UPS (uninterrupted power supply) issues

[wfriedwald]

For years I had an apartment in a very old building with very old wiring. I used a UPS - somehow I accumulated at least three different UPS units over the years - and it seemed to be a good thing. I got the impression it was working and helping my system.

Then I moved to a brand new building with brand new wiring. I tried using the UPS unit(s) for a few months. But they seemed to be more trouble than they were worth. The UPS units would go off and start beeping, I would have to re-set the units, they were doing that a lot, more in the new building than in the new. So I stopped using them.

Now, I'm not certain, especially today, now that it's 98 degrees in New York. I do notice that occasionally one of my external hard drives flicks off and then immediately comes back on. But the mere act of flicking off is enough to be very annoying.

Does anybody have any wisdom that they could impart regarding the general use of UPS units?

Thanks as always for any feedback,

w

 

[Erehy Dobon]

It depends on the UPS unit but many of them have alarms that can be silenced. They all ship from the factory with the alarms enabled. macOS offers basic communication to the UPS but no configuration tools.

UPS device configuration usually requires a Windows utility from the UPS manufacturer. Quite frequently there is no equivalent Mac nor Linux software. Also you cannot use one manufacturer's UPS software on another manufacturer's device.

I use APC UPSes and APC discontinued their PowerChute for Mac utility a long time ago. So I hauled my four UPSes one by one to my corporate office and used PowerChute Personal for Windows on my work PC to disable their alarms. About a year ago I acquired a cheap $170 Wintel PC for home use but I have not had to make any adjustments. I need to keep a Wintel PC around for stuff like this since I quit my corporate job a couple of years ago.

Something like PowerChute Personal lets you change the voltage thresholds (low voltage, high voltage) when the alarm goes off. I never changed these, I just disabled the alarm.

I have always kept mission-critical devices on the battery-backup outlets on the UPS including things like always-on external disk drive enclosures. Everything else can go on the surge protection-only outlets.

When there's a power event at my place I can hear the clicking of the three UPSes as they go to battery but there is no annoying beeping. At least for APC UPSes, this also silences the beep that occurs during the weekly self-test which always seems to happen when I'm lying in bed.

If you have an APC UPS and no Windows machine handy, you might look into the old Linux apcupsd software to see if you can use it for UPS configuration. At one point it was running on macOS but I do not know if the developer still supports Macs.

 

[chscag]

I use a CyberPower UPS here at home and it pretty much operates the same way as the APC unit mentioned above.

The very unusual hot temperature in NY is probably causing a heavy load on the power grid due to air conditioning usage, etc. Your UPS is trying to keep up with the power line voltage rising and falling.

Most newer UPS units can connect via USB to your Mac and your Mac will show that from its System Preferences, Energy Saver display.

BTW, 95-98 degrees is our every day average temperature here in Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas during July and August. 😀

 

[Erehy Dobon]

The very unusual hot temperature in NY is probably causing a heavy load on the power grid due to air conditioning usage, etc. Your UPS is trying to keep up with the power line voltage rising and falling.

This might be why OP is seeing this in his new building with new wiring. If each unit has built-in A/C then the load will be much higher than the old building that didn't have built-in A/C (just individual window units installed by the occupant).

Peak electricity usage is between 4-7pm which is why electric companies charge their highest rates during this period. Everyone gets home from work in the late afternoon and the first thing they do during a heat wave is to turn on the lights, the A/C, the A/V receiver and the 60" television set.

 

[wfriedwald]

thank you guys - still pondering - can you give me specific names / model numbers / URLs for UPS machines that will work with my 2018 Mac Mini and vast array of externally-mounted hard drives? thank you! (Cyberpower, APC, etc.)

W