UPS for my setup.

[Bill_Bright]

Why would I buy a high wattage dedicated UPS for a regular inkjet printer?

Please follow the chronological order of the posts.

You didn't tell us you have an Inkjet until AFTER I recommended a separate high wattage UPS for the printer - because at that time, for all we knew, you could have had a laser.

And because you keep talking about having your printer on the UPS. So you don't need a high wattage but if you must have print capability during a power outage, then a separate UPS would be good - considering your other hardware too.

 

[Waldorf]

You dont want to plug in any printers to the ups, not like that task cant wait until power is back up.

most decent UPS will have outlet "tester" build in (led on back), that shows if there is outlet "trouble".

CP is a good brand, but comparing it to the APC i would get that one.
Outside the LCD making a high pitched sound while its powered on (to check things)
its a tick better than the CP equivalent.

make sure to connect the usb/data cable to the pc, this will make it act like a laptop,
showing the battery icon in tray, and you can use that to setup what happens if it is on battery.
i would set low battery to about 90%, critical to like 85%, and select to shut down (not hibernate).
this will make sure it will shot down, in case your not around when power goes out.
i also use it to set up 2 different profiles, power savings with max cpu perf limited to 50%
(thus capping clocks, reducing power need and temps), and balanced (30% min, 100% max cpu perf) for gaming/encoding etc,
make sure to turn off usb/pcie power savings completely, not needed on desktop.

i recommend changing the sensitivity for the UPS to the smallest band available,
to make sure it catches even small fluctuations (most common next to brown outs).

 

[Deleted member 205776]

You dont want to plug in any printers to the ups, not like that task cant wait until power is back up.

most decent UPS will have outlet "tester" build in (led on back), that shows if there is outlet "trouble".

CP is a good brand, but comparing it to the APC i would get that one.
Outside the LCD making a high pitched sound while its powered on (to check things)
its a tick better than the CP equivalent.

make sure to connect the usb/data cable to the pc, this will make it act like a laptop,
showing the battery icon in tray, and you can use that to setup what happens if it is on battery.
i would set low battery to about 90%, critical to like 85%, and select to shut down (not hibernate).
this will make sure it will shot down, in case your not around when power goes out.
i also use it to set up 2 different profiles, power savings with max cpu perf limited to 50%
(thus capping clocks, reducing power need and temps), and balanced (30% min, 100% max cpu perf) for gaming/encoding etc,
make sure to turn off usb/pcie power savings completely, not needed on desktop.

i recommend changing the sensitivity for the UPS to the smallest band available,
to make sure it catches even small fluctuations (most common next to brown outs).

Too late, already bought the CyberPower. Most if not all APCs I've looked at weren't in stock.

Will do the rest.

And because you keep talking about having your printer on the UPS.

That's so I don't need to have a separate power strip for a single printer when I could just plug it into the UPS. I don't use my printer all the time, but I'd rather have it into the UPS as well rather than its own dedicated strip. But if it really requires its own power strip, I'll do it.

 

[Bill_Bright]

You can just plug the printer into the surge (not battery) side of the UPS.

 

[Deleted member 205776]

You can just plug the printer into the surge (not battery) side of the UPS.

That's the problem. Sent a pic in page 2. Both sides are labelled Battery + Surge. Unless I'm missing something.

 

[Bill_Bright]

That's the problem. Sent a pic in page 2. Both sides are labelled Battery + Surge. Unless I'm missing something.

Sorry - I forgot yours is the UK model and all 6 outlets are on the battery side.

While I am not a fan of surge and spike protectors, they certainly are better than nothing and do offer protection from most high-voltage anomalies. Plus, they are inexpensive. Just remember, they actually wear out with normal use and don't last forever. And sadly, there's no way to determine if still good. That's why it is commonly recommended to replace surge and spike protectors every two years.

 

[Devon68]

Did you not get a manual with it. Based on the Pic I believe that all six are the same.

This is what I found on google
Many CyberPower UPS units have two sets of outlets. One set is labeled “Battery/Surge” and one set is labeled “Surge”. The outlets labeled “Battery/Surge” are the outlets that will receive battery power during a power failure.

 

[Deleted member 205776]

Did you not get a manual with it. Based on the Pic I believe that all six are the same.

This is what I found on google
Many CyberPower UPS units have two sets of outlets. One set is labeled “Battery/Surge” and one set is labeled “Surge”. The outlets labeled “Battery/Surge” are the outlets that will receive battery power during a power failure.

Hasn't arrived yet.

