Close call with fire

I came into my bedroom and smelled the white magic smoke.
I followed my nose to my UPS. It was red hot and making strange noises. I unplugged my AC adapters one by one and they seemed a little warm. I gave each the smell test and they seemed OK. They were all overheated from the defective UPS. I touched the UPS and nearly burned my fingers.

So I carefully unplugged it from the wall, and for the rest of the night it continued to click a relay, even though the power switch was off.

It's uncomfortable thinking a UPS, the device to save you from spikes and lighning that cause fires, might have caused a serious fire.

With 4 more UPSes in the house I don't know how well I'm gonna sleep from now on.

WOW, what kind do you have?

It's a Cyberpower 385. Never had a minute of trouble with it before. It's 6 years old and the battery probably shorted and the charging circuit didn't shut down. It has a life warranty so let's see how
the manufacturer responds.

My other Cyberpower got a new cell 2 years ago and seems fine. My others are 2 APC units and one more brand I can't recall.

You might check their website for a recall notice, also you might google for "(model number) recall"

I would think they would have a fuse in the thing.

Yes, also try to return all of them, and go with another company. It's just not worth it. I would also buy fire insurance (if you don't have some already) it's just what I would do.

well i think it's safer not to have an UPS... yours isn't the first case. buy an UPS only if it's a really good brand and a really good model, not of some cheap kind, etc... i wouldn't try to spare money on such a thing... oh and 6 years is too much to use one...

five UPSes?? are you *crazy*?


Edited by cmonex 2005-07-28 11:06 PM

Yeah… I thought I was paranoid! Still I would get insurance!

Good thing nothing seriously bad happened.

It may be that you just have a battery that is beyond it's useful life. An internal short circuit in the battery could do that.

What do you have plugged into all those UPSes anyway?

Close call Wally! Close call!

I thought someone would call me on 5 upses. We have mean summer electrical storms and I've lost my share of gear prior to going ups mad. No losses due to storms now for >5years.

1. Wiring closet, demarcation point in my house for adsl and the switch(es)

2. My own desktop machine.

3. Livingroom where I spend a lot of time with the hpc and Libretto, w/l security cam.

4. Bedroom, same deal, wireless security monitor plugged into the surge side of the ups

5. Wireless AP (center of house) and w/l security cam.

That about sums it up. I generally replace batteries every 3 years but not on the faulty one. I overlooked it somehow.

Wally, wireless security cams of the analog broadcast type are insecure. Any blighter with a directional antenna and a signal booster could tap into your wireless camera's transmission and monitor YOU. That's why secure financial and government installations always use hardwired cameras. Or the newer digital transmission cameras that compress and encrypt the image stream. I believe there was a bit of this on the telly a few months back.

ok, then you really have a reason for using upses!

wallythacker,

I'm sure that you already have this base covered, but it's a good point to make anyway in my view.

You say you're in an area prone to bad storms. Have you got your ADSL and phone lines covered with anti spike protection?

One of my friend's local phone loop was hit by lightening a few years back, and it singed anything connected to the phone system, handsets, TA's and Modems.

After that happened to him, I got myself some Belkin manufactured devices to loop the phone and DSL feed through. They’re designed to commit suicide on detecting a fatal overload and protect everything on the other side of the circuit.
Between that and having good earthing points on my UTP LAN equipment, and the Belkin comes with £50,000 lifetime warranty for any damage on the inside of the circuit (My AC point surge/spike ones come with £100,000!, boo hiss). If I recall correctly, with Belkin if it fails in the interim, they'll send you a replacement for it anyway under the lifetime guarantee.

I think it’s a good investment... provided that they do exactly what they say on the tin.
On your UPS will automatically act as a system to smooth out power surges caused by the regular ebb and flow of the mains transmission. If you've covered your bases on the AC, and left this other vulnerability wide open...

Worst case:
Phone line > DSL Filter > DSL Modem > LAN switch > PC(s) > Earth

... and always earth your hubs / switches... unless you're using Power over Ethernet... in that case... err... don't do it mid flow

Living in the midwestern US, we get our share of summer thunderstorms with intense lightning. I've told people that the only consumer-available lightning protection is a UPS. Those $10 outlet strips won't do a thing. I don't know if I'm right, but that's been my understanding, anyway. I have two UPSes. An APC 1100VA protects my desktop and external peripherals (except my laser printer, of course!) and a cheap 325VA Energizer UPS protects my DSL modem and internet router/switch. I think the APC has a LAN port, but I'm not sure. At present, I'm not using it. The other UPS, unfortunately, does not have a phone jack for surge. I need to protect that, at least. I got a good deal on the 1100VA at CompUSA a few years ago. I shudder to think what it will cost to replace the battery. I may be able to buy a 1500VA new for less. I'm probably only a couple years from the end of the suggested lifespan. :+(

Well now, don't I feel cheap and stingy.

I live in an apartment building with a roommate here in Edmonton, 4th floor in a nice part of town.


I don't even own proper surge protectors.