RE: UPS Problem and Recommendation

["Pete Massiello" <pmassiello-ml@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I like the Powerware (which I think are Eaton as well) UPS's for my Power
Systems (and earlier AS/400s).

Although I haven't ever had a problem with the APC or Tripplite on my PCs.

--
Pete Massiello
iTech Solutions
http://www.itechsol.com

Add iTech Solutions on Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=126431824120
Add iTech Solutions on LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=2206093

iTech Solutions because IBM i (AS/400s) didn't come with System
Administrators



-----Original Message-----
From: midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Pete Helgren
Sent: Monday, April 25, 2011 4:02 PM
To: Midrange Systems Technical Discussion
Subject: Re: UPS Problem and Recommendation

Update: Flicker caused BCS to drop again.  Tested one of the UPS's and 
it tested OK.  Tested the other and it blew during the test: Sparks, 
flame, smoke and now the battery light is flashing weakly even though it 
is unplugged and turned off.  I guess I know which of the UPS's is "bad".

Still need to sort out which power supplies are the "redundant twins" 
but I plan to order a new UPS  (probably not a Tripplite though....) Any 
recommendations? Looks like APC and Eaton are the big names out there....

Pete Helgren
Value Added Software, Inc
www.asaap.com
www.opensource4i.com


On 4/25/2011 8:33 AM, Pete Helgren wrote:
> Looking for a little direction here:
>
> Our JS12 runs in a  BCS which has 4 950 watt power supplies.  I
> configured the power in the BCS so that there is redundancy on a
> possible power supply failure.  I also have two 1500 KVA UPS units
> backing up the 4 power supplies (two redundantly on each UPS) .  So,
> theoretically, I'd have to have both UPS's fail or completely discharge
> in a power outage in order for the BCS to lose power.  Seems pretty fail
> safe to me.  Except, it isn't.  The *slightest* flicker of electricity
> and the BCS drops like a rock. So, I am trying to figure out what the
> issue is.  Both UPS's seem to be operating normally (I haven't run a
> test yet because I don't want to lose the BCS during the day).  The
> LED's aren't showing battery failure or any issues.  The UPS's are
> Tripplite OMNIVS1500. I believe one of the two UPS's could be flaky but
> I'll have to run a self test and that means they will switch over to
> battery power during the test and if one of them is bad, I may lose the
> BCS again and I don't want to do that during the day.
>
> The thing that comes to mind is that perhaps the power supply redundancy
> requires a particular configuration of UPS cabling that I have somehow
> gotten wrong.  I can't seem to find a diagram on how the redundancy is
> configured on the BCS.  Does the power supply in Bay 1 fail over to Bay
> 2 or does it fail over to Bay3?  I am guessing 1 is redundant to 2 and 3
> is redundant to 4 but I can't find anything that confirms it.  If I have
> a bad UPS and the power supply and it's redundant twin are BOTH plugged
> into the same UPS, will that cause the BCS to go down?  All of the
> failure scenarios spelled out in the help text describe losing power to
> *one* power supply.  If a UPS fails and two power supplies lose power,
> does the BCS go down as well.  The BCS is configured with "AC Power
> Source Redundancy with Blade Throttling Allowed"
>
> Just trying to get to the bottom of the "flicker and die" phenomenon I
> am experiencing.  Any suggestions?