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Can running an electric fan on a UPS burn it out?

R

Robert

Jan 1, 1970
0
An electric fan here at work was getting really hot and making a funny
sound when it was plugged in to a UPS when the power went out.
 
J

James Sweet

Jan 1, 1970
0
Robert said:
An electric fan here at work was getting really hot and making a funny
sound when it was plugged in to a UPS when the power went out.

Most UPS's put out a really weird waveform which things like electric motors
really don't like. They're designed to power switching power supplies in
PC's and monitors, not induction motors.
 
A

Andrew Rossmann

Jan 1, 1970
0
An electric fan here at work was getting really hot and making a funny
sound when it was plugged in to a UPS when the power went out.

Most basic UPS's output an approximated sinewave. Instead of a smooth
shape, it's in steps. Different models or brands may have different step
levels. Higher-end UPS's can output real sinewaves.

The stepped-sine is mainly designed for use with the switching power
supplies used by most computers. They may also work, to some extent, with
transformers, but could cause extra heat and/or noise.

A number of years ago, during a long power outage, I used a small UPS to
run a fan for a few hours. It did hum quite a bit and run a bit slower,
but still works fine to this day.
 
T

The Real Andy

Jan 1, 1970
0
I am writing this message on a laptop that is connected to a UPS. Add
to that UPS another PC, monitor, USB Hub, PC speakers, printer,
Ethernet hub and last but not least, a pedistal fan. All going strong
and have been for many months.
 
S

Sam Goldwasser

Jan 1, 1970
0
The Real Andy said:
I am writing this message on a laptop that is connected to a UPS. Add
to that UPS another PC, monitor, USB Hub, PC speakers, printer,
Ethernet hub and last but not least, a pedistal fan. All going strong
and have been for many months.

Yes, but your UPS is probably not running off the inverter except when
there is a power failure. Thus, you are using line power.

Or, it is a true sine wave inverter.

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contact me, please use the feedback form on the S.E.R FAQ Web sites.
 
A

Andrew Rossmann

Jan 1, 1970
0
I am writing this message on a laptop that is connected to a UPS. Add
to that UPS another PC, monitor, USB Hub, PC speakers, printer,
Ethernet hub and last but not least, a pedistal fan. All going strong
and have been for many months.

Most basic UPS's are 'off-line' UPS's. That means they only supply
inverter power from the battery when the line power goes out. It's a
cheaper design, but can cause loss of several cycles between line power
loss and when the inverter is switched in. For most devices, this is not a
problem.

Some high-end UPS's are 'on-line', and power is ALWAYS supplied by the
inverter. This way, there is no loss of power ever, as long as the
batteries are charged up!
 
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