 

[Bill_Bright]

You can download it from here. According to yours, the 900VA model has 3 battery and 3 surge-only. But on the 1500VA model, all 6 are on the battery side.

 

[Deleted member 205776]

Update.

UPS, wall outlet tester, and my Ion+ 860P PSU (the same one I sent) all arrived.

Tested every outlet in my house with the tester. All are wired correctly. Told an electrician to verify my wiring, everything is fine on that end too.

Plugged in the UPS into AC power, then let it charge for a bit as I tested the Ion+ on the same outlet used by my PC.

Guess what? It still has coil whine. It was plugged directly into the wall this time, same noise. Tried a different outlet, same noise. Tried a different room, same noise.
Tried to plug it into the UPS, same noise but noticeably quieter.

At this point, it is a defective PSU so I will get in contact with my retailer and demand a replacement.

Now as for the UPS, everything seems to be working well, I have my printer, two monitors, and tower plugged in:

Set the voltage on High sensitivity, did a self test which passed (but also took down my battery level by 40% lol -- UPS came with the battery fully charged). Set Windows to shut down the PC safely at 80% UPS battery level.

Tested the switch-over to battery power by unplugging the UPS with a browser open, all is well, beeped twice to let me know.

Seems to handle gaming just fine, and somehow, my entire setup only draws 380W while gaming with my 3070 at 230W power draw and my 3900X at 95W. That means I will have no problem with a 3080 level TDP GPU.

No weird smell, only a bit of noise when it starts charging then it stops. Really liking this thing.

Hopefully the replacement PSU doesn't make those noises and I can get this over with. I will once again test it the same way I tested it now. If it makes noises at idle, no point testing it under load.

 

[Bill_Bright]

Guess what? It still has coil whine.

No surprise there. I was afraid as such, as I noted from the start in my first post.

I just hope the PSU maker or retailer helps you out.

I do note this is the first time is the 3 pages of this thread you described the noise as "coil whine". You previously described it as "crackling noises", which is quite different from coil whine. Coil whine typically sounds like a high pitch squeak or whistle which may or may change in pitch as the load changes.

Crackling noises tend to sound like clicks and pops.

Coil whine technically comes from inductors, where wires wrap around a magnetic device and the wires vibrate and make the noise. The noise can often be silenced with epoxy glue or hot glue on the wire windings, stopping them from vibrating against each other. Transformer plates can do the same thing - though that is often described as a buzzing sound.

Keep us posted.

 

[Deleted member 205776]

No surprise there. I was afraid as such, as I noted from the start in my first post.

I just hope the PSU maker or retailer helps you out.

I do note this is the first time is the 3 pages of this thread you described the noise as "coil whine". You previously described it as "crackling noises", which is quite different from coil whine. Coil whine typically sounds like a high pitch squeak or whistle which may or may change in pitch as the load changes.

Crackling noises tend to sound like clicks and pops.

Coil whine technically comes from inductors, where wires wrap around a magnetic device and the wires vibrate and make the noise. The noise can often be silenced with epoxy glue or hot glue on the wire windings, stopping them from vibrating against each other. Transformer plates can do the same thing - though that is often described as a buzzing sound.

Keep us posted.

It sounded exactly like my GPU when under load. Buzzing. The 'crackling' noises disappeared when plugged into the wall or the UPS, but the buzzing, which I refer to as coil whine, was still there.

I hope it's a defective unit and that the replacement is good, cuz otherwise I'm out of ideas.

 

[tabascosauz]

You usually won't have the "nasty plastic smell". If you make a mistake like I did and leave the UPS sustaining the PC (at idle, but still, Ryzen "idle") for over an hour during an outage, the room may smell like burnt plastic when you come back and take a couple days to go away. But that's something you never want to do, and probably never will.

So don't be like me. Now that you have a UPS, just turn your PC off when you leave the house, or at least put it into Sleep. You can set whatever "turn off after x minutes" timer, but I've had so many instances of Windows getting indefinitely stuck on some godforsaken program on shutdown that I don't trust any software or OS to shut down on its own.

And yes, buzzing is usually coil whine.

 

[ThrashZone]

Hi,
Well you've done everything possible to rule out local issue now for rma.
Besides having an electrician checking everything out I wouldn't say much about any wire changing there is such a thing as giving too much info lol

 

[Bill_Bright]

I hope it's a defective unit and that the replacement is good, cuz otherwise I'm out of ideas.

Well, if you get the exact same buzz/whine with a different PSU, then I would suspect it was not the PSU after all. Perhaps spending some time with a paper towel tube to your ear, using it like a stethoscope, may be necessary to pinpoint the source of the sound. Sadly, cavernous metal cases are great at reverberating sounds and vibrations throughout, making the sound seem to come from places it is not.

