PDU Question

W

WizBomb

Limp Gawd
Joined
Dec 5, 2001
Messages
168
I have aquired a PDU and looking to use it on my server rack. Only problem I have is, the unit does not have the standard power plug to plug it into the battery backup. Do they make adapters?

Thanks,
Brian
 
What kind of plug does it have? What kind of battery backup do you have? There are a lot of "standard" plugs. I'm willing to bet it's a 20A or 30A plug.

I don't mean to sound rude here, but if you're looking for advice, you have to give enough info to get a decent answer.
 
Lets start with, what model pdu do you have and what model ups do you have?
 
Sorry for the delay in getting back. After studying further, it appears the PDU is 5-20P and so far I have been unable to find a converter to turn it into a 5-15P. My UPS's are only 5-15R.

Is it possible to convert it?
 
You could cut the 5-20 plug off and attach a 5-15 plug, but I wouldn't recommend this. The reason the PDU has a 5-20 plug is the it is capable of pulling 20A, and it most likely has a 20A circuit breaker. If you attached a 5-15P, the circuit breaker would no longer be adequate to prevent a failure - the 5-15 plug would be the weakest link. Though, since your up stream device, the UPS, should have overcurrent protection allowing no more then 15A at the receptacle, it might be ok. Something to think about.
 
I got adapters for my Dell PDU from http://www.antonline.com/

Its a 120v twist lock and I got adapters to NEMA 5-20, they ought to have 5-20 to 5-15 adapters. I didnt mind using adapters because I wasnt using anywhere close to that much juice.
 
OmegaAvenger said:
I got adapters for my Dell PDU from http://www.antonline.com/

Its a 120v twist lock and I got adapters to NEMA 5-20, they ought to have 5-20 to 5-15 adapters. I didnt mind using adapters because I wasnt using anywhere close to that much juice.
Click to expand...

Something like this? It's fine if you're going from a twistlock to a straight blade of the same amperage. The problem comes when going down in amperage. For example, some homes have 20A circuits for plugs with several 15A rectacles installed on the circuit. The overcurrent protection is a 20A breaker in the panel box. If you were to changethe plug on the PDU in question to a 15A plug so you could plug it into one of these 15A rectacles, the 15A rectacle and plug would now be underrated. The overcurrent protection at 20A would allow the 15A plug and recptacle to be overloaded.

Let me be clear - I'm not saying you can't do this, as I am doing the very same thing at home myself. It's just that there are a couple of particular points you have to be aware of. One, you will probably not find an adapter like you're looking for in any store. If you do, it is certainly not UL listed and a potential liability to the seller as it could easily be misused. Two, at my house, the recptacle branch circuits have 15A breakers such that my UPS, which has a 5-20 plug, is limited to 15A by the branch circuit breaker rating.

The long and short of this is that you're either going to have to make an adapter yourself (what I did), or cut the 20A plug off your PDU and install a 15A plug.
 
I have a APC Smart UPS 3000 that i bought for $20 used almost 2 1/2 years ago, and someone had replaced the power plug with a plain old NEMA 15 jack, and it works just fine. Granted, I dont run much more than my desktop off of it. It needs new batteries right now so its currently not in use.
 
OmegaAvenger said:
I have a APC Smart UPS 3000 that i bought for $20 used almost 2 1/2 years ago, and someone had replaced the power plug with a plain old NEMA 15 jack, and it works just fine. Granted, I dont run much more than my desktop off of it. It needs new batteries right now so its currently not in use.
Click to expand...

I have 2 APC Smart UPS 2200's that I got off Craigslist that I'm doing the same thing with. I'm not saying it wont work, I'm just saying you have to be careful since you're not using the equipment as originally intended.
 
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