Question UPS shuts down immediately during power failure while gaming

[ksh.sharma]

Hi All,
Facing an issue with the UPS not being able to provide power backup on mains failure during gaming sessions. While gaming, as soon as the power fails, the UPS shuts down almost immediately and emits a constant beep (which indicates Online Overload Fault according to the UPS manual),
On the other hand if the system is idle during a power failure, the UPS signals low battery warning almost immediately.

This is a 2200VA APC UPS which should be able to handle up to 1200W according to the specifications.
I don't believe that the system should reach that kind of power even under load.
However, I am not sure if the GPU transient power spikes are causing any issues here, or if there is any other issue.

I had bought this UPS about 8 months ago, and just need it to power the PC long enough to be able to safely shutdown.

Here's my configuration:
CPU: Ryzen 5 5600x
Ram: 32 GB DDR4
Motherboard: MSI B450M Pro-Vdh Max
GPU: Galax RTX 3080 Ti 12GB
PSU: Corsair RM1000e 1000W
UPS: APC Easy UPS 2200VA Line Interactive (BVX2200LI-IN)

Any help will be much appreciated.

 

[kanewolf]

Hi All,
Facing an issue with the UPS not being able to provide power backup on mains failure during gaming sessions. While gaming, as soon as the power fails, the UPS shuts down almost immediately and emits a constant beep (which indicates Online Overload Fault according to the UPS manual),
On the other hand if the system is idle during a power failure, the UPS signals low battery warning almost immediately.

This is a 2200VA APC UPS, which should be able to handle up to 1200W according to the specifications.
I don't believe that the system should reach that kind of power even under load. However, I am not sure if the GPU transient power spikes are causing any issues here, or if there is any other issue.

I just need the UPS to power the PC long enough to be able to safely shutdown.

Here's my configuration:
CPU: Ryzen 5 5600x
Ram: 32 GB DDR4
Motherboard: MSI B450M Pro-Vdh Max
GPU: Galax RTX 3080 Ti 12GB
PSU: Corsair RM1000e 1000W
UPS: APC Easy UPS 2200VA Line Interactive (BVX2200LI-IN)

Any help will be much appreciated.

Looking at this page -- https://www.apc.com/in/en/product/BVX2200LI-IN/apc-easy-ups-bvx-2200va-230v-avr-india-sockets/ At 1200W, you get 22 seconds.
How old is this UPS? Batteries need to be replaced every 3 to 5 years under normal use. If you have frequent power outages, you may not get that long.
Since you get low battery almost immediately with lower load, I believe the battery needs to be replaced.

 

[COLGeek]

Seems like you may have a defective battery/UPS.

 

[Silas Sanchez]

A rough guess is during gaming your system is pulling near 40Amps on that battery which is near a 4-5C load! and due to it's small size, and most likely fact it has aged badly and has not been well looked after getting the proper charge which is common on cheap electronics, the voltage sagged below the inverter cut off in an instant.
You need a much bigger SLA and it needs to be correctly topped up frequently with the right voltages and with the right elevated voltage duration. I got a very expensive marine grade battery charger made by professionals that can't even do that.
SLA/pb is an awful battery chemistry for the average user and should only be used by people who know about how to look after them.

 

[ksh.sharma]

Looking at this page -- https://www.apc.com/in/en/product/BVX2200LI-IN/apc-easy-ups-bvx-2200va-230v-avr-india-sockets/ At 1200W, you get 22 seconds.
How old is this UPS? Batteries need to be replaced every 3 to 5 years under normal use. If you have frequent power outages, you may not get that long.
Since you get low battery almost immediately with lower load, I believe the battery needs to be replaced.

Even under full load, the worst case load power should never be more than 1000W for the configuration, which means about 1+ mins of backup time. The UPS is fairly new, bought it about 8 months ago. I started seeing this issue just recently.

 

[ksh.sharma]

A rough guess is during gaming your system is pulling near 40Amps on that battery which is near a 4-5C load! and due to it's small size, and most likely fact it has aged badly and has not been well looked after getting the proper charge which is common on cheap electronics, the voltage sagged below the inverter cut off in an instant.
You need a much bigger SLA and it needs to be correctly topped up frequently with the right voltages and with the right elevated voltage duration. I got a very expensive marine grade battery charger made by professionals that can't even do that.
SLA/pb is an awful battery chemistry for the average user and should only be used by people who know about how to look after them.

Hi, thanks for the answer, took me some time (and google) to understand finally. So based on this, what do you recommend is the solution. A higher battery capacity based UPS ? A different kind of battery/UPS altogether ?

