A Brief Look at a MicroBurst... and a Reminder to TEST your UPS

MrSurly

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8/5/22 at 3:05PM a pop-up storm hit my neighborhood lasting only fifteen minutes but within it there was a "microburst" of wind that felled a bunch of hardwood trees, tore off some roofs, caused power outages and general mayhem, all in about two minutes. My property received no damage but many nearby did. The footage from some of my cams shows the sudden burst of energy that is a micro burst...which immediately triggered a power interruption and because some dumbass didn't check his work the cam system shut down as the UPS in the switch closet did not support the switches. So, we only get to see a snippet of the burst. Yes, I'm the dumbass in question. You really should just go kill the main breaker once in a while to TEST your assumptions, I remind myself.

Trying something new... This is supposed to provide a link to a folder containing six short videos... let me know if you can view them...
Whoops! that didn't work...

Trying again:

The first one is the bird feeder cam and it's LOUD in there. Mute is suggested
 
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MrSurly

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Yah, I know. It actually happened at 15:10
I am not dedicated enough to the maintenance of the system.
I TRULY need to spend some real time getting the time server, remote viewing, phone viewing etc all working as they should AND setting motion alerts.
I might need to hire someone(!)
 

sebastiantombs

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Don't feel too bad. I'm still getting around to cutting in a second plate for cables coming to my switches so I can finally get things routed and cleaned up again. I never, in my wildest dreams, thought I'd need more than a single gang. I had to change that to a two gang. Now that's stuffed full and I have another half dozen jury rigged coming through the floor in holes left by the past residents. That'll give me two, two gang, plates so I should be good for a while.
 

Teken

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I'd like to add for the benefit of others who may experience the same problem(s) or stumble upon this thread. There are some key things I person should do to offer a measure of protection for their video security investment. When all of these things are in place it assures clean and stable power while promoting long term operations of the systems.

- Power: Ideally the main outlet is dedicated for this equipment. Doing so insures no other branch circuit can over load and trip the same. This will also help in monitoring the power quality and consumption should you wish to go down this path.

- Grounding: Proper grounding of all electronics, racks, cabinets, cables, patch panels, assures should there ever be a fault the breaker will trip. Grounding all electronics and connected infrastructure allows surge / spike voltages to be diverted to Earth ground. When both are in place it will protect Human & Electronics should there be a voltage rise. In the ideal world all of the network hardware would be located next to the service panel (Breaker).

As this allows a person to bond directly to the grounding wire.

The use of a appropriate sized copper ground bus bar helps in the interconnection of equipment.

- UPS: It goes without saying having any UPS is better than nothing. But, ideally the UPS should be sized to provide the expected amount of runtime or graceful shutdown. Using the wattage name plate by the maker is a good balance as a reference as to what's needed. But, ideally the power consumption should be measured with a tool. Doing so insures you know how much inrush current / power / and energy (KWH) the device actually consumes.

There are (generally) four types of UPS's sold in the market today and each meet a dollar value vs use case.

  • Standby
  • Line Interactive
  • Double Conversion
  • Delta Conversion

All of the above types or topology UPS have pros & cons in their design. It really comes down to how much money you have and how serious you're about protecting and offering clean 120 / 240 VAC power to your systems.

Batteries: All of these systems use some kind of battery whether it be wet, flooded, sealed. The greatest advancement in battery technology has been the design and release of lithium / LiFePO4 and similar. As they offer higher capacity, reduced weight, size, and thousands of cycles.

The most you'll ever see a wet / flooded battery offer is (in the extreme) 1200 cycles but the vast majority fall between 200 ~ 500 cycles before they need to be replaced or lose capacity. All of the latest Lithium / LiFePO4 cells also offer greater D.O.D. (Depth of Discharge) vs their older legacy battery technology. Hence you're able to have longer runtime because of having to cut power at 30~70% use you can go all the way to 0%! :thumb:

All of this obviously comes at a cost but having the ability to use a battery for 8~10 years vs 1-4 is something everyone should consider.

Regardless of the battery technology they are disposable items that wear. As such if your environment is mission critical to you these batteries need to be replaced on a regular interval.

Testing & Validation: As the OP stated proper and real world testing must be done on a regular basis. Doing so will assure you can count on the UPS system when the time comes. Almost every UPS has some kind of auto test (load test) to determine if the battery is fine.