 

[Solaris17]

printer

If I may, spending most of my professional life also maintaining infrastructure, don't put printers on UPSs

 

[Deleted member 205776]

If I may, spending most of my professional life also maintaining infrastructure, don't put printers on UPSs

Why not?

Also how do I re-enable the UPS battery icon? Seemed to just disappear after performing the self test. Edit: Nevermind, looks like CyberPower's software took over.

Well, if you get the exact same buzz/whine with a different PSU, then I would suspect it was not the PSU after all. Perhaps spending some time with a paper towel tube to your ear, using it like a stethoscope, may be necessary to pinpoint the source of the sound. Sadly, cavernous metal cases are great at reverberating sounds and vibrations throughout, making the sound seem to come from places it is not.

I listened to the PSU and PSU only on my test bench. It is clearly coming from the PSU. No other noise in the room apart from an AMD stock cooler which sounds wholly different.

 

[JcRabbit]

If I may, spending most of my professional life also maintaining infrastructure, don't put printers on UPSs

Don't put LASER printers on UPSs (unless it's a really big UPS).

Why not?

UPSs have a maximum power load. If the protected equipment draws more current than the UPS can provide, the UPS will automatically shut itself off and/or the UPS circuit breaker might trip.

I actually have a laser printer connected to an APC SmartUPS, but the UPS is a big (50Kg!) 2200VA APC unit (1980W). Idle the printer consumes next to nothing, but the very instant you tell it to print something it **instantly** peaks to 1,200W (or more). This is the problem with laser printers.

In my particular case the UPS is able to sustain a load of up to 1980W, so 1200W is not really a problem. A smaller UPS, on the other hand...

 

[Deleted member 205776]

Don't put LASER printers on UPSs (unless it's a really big UPS).

UPSs have a maximum power load. If the protected equipment draws more current than the UPS can provide, the UPS will automatically shut itself off and/or the UPS circuit breaker might trip.

I actually have a laser printer connected to an APC SmartUPS, but the UPS is a big (50Kg!) 2200VA APC unit (1980W). Idle the printer consumes next to nothing, but the very instant you tell it to print something it **instantly** peaks to 1,200W (or more). This is the problem with laser printers.

In my particular case the UPS is able to sustain a load of up to 1980W, so 1200W is not really a problem. A smaller UPS, on the other hand...

It's an Inkjet printer that consumes less than 15w as I've said several times throughout this thread

 

[Waldorf]

@Alexa
did you buy a pure sine out unit? this one isnt.
all CP units with that feature have a b/w screen, not a "white/blue" display.
just to make sure you didnt get charged more for less..

View attachment 1519996548_IMG_951427.webp



wattage isnt the issue, the device is, and how it draws power.
lets say you have 500w draw from a pc, hair dryer, portable AC, or anything with a motor, they are different in how they affect power stuff, even if the wattage is the same.

and even if its not an issue, still not sure why you need a printer when their is a power outage (remember, your shutting down the pc anyway),
as nothing you do on a printer cant be done the next day,
so even IF power is out the second you wanna print, you can do just do it later/the next day.
and printers are usually cheaper to replace, so i rather end up with a dead printer (being unprotected), than a "broken" UPS.

switch your output to the narrowest band the UPS has (e.g. 210-230V vs 180-250V, dont remember their range for 220),
to make sure it takes over as soon as their is even the slightest difference.

a UPS is to prevent a pc from crashing during brown/black out, or being able to finish copying files or save a document your working on,
and not to keep running it while power is out.
so set your shutdown for power saving profile higher (90-95% range), unless you have regular brownouts and dont want to be doing boot/shutdown every 2 minutes,
but then this means your replacing the battery more often (lead batteries usually dont like to be discharged, even if its just 10%)..

 

[xrobwx71]

Hi,
EU yeah plugs are so big there isn't any more room left.
Mine I believe have 6 battery + serge but also have 4 serge only

I don't know if they make em for EU applications but these are awesome. https://www.amazon.com/Listed-Miady...eywords=plug+extensions&qid=1613572954&sr=8-6

 

[Bill_Bright]

Why not?

I already answered that several times - with multiple post exchanges with you on the topic.

As you were repeatedly told, printers are not mission critical. Even if Inkjet, which do consume little compared to lasers (which therefore should never go on a SOHO class UPS), only in very rare life saving scenarios (if even then) could you not wait for power to return before printing. So for no other reason, it simply wastes battery resources and more importantly it reduces battery run times.

