Generator and UPS

[tjw76]

Hi all.
Hoping somebody can help with an issue I'm having at a school I do maintenance work at.
They have a geni with auto transfer switch and ups providing back up to the IT equipment and phones. The ups works fine when geni is disconnected, but as soon as the geni fire's up the ups goes haywire. They click on and off constantly until geni turns off. This has so far blown up 5 ups units. I have tested the output from geni and all seems fine, and have spoke to the manufacturer of the ups and they have not heard of this issue before. I thought it was the ups but have been informed that this has happened to 3 different makes and models.
Thanks in advance for any help.
Tim.

 

[Marvo]

Hi all.
Hoping somebody can help with an issue I'm having at a school I do maintenance work at.
They have a geni with auto transfer switch and ups....

Make and model number of both please.

but as soon as the geni fire's up the ups goes haywire. They click on and off constantly until geni turns off.

What exactly is clicking on and off? Does the UPS indicate any fault conditions?

This has so far blown up 5 ups units.

Not good. Can you define 'blown up'? What damage exactly was done to the UPS('s)? Why weren't they repairable?

I have tested the output from geni and all seems fine,

What tests did you do, what test equipment did you use and what results exactly did you get?

I thought it was the ups but have been informed that this has happened to 3 different makes and models.

What would lead you to believe it was the UPS at fault if 3 different models and 5 different UPS's in total have been 'blown up'?

 

[Knobhead]

Non sinusoidal waveform springs to mind. What make/model is the generator.

 

[Lagentium]

I'm thinking some form of filter would need fitting, as there will be forces at work that a normal multimeter won't pick up

 

[davesparks]

To filter what exactly?

We don't have enough information yet to make a firm diagnosis.

My suspicion at this point would be that the generator is probably a rough n ready site generator with an output perfect for running power tools and site lighting, not so good for sensitive electronics.

 

[Lagentium]

I agree dave, it was just my gut feeling/first thought!