Plug UPS into surge suppressor?

  • Active since 1995, Hearth.com is THE place on the internet for free information and advice about wood stoves, pellet stoves and other energy saving equipment.

    We strive to provide opinions, articles, discussions and history related to Hearth Products and in a more general sense, energy issues.

    We promote the EFFICIENT, RESPONSIBLE, CLEAN and SAFE use of all fuels, whether renewable or fossil.
Status
Not open for further replies.

P38X2

Minister of Fire
Mar 11, 2012
1,670
Jaffrey, NH
I have an APC BE750G on the way. Noticed it only had 450 Joules of suppression capability. I know very little about this protection, but my currently used Tripp Lite suppressor has a 1410 Joule rating.

Should I plug the UPS into my existing surge protector?....or is that asking for trouble in some weird electronic physics sort of way?
 
I have read not to do this as well....I am pretty much making this up but the UPS should switch to battery given any large spike so the joules may not matter as much
 
Honestly, I don't think it matters much. A direct hit to a line is going to fry anything you can afford to try to stop it. Have homeowners insurance, some basic to stop a jolt from when the drunk hits a pole down the street, and rest easy.
 
  • Like
Reactions: IHATEPROPANE
Sounds good. Thanks :)
 
Honestly, I don't think it matters much. A direct hit to a line is going to fry anything you can afford to try to stop it. Have homeowners insurance, some basic to stop a jolt from when the drunk hits a pole down the street, and rest easy.
Also, using attaching the UPS to a surge protector will void the warranty that comes from Tripp Lite in Tripp Lite's eyes. They will try and pass the buck and say that the surge protector manufacturer should pay the claim. Kind of like having dual coverage health insurance with two health providers. The two will fight over who is primary.

UPS's provide great protection from brown outs, and what the electric utility industry calls partial lights or "no lights in part." This is dirty voltage or an inconsistent AC sine wave. Brown outs can cause permanent damage to Motors and circuit boards while providing power. It would be better to just trip the circuit rather than go through one of these repeatedly.

Most residential transformers transform 3 phase voltage to multiple single phase sources to distribute the power more economically. However The 3 phase source to the transformer can lose one phase thus sending 2 phase power to a 3 phase designed circuit. The problem arises when the phase to ground fault is recognized by the protection equipment and doesn't trip fast enough or at all. The filters in some UPS's like Tripp lite are designed to take the voltage it is given and condition the sine wave to its pure form thus making the best of a bad situation.

That was the executive summary without the vectors and trig. How'd I do?
 
Status
Not open for further replies.