Plugged in to an APC UPS Battery Backup - UPS Issues.
I bought an APC UPS 700VA (BE700G3) on Amazon August 17th 2024 AMAZON LINK
I had this running with just a small LED type light and my MK3S plugged in to it since August with that printer running on it quite a bit.
I moved it over to my Prusa XL multitool very recently and within a short-ish period of time (not sure, atleast within a week?) the UPS started beeping at me. The internet claims the specific response is a battery failure (or may be device failure, like connection to battery).
I also had it shut off on me. I didn't see this happen but I think it just shut down right at the beginning of a print.
Could this be from the XL? I wan't to rule this out first. I am not really tuned in to how much a device can mess with a UPS. I had dual 2080TI gpus in a PC running to a 1500VA that when i did processing using both GPUS would make the thing beep at me but not flash battery fail colors. It would just load beep.
Is the XL powerful enough to need a bigger unit? I suspect not but I want to rule this out. If unit is dead/bat dead this is an annoying short period where I can't return it but I've only used it for like 5 months, so I will be talking to APC.
Thanks.
RE: Plugged in to an APC UPS Battery Backup - UPS Issues.
From APCs site, the Back-UPS system is a STANDBY design and as such, the UPS output is connected to the mains/AC normally and switches to battery only on power out. So unless you have a power outage, I wouldn't think you should not get any beeps or drain on the battery.. as the load should be directly tied to the house AC. However, your UPS is only designed to handle 420W for 2 minutes. So if you run your PC with 1500VA (not watts?) and were doing it on battery, then it is severely overloaded. You'd have to measure the draw of your XL and you can do that with a clamp on ammeter. Reports of a full bed print by one user measures 500W. But your UPS would be underpowered for the XL. It also only gives a step sine wave output.. and not designed for motors. I have no knowledge of the best type of UPS output sine wave for an FDM printer with stepper motors.. That would be a question for Prusa. I would think they could recommend a suitable UPS for the XL. I'll bet it starts at 1000VA.
RE:
Thank you! I was having a hard time figuring out the draw from the XL Multi tool and even if I did I'm not really sure how to "translate" it properly. Like really know if its an issue for an APC UPS or not. It wasn't constantly having issues. It happened about 3 times that I know of. And I do think it was only while printing and not while idle? But its hard to be 100% sure on this.
500w! Wow. I figured 3d printing was pretty low power but the XL is different beast I'm sure.
Edit: What throws me off is looking in to the beeps and lights and failed battery is the top thing - I'll try hooking it up to other things and see how its goes. Guessing it will be totally fine.
From APCs site, the Back-UPS system is a STANDBY design and as such, the UPS output is connected to the mains/AC normally and switches to battery only on power out. So unless you have a power outage, I wouldn't think you should not get any beeps or drain on the battery.. as the load should be directly tied to the house AC. However, your UPS is only designed to handle 420W for 2 minutes. So if you run your PC with 1500VA (not watts?) and were doing it on battery, then it is severely overloaded. You'd have to measure the draw of your XL and you can do that with a clamp on ammeter. Reports of a full bed print by one user measures 500W. But your UPS would be underpowered for the XL. It also only gives a step sine wave output.. and not designed for motors. I have no knowledge of the best type of UPS output sine wave for an FDM printer with stepper motors.. That would be a question for Prusa. I would think they could recommend a suitable UPS for the XL. I'll bet it starts at 1000VA.