And as we discussed previously, since your particular UPS does not have a Surge protection only side (all 6 outlets are battery protected), you were advised to get a separate, inexpensive surge and spike protector for the printer. This is the better solution - even better than keeping the printer powered off if you decide to go against all advice and plug your printer into the UPS anyway. Why? Because unless you unplug the printer, it is likely in a standby mode, still consuming some power. This is especially true if a multi-function printing device. And if it uses a AC/DC power transformer (wall wart) for a power supply, they consume some power just being plugged in. That's why, even if the device they power are turned off, the wall warts are still a little warm.

So even if the UPS can support the extra load, you are impacting your battery run time. If your UPS is supporting your network devices too, as previously recommended you could significantly reduce the amount of time you have access to the Internet with your other wireless computing devices.

 

[Devon68]

This might sound stupid but when sending back the PSU I would record a short video showing that the noise is coming from the actual PSU. Burn it on a disk and send it with the PSU. Just stick the CD on the PSU's box and label it - My PSU issue or something similar. Then they cant say it works fine if you send it with proof.

 

[Bill_Bright]

This might sound stupid but when sending back the PSU I would record a short video showing that the noise is coming from the actual PSU. Burn it on a disk and send it with the PSU. Just stick the CD on the PSU's box and label it - My PSU issue or something similar. Then they cant say it works fine if you send it with proof.

Here's my problem with this (and it is the same with sound files posted in forum threads). You really cannot tell or verify, from all the background noise in the recording, that any noise coming from the PSU is actually coming from the PSU.

Plus, any recorded sounds rely on the audio electronics and the speakers of listener to be accurately reproduced. And then the background/ambient noise levels of the listening environment matter too.

You really almost need to put the offending PSU in a sound isolating box, along with a decent microphone and record the sound with video in order for the evidence to be undeniable.

 

[Deleted member 205776]

I already answered that several times - with multiple post exchanges with you on the topic.

As you were repeatedly told, printers are not mission critical. Even if Inkjet, which do consume little compared to lasers (which therefore should never go on a SOHO class UPS), only in very rare life saving scenarios (if even then) could you not wait for power to return before printing. So for no other reason, it simply wastes battery resources and more importantly it reduces battery run times.

And as we discussed previously, since your particular UPS does not have a Surge protection only side (all 6 outlets are battery protected), you were advised to get a separate, inexpensive surge and spike protector for the printer. This is the better solution - even better than keeping the printer powered off if you decide to go against all advice and plug your printer into the UPS anyway. Why? Because unless you unplug the printer, it is likely in a standby mode, still consuming some power. This is especially true if a multi-function printing device. And if it uses a AC/DC power transformer (wall wart) for a power supply, they consume some power just being plugged in. That's why, even if the device they power are turned off, the wall warts are still a little warm.

So even if the UPS can support the extra load, you are impacting your battery run time. If your UPS is supporting your network devices too, as previously recommended you could significantly reduce the amount of time you have access to the Internet with your other wireless computing devices.

I get it - printers may not be mission critical, and they sure as heck aren't needed 24/7 for my uses - but it's not running 24/7 and I would rather not have a dedicated power strip routed under my desk just for a printer. Also I cannot route my router to the UPS, too far away and it has to be plugged into some special outlets in the wall.

I don't care about the battery. I literally need 10 seconds to shut down my PC in case of a power outage, and I have the PowerPanel software set up so it automatically safely shuts down the PC at 10 minute battery runtime. I didn't buy this UPS to have my PC running during a power outage. I bought it for clean power delivery and additional protection, also to hopefully reduce the noises of my PSU, which I have already noticed less coil whine on my GPU.

Also, I already sent a million videos with the noise. They agreed to replace it.

If the replacement PSU makes the same noise, I'll just live with my CX 650 until it explodes and takes my PC with it.

did you buy a pure sine out unit? this one isnt.
all CP units with that feature have a b/w screen, not a "white/blue" display.
just to make sure you didnt get charged more for less..

CP1500EPFCLCD - Backup UPS Systems | CyberPower

CyberPower CP1500EPFCLCD with Pure Sine Wave output safeguards mid- to high-end computer systems, servers and networking hardware that use conventional and Active Power Factor Correction (PFC) power supplies. Designed with GreenPower UPS™ Technology to improve UPS operating efficiency and to...

www.cyberpower.com

https://www.amazon.de/gp/product/B0059DAN2I/

This is what I bought, verified with the box and manual. I'm positive it is a Pure Sine Wave unit.

Already set the UPS on high sensitivity.

Might appear blue due to my crappy phone camera, but it is black and white.