Help! Ups Problem???

[B-LXL]

Hello. I have a Alfa Digital 1KVA UPS which i bought last month. This is a second time i'm having problem with it. The one I'm using right now is a replaced one because the first one had Loud Noise problem so i replaced it after a week. Today this UPS restarted my PC when i was'nt doing anything at all and it was on desktop. The voltages of my house were doing a little bit fluctuation at that time but it happens every now and then so it should'nt be the problem i guess because it was doing well in the past days with same power outage and fluctuations. Now I don't understand why it restarted my PC for no reason. There's no Virus no Spyware nothing at all in my Windows 100% sure. I want to know that is my UPS is again FAULTY because UPS are supposed to protect from high/low voltages (Fluctuations) power outage etc. or is it some other kind of problem. I bought it from Galaxy Computers but I'm not blaming them for it. So kindly HELP me out.

[alitayyab]

the problem is inherent with alfa ups's. i have one and honestly the only stuff i run on it are my landline phone, one 50watt fan and a couple of lamps! they're on whole unfit to run anything else!

if u can, get galaxy to exchange ur unit with either a APC or riello. i have both (win dialg 650 and APC CS 650). both are amazing, the riello has a buck-boost AVR, the APC doesnt (it switches to batt everytime the juice goes down).

the apc is hooked to my quad core rig and according to power chute (the software that comes with it) , it'll give me about 12 mins backup (minus display) idle, and 5 mins loaded.

[B-LXL]

So if i exchange it with APC or Reillo 650VA will they run my 350W PSU + 17" LG Flatron? if they give me at 8-10mins for backup at max it would be OK for me cuz i just don't want my PC to be restarted due to fluctuations. Stupid Alfa Digital UPS's.

[alitayyab]

yeah, it should, if that 17" is a LCD, a crt takes more juice thus cant say. i dont have my monitor linked to the ups as once the generator takes over the display comes back on (10 secs). i am pretty sure u would be able to get atleast 5 mins with a crt, maybe more.
if they do agree to a exchange, make sure u get a usb port riello. they also have serial port ones. if ur pc doesnt have a serial port u wont be able to use the bundled software to monitor the ups (this comes very handy)

if u cant find a usb based riello consider the apc unit as an option. it might not have boost-buck AVR, but it is one excellent ups.

[B-LXL]

I've just talked to Galaxy (Saqib Bhai) over the phone and he told me that he'll talk to the Alfa Digital's Dealers and they might know something about it and i also asked him about APC and Riello and he told me that they don't sell Riello in Lahore (Only in Karachi) and they do have APC 650VA available but it'll not support my 17" CRT so it means i won't be getting any backup with CRT. Now i'm totally stuck what to do now? This UPS I'm using is giving me enough backup time like 15-20 mins but the only problem i faced so far was what happened today due to Light Fluctuations so i'm afraid what if it happens again?

I'm not saying that this UPS is useless... it does have AVR but why did it happened. Usually it works absolutely fine when the light goes out in its daily routine for 1 Hr (4 to 5 times a day). AliTayyab your saying that it's inherent in Alfa Digital UPS but i know a couple of people who are using the same model i'm not sure if this happened to them too

[alitayyab]

a lot of people have had issues with Alfa, WP has a multi paged thread on ups's and some there have had issues with alfa as well.
i am not sure why galaxy's rep told u that the apc wont work with a crt. it can take loads of upto 400watt.

an idea is take the crt off the ups and see if the alfa behaves. if it does, than it is a good idea to keep that.

as i said, i have an alfa (not the same model though) and all i run of it is a cordless phone, a 50 watt fan and 2 lamps (which i dont use too often). everytime it switches to batt power, it starts to generate a buzzing noise, which is tolerable.

please see the thread on wiredpakistan, there are other users there who have had no luck with alfa units.


IF the problem only started recently it could be that the batt never gets time to get fully juiced up . do u have it hooked to ur pc? if so get a battery status. usually ups's only provide cover to equalent to battery charge.
e.g. if ur batt is 50% charged it'll cover only about half the rated power.
are u sure the unit has a AVR? i am sure mine doesnt (though it says differently on the box). everytime the light fluctuates u should hear a "tick" sound, indicating that the unit is boosting voltage. my Riello does this.

a lot of people have had issues with Alfa, WP has a multi paged thread on ups's and some there have had issues with alfa as well.
i am not sure why galaxy's rep told u that the apc wont work with a crt. it can take loads of upto 400watt.

an idea is take the crt off the ups and see if the alfa behaves. if it does, than it is a good idea to keep that.

as i said, i have an alfa (not the same model though) and all i run of it is a cordless phone, a 50 watt fan and 2 lamps (which i dont use too often). everytime it switches to batt power, it starts to generate a buzzing noise, which is tolerable.

please see the thread on wiredpakistan, there are other users there who have had no luck with alfa units.


