PC wakes up whenever I turn on my fan.

[caroline!]

Alright here's a tricky one for y'all.

If I put my computer to sleep and then turn on/off or change the speed of my pedestal fan that's plugged into the same UPS, the computer will come out of sleep like if I had pressed the power button on the case. I've disabled wake up by LAN, keyboard or mouse in the BIOS so it's not the mouse moving or something like that.

Specs on my profile. Fan is a regular 32" nothing wrong with it.

 

[joemama]

Probably some minor voltage change the moment the fan is turned on at the UPS end triggered the PSU
Just plug the fan somewhere else

 

[thewan]

Does your UPS have a USB port to communicate with your PC and did you connect it to your PC? Try unplugging that and see if that fixes it.

Also make sure you also disable the "Allow this device to wake the computer" option in the Power Management tab for each and every device you mentioned above (ALL mouse,keyboard network including LAN and WiFi) in the device manager. Windows power management can be really wonky, and sometimes a setting in the BIOS can be ignored by Windows.

 

[Bill_Bright]

Fan is a regular 32"

32 inch fan! A 32" fan is a HUGE fan

Why is your fan plugged into your UPS? The UPS is to protect your "sensitive" and critical electronics systems. Large fan motors are not "sensitive" electronics. Nor critical, unless this system is required to keep "mission critical", client support, system alive.

And surely, a fan that size has a large fan motor running it. It takes a lot of current to get any motor spinning, it would take a HUGE amount of current to get a 32" fan spinning. This alone is reason enough not to power your fan through your UPS.

What size UPS is it? What is the brand and model number? I note you have a 1500W PSU connected to it.

Video Card(s)	5700XT + 3x RX 590
Storage	A lot
Audio Device(s)	Sound Blaster Z SE

4 graphics cards? Really? Plus "a lot" of drives and a sound card too?

JUST for the computer hardware alone, the recommended UPS size is at least 2kW. And that is for "only" 4 hard drives and does not even include case fans, CPU fan or other devices powered by the UPS.

I ask again, what size UPS? What else is connected to this UPS?

IMO, you would need a large industrial grade, maybe even a whole-facility UPS - at least 3kW.

 

[Assimilator]

Sounds like a crappy UPS that's not properly isolating the voltages on its discrete outputs, with the result that the spikes caused by your fan coming on or changing speeds are being fed back to components connected to other outputs.

 

[Bill_Bright]

A 32" fan, along with a computer with 4 graphics cards will tax even the best of UPS if not sufficient size.

We know nothing about this UPS. For all we know, it is a no-name generic 1500VA UPS with 5 year old batteries, plugged into an ungrounded outlet.

 

[xtreemchaos]

Aliens !. id remove the 3 580s and see if it still dos it.

 

[dgianstefani]

Cheap UPS problem.

Online double conversion pure sine wave is what you want.

 

[Bill_Bright]

Cheap UPS problem.

And how do you know it is a cheap UPS?

Do you know what size it is?

Do you know the model number?

Do you know how old the batteries are?

Do you know if the wall outlet is properly wired and grounded to Earth ground?

Do you know what else is being powered by it besides 4 graphics cards, "a lot" of drives, a 1500W PSU - oh, and a HUGE 32 inch pedestal fan?

If none of that is known, then everyone is just guessing.

 

[dgianstefani]

And how do you know it is a cheap UPS?

Do you know what size it is?

Do you know the model number?

Do you know how old the batteries are?

Do you know if the wall outlet is properly wired and grounded to Earth ground?

Do you know what else is being powered by it besides 4 graphics cards, "a lot" of drives, a 1500W PSU - oh, and a HUGE 32 inch pedestal fan?

If none of that is known, then everyone is just guessing.

If a fan plugged into the UPS is causing a repeatable issue with another device plugged into that UPS, it's a UPS problem.

As for how I know it's cheap, they almost all are. It's hard to find someone who's bought an actually good UPS system.

Plus, a better one would show an error if the batteries had a fault or some other issue causing problems, in good condition a UPS should isolate different circuits, it's part of the point of having one.