Do not count of this mechanism as the final indicator of pass / fail! :facepalm:

Because a $50.XX UPS vs a $2500.XX doesn't use the same technology or method to test. Even systems that are thousands of dollars should not / can not be trusted as being accurate! This pass / fail should always be done by the end user once they fully understand how to determine a batteries true state.

This requires basic electrical understanding, measurement tools, and the will to do so.

Load testing a battery to determine its ability to do Work must be balanced with life cycle and D.O.D. Failure to understand this basic concept will reduce the batteries service life. And thus cost you more out of pocket expense over the long term!

Load testing can and will damage a battery but it will also prove / validate the health of said battery too!

There's lots of things to know and learn about a UPS but that's why we are all here!
 

MrSurly

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A lot of good info there, thanks for that. Without delving too deeply into power supply design theory and battery technology, a great first step for anyone is to just kill the power either locally (that one receptacle or that room) or (preferably) globally (the main breaker for the whole house... just to answer the most basic requirement: The Function1 test, to wit: Does the system STAY RUNNING when the power is killed out?
We can explore how long as another exercise, but first... it has to stay ON as step one.
I have three separate UPSes in three locations (at the PC and also three switches in two different locations) and if I had simply flipped the breaker to test function1 after the last time I messed with rearranging the closet, I could've quickly resolved that my recent movement of things had left two switches plugged into the "surge-only" outlets of the switch closet UPS.
Dumb. Simply careless to not test after the work, but it would be better to routinely test on a schedule.
 

Teken

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A lot of good info there, thanks for that. Without delving too deeply into power supply design theory and battery technology, a great first step for anyone is to just kill the power either locally (that one receptacle or that room) or (preferably) globally (the main breaker for the whole house... just to answer the most basic requirement: The Function1 test, to wit: Does the system STAY RUNNING when the power is killed out?
We can explore how long as another exercise, but first... it has to stay ON as step one.
I have three separate UPSes in three locations (at the PC and also three switches in two different locations) and if I had simply flipped the breaker to test function1 after the last time I messed with rearranging the closet, I could've quickly resolved that my recent movement of things had left two switches plugged into the "surge-only" outlets of the switch closet UPS.
Dumb. Simply careless to not test after the work, but it would be better to routinely test on a schedule.
True a functional test is absolutely required but lets expand on this for the benefit of others. As you correctly noted you can simply unplug the UPS from the outlet or at a intermediate / global level and turn off the breaker(s) / main principle. The obvious first thing you or anyone wants to see first is the attached load is running. Next, the UPS alerts you via audio notification and if the UPS is so equipped sends an email to affirm the same.

The next important thing is (IF) the UPS is tasked and connected to a computer system like BI. That the system will invoke the graceful shut down sequence not only to extend the runtime but also to protect the operating system from file corruption.

If we assume for just a moment the UPS isn't attached (communication link) to a computer system. We want to see first hand how the runtime minutes vs the actual operational runtime compare. You'll quickly find out that the display (run time) doesn't match how long the system actually operated for. You may also find out the time on the UPS begins to zip down quickly vs what was seen in the past.

To over generalize this tells a person several things and if we just assume the UPS is brand new and the cells inside the unit are fresh and 100%. We also assume the connected load is within the makers rating for X minutes per so many watts load.

Whether that be 5 minutes at 100% load say 500 watts. Maybe 10 minutes at half load (250 watts) etc. If the UPS offers that run time during the live validation tests this tells you when the UPS is brand spanking new it was designed correctly and the paper metrics do reflect the real world use! :thumb:

Now, if you performed the exact same test and everything was exactly the same (test parameters) that simply affirms the UPS isn't well designed or overly exaggerated. :facepalm: If a person changes only one parameter like higher load than rated you have just exceeded the capability of the UPS.

So, connect the proper amount of load to the UPS to obtain the rated operational runtime.

Now none of that applies after the first year if the unit was called to duty just once never mind 2-30-99 times! :(

This is why monthly, quarterly, and annual validation tests must be done to confirm the UPS is fully operational. On a completely separate track one of the most important tests a person can ever do is validate how the UPS will behave once the battery is fully depleted (empty) and than when 120 VAC POCO power is restored.