IF the problem only started recently it could be that the batt never gets time to get fully juiced up . do u have it hooked to ur pc? if so get a battery status. usually ups's only provide cover to equalent to battery charge.
e.g. if ur batt is 50% charged it'll cover only about half the rated power.
are u sure the unit has a AVR? i am sure mine doesnt (though it says differently on the box). everytime the light fluctuates u should hear a "tick" sound, indicating that the unit is boosting voltage. my Riello does this.

[B-LXL]

My model is 1KVA (600Watts) with Dual Batteries and it has a LCD Panel in front which shows the battery, load status etc. I'm running a 350W PSU with 17'" Monitor and both of things are only taking 25% load on the UPS and rest of 75% is free. Yes it also creates a Tick sound when it turn on or off the AVR mode and also shows a sign on the UPS LCD. UPS + AVR (Automatic Voltage Regulation) is printed on the box. When ever theres a load shedding i usually turn off my system after 2 or 3 mins and my UPS is always fully charged.

Here's the link of the model:
Media Inc. Computers

[M.Farooq]

Unfortunately I had a lot of problems when I had an Asus power supply of 450W it refused to give any backup and use to shut off upon power failure or loadshedding as you call it.I was forced to revert and get my old PSU re-installed to get this UPS working.Since then it has been working alright and 2 weeks or so ago I had fluctuations issues and everything from the fridges to the lights were fluctuating but my PC did not reset once thankfully.

Although I agree with Ali in terms of Alfa Digital problems because I had a previous model before the current one i.e the 5310 and that also had the same problem with my Asus power supply and refused to work.The Mediainc guy said that due to different frequency power supply our UPS will not support your PC. Although I feel he was cranking absolute bullshit to say the least I was forced to cling to this company because of cash shortage otherwise my first choice was APC too.

I really do not know about your actual problem but maybe mine has been resolved because I am using a generic power supply the ones that come default in Asus casings . But whether in the near future it keeps on working I really cannot say anything about it. My recommendation is to buy APC 1KVA if you have any spare money!

[B-LXL]

The PSU i'm using is around 3 to 4 years old (Codegen 350W) but it did'nt gave any problem before like resetting system or anything like that. I even play few games daily like CNC3 or NFSUG2 etc. for 2 to 3 hrs constantly and even i did'nt plugged much load on the PSU it's just Motherboard, VGA, 1 HDD, 1 DVD Drive and 1 FAN thats it no other extra drive or fan. So it means that there's definitely No Problem with PSU it self.

On the other hand i got replaced the Power Plug (Switch Board) 2 months back where i plug my Computer stuff. The only thing i want to confirm is that i've plugged my UPS in a Extension which is plugged in the main switch board so is it safe to run it like that? Could it be the problem? ..... but i don't think so that it could be because i remember the day i attached this UPS with PC after charging it one of my house electricity phase went almost 90% out and it not only happened to me but the whole area due to some problem from the back end (LESCO) and at that time my PC was running and working with this UPS absolutely fine without any reset or shut down problem.

[alitayyab]

the "boost" on AVR has a *limited range of action*, usually 15% under (u need to refer to ur ups to find out the exact range). now if the voltage fluctuated to more than 15% under, the device should switch to batt power. i am guessing it didnt do that and decided to pass some of the under volts to the system, which ur system (or the psu to be exact, and this is normal) took to be as "power low" and reset itself.

after reading ur post this is probably the most logical conclusion.
did ur unit come with software and cable so u could monitor ups activity. if it did i would reccomened u to use it. it'll tell u what the ups did when the power goes crazy or goes out all together!

[EnigmaUntangled]

Originally Posted by alitayyab

the "boost" on AVR has a *limited range of action*, usually 15% under (u need to refer to ur ups to find out the exact range). now if the voltage fluctuated to more than 15% under, the device should switch to batt power. i am guessing it didnt do that and decided to pass some of the under volts to the system, which ur system (or the psu to be exact, and this is normal) took to be as "power low" and reset itself.

after reading ur post this is probably the most logical conclusion.
did ur unit come with software and cable so u could monitor ups activity. if it did i would reccomened u to use it. it'll tell u what the ups did when the power goes crazy or goes out all together!

Yes, this probably is the most logical conclusion. Another thing I've noticed is when your voltage fluctuates near the limit, i.e. let's say 200W is the limit for your UPS and the voltage starts fluctuating around 198-202 range. What happens in this case is the UPS begins to rapidly switch to battery and then revert back.

Chances are during one of those rapid switches, your PC might restart as your UPS might fail to provide steady power to the PC. I'm using an APC unit on one of my work PC's and I've noticed this, but thankfully, my PC hasn't restarted as of yet.

[B-LXL]

Today that stupid UPS did something new. It reset the PC again and turned off the monitor when light went out for it's daily schedule BANG! .................... So i took that piece of junk and gave it back to Galaxy Computers and send it back for Warranty.

Now lets see how these Media Inc. guys response this time. They should replace it with Fresh Boxed Pack UPS or i like to have my money back and OH! Ramadan Mubarak to everyone.

[red]

[quote=B-LXL;234579]Today that stupid UPS did something new. It reset the PC again and turned off the monitor when light went out for it's daily schedule

Dude I am facing exactly same problem with my desi ups..