 

[droid-I]

Just plug the fan somewhere else

Correct, why connect a pedestal fan on UPS backup, must be some warm temperature and frequent brown/black out area there.

 

[Bill_Bright]

If a fan plugged into the UPS is causing a repeatable issue with another device plugged into that UPS, it's a UPS problem.

No! You cannot make that conclusion. We don't have enough information. There are too many unknowns and too many variables here. And this isn't a little 140mm fan. This is a HUGE 32 inch fan!!!! And a power hog of a computer. Plus who knows what else is plugged into that UPS.

It could be an industrial grade Eaton UPS. If not big enough, problems will ensue.

As for how I know it's cheap, they almost all are. I

LOL Come on!

Plus, a better one would show an error if the batteries had a fault or some other issue causing problems,

And how do you know it is not indicating errors? You don't know what UPS this is, or what the OP is doing with it. This is just you (and others) guessing!

And ONCE AGAIN - look at the load the OP is putting on it with just the computer.

We need more information. But in the meantime,

Correct, why put the pedestal fan on UPS backup.

 

[Deleted member 185158]

Alright here's a tricky one for y'all.

If I put my computer to sleep and then turn on/off or change the speed of my pedestal fan that's plugged into the same UPS, the computer will come out of sleep like if I had pressed the power button on the case. I've disabled wake up by LAN, keyboard or mouse in the BIOS so it's not the mouse moving or something like that.

Specs on my profile. Fan is a regular 32" nothing wrong with it.

You really should reply soon with a lot more information.

People's minds are about to pop!

What UPS?
What 32" fan?
Why is it plugged into your UPS?
Why do you need a 32" fan?
What is the answer to the universe life and everything??

 

[Jism]

I have the same issue,

Just not hooked to a UPS, but a little block holding a few plugs. PC = in sleep. I put in the connector for the backlight on my screen and poof PC turns on without moving the mouse or pressing the button.

 

[droid-I]

Side note, there are these "wake on whatever" options in BIOS, might help a bit to tune down the sensitivity of PC turning on by itself.
Not sure if it has to do with these latest energy savings options(e.g ErP&EuP) in new motherboards (which can be set, if it is a trouble).

 

[Nuke Dukem]

This reminds me of what happened in an office in my home town. The electronics on the entire office floor would randomly shut down after working hours. The tech guys over there inspected the power infrastructure multiple times, ran stress test, but everything seemed okay. This all continued until someone had the bright idea of checking out the security camera archives. Turns out the cleaning lady was sometimes plugging her industrial vacuum cleaner in the UPS in the server room (if I remember correctly), making it beg for mercy under the motor's immense startup power requirements and force an emergency shutdown of everything connected to it...

 

[caroline!]

Does your UPS have a USB port to communicate with your PC and did you connect it to your PC? Try unplugging that and see if that fixes it.

Also make sure you also disable the "Allow this device to wake the computer" option in the Power Management tab for each and every device you mentioned above (ALL mouse,keyboard network including LAN and WiFi) in the device manager. Windows power management can be really wonky, and sometimes a setting in the BIOS can be ignored by Windows.

Now that I think about it I've never used the link cable and always manually turned off my computer. It has a serial port but the cable wasn't connected because my old mobo didn't had a serial port. I'll look for the cable, surely it's somewhere around because it came with the UPS when I got it.
I had all of those Windows settings disabled already, don't want the PC to wake up if I put something over the keyboard for a minute ^^

32 inch fan! A 32" fan is a HUGE fan

Why is your fan plugged into your UPS? The UPS is to protect your "sensitive" and critical electronics systems. Large fan motors are not "sensitive" electronics. Nor critical, unless this system is required to keep "mission critical", client support, system alive.

And surely, a fan that size has a large fan motor running it. It takes a lot of current to get any motor spinning, it would take a HUGE amount of current to get a 32" fan spinning. This alone is reason enough not to power your fan through your UPS.

What size UPS is it? What is the brand and model number? I note you have a 1500W PSU connected to it.

Video Card(s)	5700XT + 3x RX 590
Storage	A lot
Audio Device(s)	Sound Blaster Z SE

4 graphics cards? Really? Plus "a lot" of drives and a sound card too?