You'll quickly find out some UPS systems will absolutely not turn back on. Some will come back on but will NOT provided any UPS power to the loads until such time as the battery is fully charged. Everyone must test and validate the UPS in place does or doesn't operate like this.

Some may call this a design flaw while others say this is a feature!

Only the person and environment can say what behavior is correct / wrong. It should be noted more advanced and expansive UPS systems have the very same power options which should be reviewed and enabled / disabled per your own use case and environment. Since this is a video security system we don't want the UPS to remain off. We either want it to be programmed for Last known state or On upon power restore.

Generally speaking (I'm going to over generalize) the phrase fail safe vs fail secure. Each method serves a purpose to a person and environment. One only needs to think about a few things in the home where we absolutely want said item to receive power upon restore of 120 VAC.

Think: Fridge, Freezer, Sump, HVAC, etc.

Other things to keep in mind is when a functional test & validation is being done. Its imperative you have some kind of tool to measure inrush current. Because you will quickly find out say when a person has a old school monitor connected with the system it will literally cause the UPS to fault out.

Why???

Because regardless of the power rating the UPS maker should / must design their systems to offer enough power when heavy loads are attached. A small toaster sized UPS is going to either fault out and not turn back on or struggle when a connected device like a Enterprise POE Switch which spools up with Mach 2 fans for the first 30~ 120 seconds kicks off!

More advanced and expansive UPS systems offer timed (load) outlet activation along with load shedding. Having these features is incredibly useful when your system is large or complex. Other important functional tests are to visually and auditorily confirm if the UPS has a fan that it does operate (IF) and only if required. Many cheaper UPS the fan always runs or turns on only when the UPS is on battery. Other more advanced units manage the fan based on the load and heat generated via PWM or simply cycle it on and off based on a defined threshold.

If your UPS has a fan just like any computer system use the monthly / quarterly test to inspect and clean the area. Other important considerations is to touch and listen next to the UPS. If you don't know your specific unit makes a buzz / hum how will you ever know if that's normal?? Conversely, if you begin to hear a buzz / hum when such a noise was never present its imperative that you inspect the battery for swelling, bulging, or blown vent caps.

Almost every UPS system on the market today has some kind of thermal sensor to detect an over heat condition.

Don't ever rely on this safety mechanism to protect you or your home!

This leads to fire mitigation and best practices as it relates to anything that can store massive amount of energy. Always have a properly rated ABC fire extinguisher near by in case there's an electrical fire. More advanced and expansive UPS systems have what is called a EPO.

The Emergency Power Off is simply a contact that allows a person to connect to a kill switch. Should there ever be a fault that needs to be addressed pressing the EPO button will immediately turn off all connected loads but will turn off the UPS.

The EPO switch does NOT remove the electrical power from the battery cells . . . So great care and handling is still required should a battery fire exists. This leads to basic safety and storage of said UPS system no matter the type or size.

Do not leave any UPS on the floor . . .

It doesn't matter if its designed to be sitting on the floor . . . The UPS should be sitting on / in a fire / chemical resistant mat or enclosure.
 
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Would a kitchen fire extinguisher be a better choice? That’s not to say I don’t recommend several ABC’s around but if you’re catching it early and it’s only electrical I thought BC was the way to go
 

Teken

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Would a kitchen fire extinguisher be a better choice? That’s not to say I don’t recommend several ABC’s around but if you’re catching it early and it’s only electrical I thought BC was the way to go
Any dry chemical fire extinguisher will do so long as its so rated for electrical / chemical fires. :thumb:
 

MrSurly

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Recommendations needed. (camera)
I intend to mount two or more cams up on the TV antenna mast over the house. (seen in one of the attached clips) for future weather events and also to give me an overview of my area, primarily of the cemetery that is to my West to monitor vehicle movements (no gates there). To my East is the neighborhood and it's mostly just looking at trees in the summer. To the South is a busy highway (and trees)
I'm aware the trees are going to hamstring me but I need SOMEthing up there. What do y'all think about 5442 vari-focals? I'm not going to have significant large areas of open space around the property to be able to use auto tracking with a PTZ. There are essentially three directions to view with about a thirty or forty degree view angle each. The cemetery direction, the fence is about 65' away and my interest is beyond that, say the next hundred yards or so. The same roughly to the South.
The East view will need to overview the front yard while serving as a weather watch.
All input appreciated.
 
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