[bnieman]

My question: should I be worried or make a change?

I've lived in my home for nearly a year now with the same setup but yesterday a problem occurred.

Here's the setup I have powered up on one 15amp household circuit:

1. Rotel RSX-1067
2. 5 speakers
3. 10" subwoofer
4. (2) halogen uplights
5. (1) standard light bulb
6. (1) wireless network router
7. (1) APC UPS with the following plugged in and running
8. --- PC with SSD and 6 HDD (Intel i7)
9. --- (2) LCD Monitors

This setup worked flawlessly for the past 10 months or so. Yesterday, while the computer was already running I started some music and went and powered on the receiver like I normally do. Volume was set very low. No more than 20 seconds after, the breaker trips and the UPS kicks in. My aging APC RS-1500VA's battery only gave me about 90 seconds to react before completely dying.

Next I went out and purchased a brand new APC BX1500G UPS. I hooked everything up again in the same order and powered on the amp. This time, the breaker did not trip but the UPS registered an "Event". Each time I power on the receiver, the UPS registers an "Event". An event signifies the UPS had to kick in some shape or form. My old BX1500G never registered an event from powering on the receiver.

I then plugged my receiver into a separate GFCI outlet in my kitchen to see if it would trip the outlet, it did not. It worked just fine. And as expected, had no effect on the UPS on the separate circuit.

In my setup, powering on the receiver has always caused my (2) halogen uplights to dim briefly (like the receiver is sucking the power as it kicks on) so it definitely has some effect on the circuit. It just had never caused the breaker to trip.

Should I be worried I am doing damage to my PC or UPS? Is this likely a circuit problem (overloaded or otherwise) or an issue with the receiver's power supply? Did my old UPS just give up after being hammered by the amp turning on for 10 months?

Thank you,
Bryan

 

[kitti]

UPS reacting to voltage drop

The UPS model you mention is line-interactive, meaning it will compensate for some voltage fluctuations using it's transformer, without having to switch to battery operation. Anything powerful enough to cause the lights to dim will probably also trip the UPS. Momentary voltage sags are generally considered not harmful to computers, UPS, and most any properly designed AC equipment. Long before high-power receivers, AC induction motors (like those in refrigerators and vacuum cleaners) have drawn huge current at start-up, causing lights to dim and a momentary line voltage sag. Modern equipment has been designed to accept this fact.

I would not worry about it if I were you.

If you do want to worry about it:
Run thicker gauge wire from your electrical panel to the room
Reduce load
Split the load between another circuit
Remove UPS or replace with an offline/standby model (usually cheaper)

 

[bnieman]

The UPS model you mention is line-interactive, meaning it will compensate for some voltage fluctuations using it's transformer, without having to switch to battery operation. Anything powerful enough to cause the lights to dim will probably also trip the UPS. Momentary voltage sags are generally considered not harmful to computers, UPS, and most any properly designed AC equipment. Long before high-power receivers, AC induction motors (like those in refrigerators and vacuum cleaners) have drawn huge current at start-up, causing lights to dim and a momentary line voltage sag. Modern equipment has been designed to accept this fact.

I would not worry about it if I were you.

If you do want to worry about it:
Run thicker gauge wire from your electrical panel to the room
Reduce load
Split the load between another circuit
Remove UPS or replace with an offline/standby model (usually cheaper)

Thank you kitti, that helps put my mind at ease. I do appreciate the "if you do want to worry about it list" too.

Welcome to AVS by the way! It's a great community.

Cheers,
Bryan

 

[DaAwesomeP]

bnieman, did you ever resolve your issue? I'm planning on installing an RSX-1067 with some pretty powerful speakers. Do you know the power rating on the UPS that you were having that issue with?

Thanks,
DaAwesomeP

 

[DonH50]

The APC model in the first post can be Googled to reveal 1500 VA.

The problem was not with the UPS, it was with the load on the wires.

 

[Jon S]

Does the same problem occur if the PC is powered off? I am concerned that the computer might be an issue. You have an Intel i7 with 7 SSD/HDD running. If you have a high end graphics card, the power draw from the PC can be 4-500 watts. It is best to have a power supply with 30% higher capacity than the drawing wattage, or in this case, 700-800 watts, more so if the video card is multi-core or multi-card.