JUST for the computer hardware alone, the recommended UPS size is at least 2kW. And that is for "only" 4 hard drives and does not even include case fans, CPU fan or other devices powered by the UPS.

I ask again, what size UPS? What else is connected to this UPS?

IMO, you would need a large industrial grade, maybe even a whole-facility UPS - at least 3kW.

It's kind of a long story but the UPS is a 3kVA I got as scrap some years ago, couple of burnt components and a busted output I was able to fix, and it's got all new (~3 months old) batteries now.
https://www.apc.com/shop/fi/en/products/APC-Smart-UPS-XL-3000VA-230V-Tower-Rack-Convertible/P-SUA3000XLI

I work with machine learning so that's the reason for the cards and CPU, though the 5700XT isn't used for that (thanks to AMD drivers being a nightmare to configure and switch between 3D and compute loads) and only runs the display and perhaps games while the AI works in the background. So far so good the PSU can keep up with the load.

The fan is 32" but only uses 250W, and the reason for it is the PC, it generates a lot of heat while working at full blast and if you add my ambient temp is around 36C I get a sweaty forehead in a matter of minutes lol, the UPS gets hot too so the fan is there to at least move that heat around and try to push some out through the window. It's a workshop fan, sort of looks like this one but mine has a bigger base.

If anyone's wondering, it is noisy, but barely audible with earbuds on ^^

What is the answer to the universe life and everything??

42, duh.

Had to plug it into the UPS because it'd barely spin if plugged in directly to the wall. I have an AVR as well but had to move it downstairs to prevent the fridge from frying, been going through a constant brownout for pretty much two weeks now, haven't seen the voltmeter go over 180 in a long while. Also why the UPS gets so hot, AVR is constantly working to step up my piss mains to something that's actually normal for the components. Heavy rains and a heatwave is a terrible combination.

plugged into an ungrounded outlet.

You got this one right.

Couldn't reply earlier because I had no power lol just my luck.

 

[Jism]

It's normal for a UPS to turn "hot" - its due to lack of proper cooling for the transformer. Ive used UPS's, untill the point one had it's battery's venting while i was working in a close office along with it. I had a burning sensation into my eyes and i coud'nt place it what was going on. Then i heard very small sissing sounds coming from the UPS, to figure out the battery's are venting. For fuck sakes. Too much of that and you cant tell the story again.

Never ever a UPS inside a closed space. F that.

 

[Bill_Bright]

Thanks for the additional information.

3kW should be plenty, even with that fan. And you are right to say "only" 250W. Most 30 - 32" use 1/2 horsepower motors, which equate to about 320W.

You need to ground your outlets. The UPS depends a great deal on being able to shunt transients to Earth ground (same with surge and spike protectors). But also, without being grounded, the transients created by the fan are able to hit the computer's power supply as surges and spikes. Not sure why that would be waking the computer - unless Wake on Power Restore is being triggered somehow, as droid-I suggests above.

Regardless, I still would not have the fan on the UPS.

 

[Nuke Dukem]

The fan is 32" but only uses 250W

Now, I'm not an expert, but upon asking the Internet, I got this:

"Often, during the initial half-cycle of electrical current flow experienced at motor startup, (Note: A half-cycle in a 60 Hz electrical system equates to 1/120 of a second duration of time) inrush currents reach levels 20 times greater than the normal current levels experienced during the motor’s normal operating speeds."

So that 250W could be 5KW for a fraction of a second, unless some limiter is used. Correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[Bill_Bright]

Right. But since it is 240V, this could be 50Hz. Regardless, the amount of energy required to get a motor started from 0 RPM to whatever it is set to is many times above what it takes to simply keep it spinning.

So again, best not to have the fan on the UPS.

 

[1freedude]

Try this as experiment: put a big resistive load like an incandescent bulb or a space heater, I figure you prob dont have one of those, maybe a hot plate on the UPS and run it. Put PC to sleep. Start fan. The high inductance will get balanced out by the resistive load, maybe.

The PC still sleepy?

Also, if PC is doing AI work, it's not sleeping. Monitor might be off. And, can you put the UPS outside?

