Re: [vox] [OT] Smoothing out the powerline signal?

[ME <dugan@paMAPSsswall.com>]

On Wed, 27 Mar 2002, Mark K. Kim wrote:
> It's quite an interesting UPS.  It's apparently pretty sensitive to
> current changes -- if I have my heater on, and the fridge on, and someone
> is using something down stairs, the UPS kicks in (and stays in that mode
> until either my fridge turns off or the heater turns off), even though
> it's enough current to keep the computer going safely.  It's nice knowing
> there's that extra safety, except the UPS runs out of power if the heater
> and the fridge stays on for a long time.  At least it warns you -- The
> UPS's alarm kicked in the other day without the usual ~1 second pauses; I
> got scared and shut down the computer... :)

This suggests power limits (not enough power) for your circuit has lead to
brown-outs - which can be bad for computer hardware.

You should note that a UPS cycling into battery and back out again on a
semi-regular basis will shorten the lifespan of the batteries in the UPS.

When we moved to a new building that was actually still being built, we
often had changes to power in the building being constructed. We had 3
servers located in this building, each one with an APC 1400 SmartUPS. Over
a 4 month period of dips in power (small brown-outs) and building power
tests, these UPS were all hammered. As a result, the batteries of each of
these UPS started to fail within 9 months. 6 Other UPS identical to these
three and purchased at the same time were left in our old building and did
not suffer to the same degree. The batteries for these guys are still
working and are coming close to the 3 year mark where we will likely start
testing them for battery replacement.

If you can alter your power consumption to not push the UPS to kick-in so
often, it will increase the lifspan of the UPS battery. (Also, cheaper UPS
often do not have simple/easy battery replacement.)

-ME

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