Issue setting up APC UPS, server won’t POST

[KuniD]

Hi all, hoping someone can help. I purchased an APC Smart-UPS (SMT1500IC), to help my Unraid server shutdown safely in an outage.

 

First time using a UPS, I followed the basic setup steps as described in the box, but I’m seeing some really strange behaviour. The server is the only device connected to the UPS.

 

I booted the server up and entered the Bios. I was about to select the boot device manually when the server suddenly died and then kept trying to turn on and off in a loop constantly. I had to kill the switch on the PSU to stop the loop. 
 

After flicking the PSU back on I tried to turn it back on but no joy, so I unplugged the power cable coming from the PSU and reconnected a standard power cable from the mains socket. This time the server POSTed, although it showed a "Chassis Intrude! Please Check Your System Fatal Error" message. 
 

I powered down and reconnected the power cable coming from the UPS. This time the server would power up (I can hear the drives spinning up), but the activity light didn’t flash nor did the POST screen appear.

 

I powered down and swapped to mains power, at which point it boots up as expected.

 

 

I’m probably missing something obvious, but something clearly isn’t sitting right between my PSU and the UPS. Any guidance anyone could give would be appreciated !

 

PSU: SuperFlower Leadex Titanium 750w

UPS: APC Smart-UPS SMT1500IC (showing input 251v, output 223v)

[Vr2Io]

251v should trigger the high threshold voltage transfer, I suppose it is typo.

 

When interactive type UPS not on battery, it equivalent direct connect to mains.

 

Pls try, one by one

- disconnect the USB cable between Unraid and UPS.

- disconnect mains on UPS, does server success boot if power by UPS.

Edited February 5, 2020 by Benson

[KuniD]

Hi Benson, 

 

Not a typo, here's a photo from the front of the UPS:

https://imgur.com/2ivhimb

 

If the input being 251v is causing the issue, and the UPS is acting as a pass through when not on battery, what's confusing me is that the server boots as expected when directly connected to the same mains socket that is feeding the UPS.

 

 

Thanks for your suggestions, I have tried disconnecting the USB between UPS and Unraid, no change.

 

I'll try your second suggestion later today. 

Edited February 6, 2020 by KuniD

[KuniD]

On 2/5/2020 at 11:18 PM, Benson said:

251v should trigger the high threshold voltage transfer, I suppose it is typo.

 

When interactive type UPS not on battery, it equivalent direct connect to mains.

 

Pls try, one by one

- disconnect the USB cable between Unraid and UPS.

- disconnect mains on UPS, does server success boot if power by UPS.

Further update, relates to your second suggestion:

 

I tried to boot the server up again with power connected via the UPS this evening and it successfully booted.

 

I checked the screen on the APC at this time and it was showing input and output voltage at 249.

 

Everything was operating as expected for about 7hrs, when I noticed I could no longer remote into the server. I went to take a look and found that the monitor was off and keyboard/mouse didn't wake the system, but server was on with no activity lights flashing. The screen on the APC now read input 249v, output 221v.

 

I turned off the mains power socket leading to the APC, forcing it into battery mode. As soon as I did that the server came back to life and the monitor came on, showing that the system was rebooting, post/bios screen etc

 

not sure if the output voltage dropping is an indicator of a problem or if the problem is setup elsewhere 

[JonathanM]

Before you hurt your system, I suggest you test the UPS with a load and a meter. I'm not sure what you have available where you are, but something like a Kill-A-Watt and a small electric heater or hotplate of some sort should work.

 

You really need to verify the output power of the UPS, and possibly the house wiring. It sounds like you either have a bad UPS, bad supply wiring, or both.

 

Flicking the power on and off is the fastest way to kill electronics.

[Vr2Io]

3 hours ago, KuniD said:

I turned off the mains power socket leading to the APC, forcing it into battery mode. As soon as I did that the server came back to life and the monitor came on, showing that the system was rebooting, post/bios screen etc

I expect problem still due to high input voltage which cause UPS in AVR mode or battery mode until no more battery capacity.

 

From your PIC, input 251v and output 223v, it may be UPS have AVR “Automatic Voltage Regulation” function, but not work well ( may be out of its ability ), anyway you must fix the high input voltage problem. ( As Jonathanm said, use a meter to confirm this )

 

Below are the setting of my UPS, you can see if input voltage under 196 or over 253, then it will trigger UPS to battery mode. My interactive UPS was in standby, so output voltage will be same as input voltage.

 

 

Edited February 8, 2020 by Benson

[KuniD]

Ok I have ordered a multimeter, will check voltage at wall and from output of UPS and report back.