 

[CodeConnoisseur]

Probably a bad battery. Does your UPS show the battery voltage or do you have a multimeter to test it with? Does the battery have a voltage rating?

 

[ksh.sharma]

Probably a bad battery. Does your UPS show the battery voltage or do you have a multimeter to test it with? Does the battery have a voltage rating?

It doesn't show the voltage unfortunately. I have a multimeter, will need to open up the UPS though. I am not entirely sure about the battery voltage rating, will check APCs page.

 

[stonecarver]

A rough guess is during gaming your system is pulling near 40Amps on that battery

Seems legit to me pulling 40 amps.

So 40x12= 480 watts

Or 40 amps x 12 volts " battery feeding inverter" = 480 watts.

Or if the back up batteries are in a 24 volt package.

20 amps X 24volts = 480 watts

This is what the inverter pulls when you loose power and the battery has to try to run your computer.

 

[ksh.sharma]

Seems legit to me pulling 40 amps.

So 40x12= 480 watts

Or 40 amps x 12 volts " battery feeding inverter" = 480 watts.

Or if the back up batteries are in a 24 volt package.

20 amps X 24volts = 480 watts

This is what the inverter pulls when you loose power and the battery has to try to run your computer.

Right, thanks for pointing that out. I just realized I had made a terrible mistake earlier.

 

[ksh.sharma]

Probably a bad battery. Does your UPS show the battery voltage or do you have a multimeter to test it with? Does the battery have a voltage rating?

So it has a sealed lead acid battery, Voltage rating of 24V, with a capacity of 9Ah

 

[bill001g]

You can get a device that will show you the load you actually use if the UPS itself doesn't show it. Killawatt is a brand name of a common device but there are much cheaper generic ones.

Once you know how many watts you are pulling you can calculate the maximum theoretical limit.

9ah at 24volts is 216 watts for 1 hour. You can estimate that it will last 432 watts for 30 minutes.

Now this is some optimum number that assume you get no loss going dc to ac. It also is not really correct because batteries last less time when you draw them faster.

Still if you are only using say actually using 700 watts your UPS should easily last 5-10 minutes. Your batteries might be defective and there is no easy way to measure battery "amp hours". It likely puts out the correct voltage it just does not do it long enough.

 

[Ralston18]

Also remember that the UPS is supporting the computer and (at least) one monitor.

End effect being that the UPS will provide even less time. Still less time if there are other devices connected to the battery side of the UPS.

Overall, the intent is that the UPS provide enough power and time to allow the user to gracefully shutdown the build and associated peripheras when power is lost. And thus avoid potential file corruption due to the unexpected power outage.

The UPS is not intended as a means to continue gaming. Which is likely moot anyway during power outages: internet, modem, router, etc. also being down.

 

[ksh.sharma]

You can get a device that will show you the load you actually use if the UPS itself doesn't show it. Killawatt is a brand name of a common device but there are much cheaper generic ones.

Once you know how many watts you are pulling you can calculate the maximum theoretical limit.

9ah at 24volts is 216 watts for 1 hour. You can estimate that it will last 432 watts for 30 minutes.

Now this is some optimum number that assume you get no loss going dc to ac. It also is not really correct because batteries last less time when you draw them faster.

Still if you are only using say actually using 700 watts your UPS should easily last 5-10 minutes. Your batteries might be defective and there is no easy way to measure battery "amp hours". It likely puts out the correct voltage it just does not do it long enough.

So I measured the total load power using a Killawatt like device during stress tests and gaming. The Computer + Monitor consume a maximum of only about 520W during CPU + GPU stress tests, and a little less during regular gaming.
The UPS is rated for (2200VA) 1200 W, and should have provided at least 5 mins of backup during power failure.
My doubts are:
1. Does this number (520W) account for any GPU transient power spikes (for a 3080Ti) ?
2. Should I go for another battery, or switch to a better quality UPS say from CyberPower etc. ?

 

[bill001g]

I suspect the batteries are just bad. It will be much cheaper to try that than buying a new UPS.

Many people roll their eyes when you say cyberpower and "quality" but it seems most people have few issues with them. APC is known for commercial UPS but it is hard to say how the UPS sold to consumers market compare.

The UPS itself I guess could be defective but run time issue tend to be batteries.

Spikes in power is more related to the "rating"..ie the 1200 number. If you overload the UPS most UPS will give you a warning or shut down if you greatly exceed it. I suspect not a issue for you since your power supply is only 1000 watts and would shutdown first.