 

[caroline!]

Right. But since it is 240V, this could be 50Hz. Regardless, the amount of energy required to get a motor started from 0 RPM to whatever it is set to is many times above what it takes to simply keep it spinning.

So again, best not to have the fan on the UPS.

50.1 Hz exactly, if we're to trust my multimeter.

The motor is meant for 240V so I'm afraid it'll overheat or burn the windings from overcurrent if I plug it into a 170V source, even on the highest speed it spins so slowly it barely moves any air. And of course there's the "you should unplug me" kind of hum coming out the back.

Try this as experiment: put a big resistive load like an incandescent bulb or a space heater, I figure you prob dont have one of those, maybe a hot plate on the UPS and run it. Put PC to sleep. Start fan. The high inductance will get balanced out by the resistive load, maybe.

The PC still sleepy?

Also, if PC is doing AI work, it's not sleeping. Monitor might be off. And, can you put the UPS outside?

Space heater is packed but I'll look for a light bulb to try this out. I think of 150W+ when you say big, a big warm globe.

The PC isn't always doing AI work tho, I do use the sleep mode when I'm not doing anything with it.

wdym put the UPS outside? like outside my room? it'd get soaked in the rain lol. It's not right next to the computer though, I have it on the left side of my desk and there's a ~20cm clearance between it and the desk, and another 20 from its back to the wall so the cables aren't all entangled. And the fan helps cool down that area.

 

[1freedude]

Ok, outside not an option.

100 + should do it.

 

[Bill_Bright]

The motor is meant for 240V so I'm afraid it'll overheat or burn the windings from overcurrent if I plug it into a 170V source

Ummm, I don't know who suggested that. I sure didn't, or wouldn't. I only suggested the fan not be plugged into the UPS.

I would not recommend using a space heater! Small ones pull 1000W and none provide any regulation or transient suppression. If I were to use a space heater, I sure would not have any of my sensitive computer or network electronics connected to the UPS at the same time.

A large incandescent bulb is a good idea. In fact, I have two 150W incandescent bulbs I use to test UPS here. But all that tests is the UPS ability to handle the load and to flip over to battery, and back. Good tests but not for testing the UPS for handling grid anomalies, other than outages.

I say, if you do NOT run the fan through the UPS, and the UPS maintains power to your equipment during a power outage, it passed the test.

But let's remember a primary purpose of the UPS is to prevent our computers from come crashing down, and possibly corrupting our data and/or drives. So why risk that on purpose?

One more critically important thing to remember here. The most significant advantage and reason for having a "good" UPS with AVR is the AVR - automatic voltage regulation. That's the UPS's ability to compensate for and protect the connected devices from excessive power anomalies, such as surges and spikes, and low voltage events like dips (opposite of spikes), sags (opposite of surges) or brownouts (long duration sags).

Power during a full power outage is ONLY a minor bonus feature. The uptime the UPS provides during an outage is to allow the user to "gracefully" save the files they are working on, exit their running programs, shutdown Windows, and power off the computer BEFORE the batteries run out. Note, with the interconnecting cable and software, this can be done automatically should you lose power when away - a very nice feature.

If you NEED for this computer to be running 24/7 and you have frequent and long duration outages, you need to look into a backup generator. Then the UPS should be used to provide power between the grid outage and until the generator takes over.

If you feel you really need the fan to be on a UPS, buy a separate UPS for the fan.

FTR, I am a strong proponent for having an UPS on all our computer systems, network electronics, and other sensitive electronics. I have an UPS on all the computers here. The UPS on this computer also supports my router and modem to keep my network alive. There's an UPS on my big screen TV and home theater audio equipment. I even have an UPS on my garage door opener and my electric blanket!!! This is because I live in Tornado Alley and power anomalies are common and power outages are not uncommon. But note I also have a 5kW generator in case (or when) the power outage lasts days.

That said, except for critical life support, medical systems and the like where computer uptime is a matter of life or death, the purpose for having our electronics protected by a "good" UPS is just that, to protect the equipment. It is NOT so we can keep playing our games or F@H, etc.