPS would trip
 
jojo69 said:
yeah, if you were to have an outage while benching the UPS would trip
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Well that's no biggie, I was just concerned if there would be poofs of smoke and burning smell, heh.

If it just doesn't work while benching or gaming and cuts out, then that's no problem.
 
I also would expect an instant off (for a quality UPS) when the batteries kick in if the power exceeds the ups limit.
 
All of my UPS are "underrated" for the computers they are connected to (well maybe except my Mac Mini). The only thing I need them to be able to do it keep the computer powered on for the 2-20 seconds we loose power.

Considering that power outages generally happen at night, the computers are usually idle and using very little power. I have never had a problem. I also set the computers (Windows at least) to sleep very quickly after going to "Battery Power", like 2 minutes. If your UPS has a USB cable attached to it, Windows can tell when the UPS turns on.

But honestly I have never had this happen. All I need is for the computer itself and external SATA drives to not be turned off by power sags or quick outages.

The only thing I worry about is 4 UPS's all beeping for 20 seconds.
 
drescherjm said:
If this is the USA most users will not have a 20A circuit for that.
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this is [H]

we all have dedicated 20A circuits for our rigs...at a minimum :p

I have 2, and am seriously considering a 240V drop as well
 
drescherjm said:
If this is the USA most users will not have a 20A circuit for that.
Click to expand...

I just had 2 20A circuits installed in the garage yesterday. I put an LG AC unit in the garage recently and the single 15A outlet wasn't enough for the AC and me gaming at the same time.
worked fine for surfing the web though.
 
drescherjm said:
If this is the USA most users will not have a 20A circuit for that.
Click to expand...

jojo69 said:
this is [H]

we all have dedicated 20A circuits for our rigs...at a minimum :p

I have 2, and am seriously considering a 240V drop as well
Click to expand...
Exactly. This is [H].

I have a dedicated 60A breaker panel for the computer room. Which does the minisplit, a few outlets and 2 30A UPS outlets (only 1 in use)

Also have another 60A panel in my garage. x2 20a 240V for the A/C and Air Compressor and x3 15a for outlets and lights, but that's a different story.
 
Read the whole page. They'll change the plug to whatever you want it to. Check the drop down menu labeled "Plug type 120v" right next to where you place the item in your cart; they're as follows..

Locking 30a - L5-30P
Locking 20a - L5-20P
Blade 20a - 5-20P
Blade 15a - 5-15P

Those are the choices you have.
 
If you put a 15A plug on it it should work fine most of the time however you may blow your 15A breaker under load if the UPS is charging and you have a high load on your PC. Although after this happens the user will learn to avoid the issue.
 
Heh. +1 to the 20A wiring.

My current house had horrible wiring throughout... was built in the 60s. No grounds, etc.

Everything I have rewired has been converted to 20A circuits just in case.
 
Eh, that's more than I'd want to invest, and I'm not even worried about having UPS backup while gaming, as that's not the majority of the time and I don't game during storms and what not.

I just wasn't sure what happens to a UPS when its overloaded, but if there's no smoke and just a turnoff, I'm not worried at all and will leave it as is. Thanks!

So far I have just had it plugged into the UPS on a surge protected only outlet as a precaution, and I haven't had any drops like I'm pulling too much power from the outlet or anything like that.
 
The UPS should work for 5 seconds at 125% over load before shutting down. There are many parts some of which are not rated for above 100% hence they shut it down to prevent damage. The chips they use for the DC to AC conversion can actually go much higher usually. Also at 2400VA, the battery is being drained at 200 amps.. Thats a lot of juice and you can see how thick car wiring is. And yes, even though you can run the UPS above rated loads, the chips might crack.. So they might not even perform at 100% later.. You wont know until the power goes off and the cracked chips pops.
2400VA might give you under 2000 watts.. You don't usually run them above 75% to give it some leeway.. They will work.. They just wont work for extended periods..
 
I exceeded my 800vA UPS a couple of years ago. Decided it just wasn't worth it to run a UPS anymore as the CBR just wasn't there. If the electricity goes out, I just use laptop.
 
The main point of a UPS is so you can shutdown safely in the event of a power outage and not lose your work. It's not really intended to be used for extended periods of time.
 
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