It varies by UPS brand/model and how clean the power is from the generator. Some UPSs are more tolerant and some, less.

 

Total Harmonic Distortion of the generator is too high and voltage isnt "stiff" enough eith vhanging loads. I have the same cyberpower line interactive pure sine UPS units. You can decrease the sensitivity of the units but they have a very narrow frequency and voltage range before they switch to batteries. It helps a bit.

Ideally you need their double conversion topology units where anything connected to them is always powered by the inverter and the mains coming in is running a battery charger that can handle a very wide range of voltage/frequency.

Try putting a constant resistive load to your generator to smooth out the wave form and see if that helps at all. No matter what when a heavy load starts the UPS will switch to batteries, cant be helped.

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How do you adjust the sensitivity of the UPS? I have no idea what the THD is of the Generator as it is not listed in the book.

I have been looking to replace the Generator with a newer one with more watts but i wonder if it will have the same issue.

 

Hold down silence alarm and control buttons for 3 seconds and you will get this screen. Press silence alarm till the bar is at its lowest, decreasing the sensitivity. The display will go back to normal.

It should click less but honestly I am not expecting much of a change even at the least amount of sensitivity my generator which is a 7000 watt generac it still clicks just not as often.

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A Cyberpower UPS is NOT a standalone power generator. They are used for correcting the power waveforms from the outlet so that they don't harm sensitive electronics from spikes and sags. The battery inside is there for giving you enough time to safely shut the computer down in the event that you lose all power. It is not designed to operate during power outages and the battery needs to be replaced every couple of years.

Now if you have a power generator connected outside the house with a transfer switch for when the power does go out, there is only so many outlets that can be powered from the generator. A Cyberpower UPS may work with the standalone power generator, but would likely fail early due to most standalone power generators not having a clean output. A suggestion would be to get an inverter power generator to power electronic equipment along with the power generator that is supplying power to everything else.

 

A Cyberpower UPS is NOT a standalone power generator. They are used for correcting the power waveforms from the outlet so that they don't harm sensitive electronics from spikes and sags. The battery inside is there for giving you enough time to safely shut the computer down in the event that you lose all power. It is not designed to operate during power outages and the battery needs to be replaced every couple of years.

Yes i know that. It's why i want to use on my TV, PC.

 

That looks like the same UPS that i have.

I have a powermate 5500 that i bought in a emergency where the power had been off for days we have a well so you have no water.

I have been looking at a champion 12,000 watt model but they never show the THD. Hoping that if you spend $2000 on a Generator the THD will be good plus it has a oil filter and drain plug. lol

Have also thought about a hole house Generator but we have no gas or anything to power it.

 

nearly all standby systems will run on natural or propane.

 

It might be that the generator is not putting out 60 HZ frequency. Unless it is an inverter generator, the frequency is tied to engine RPM. If the generator does not run well, the frequency will vary too much. Adding a resistive load to it might help to reduce engine hunting/surging if the UPS and the load it carries is not much. As the UPS accepts the generator power and draws from it, the draw might put it out of spec to where it rejects it and an accept/reject cycle may repeat.

It could also be related to how pure the sine wave is which can be affected by the type of load. A resistive load affects the sine wave less than an inductive load.

 

It could be i have just bought a kill a watt meter to find out. Do you think the more costly generators have a better power output? I paid $600 for the one i have now years ago.

 

A whole house standby generator can run on many different fuels with natural gas, propane, diesel and gasoline being the most common ones, there are some that run on hydrogen and other.

Perhaps your Cyberpower UPS is damaged. The big problem with most any retail Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) is that there are really no user available tests if something is wrong. They will appear just fine even if the electronics are compromised, they will pass through power without correction. Many use Metal Oxide Varistors that often fail and the circuit bypasses them.

 

I have 4 Cyberpower UPS none of them will work when the generator is powering them. Two of them are brand new,

A whole house generator would be great but i live in the country. We would have to get a propane tank, diesel units are very costly.

We don't go without power to often but when it goes off it stays off.

 

The cyberpower UPS pure sine wave devices come in a few different flavors. You have a battery backup that will put out a very crude square wave for the cheap ones. The line interactive pure sine wave versions have a pure sine wave inverter that takes over when power goes out and it will also employ an autoformer where it will change the different taps if the voltage is too high or low to compensate before the inverter takes over. Finally you have a double conversion or online topology where the inverter is powering your devices all the time and the plug is only charging the batteries.

Everyone is right there not designed to be a standalone power station the batteries inside are simply too small. They will protect against a certain amount of surge using metal oxide varistors. What it does NOT do is clean up the waveform from the incoming power. That is a common myth. If the waveform is dirty coming into the UPS it will not clean it up unless it is from the inverter which at that point it is no longer using the incoming power at least not directly for some models.

Most portable generators will not state their total harmonic distortion because it is not required for them to under most standards. I will tell you that looking on my rygol oscilloscope that portable generators can have anywhere from 10 to 20% total harmonic distortion. NEC spec states that the total harmonic distortion shall not exceed 6%. Inverter generators are within this range if not better than 6%.

The best suggestion I can tell you is to either buy an inverter generator and power only those sensitive devices. The other option is to do a power inverter and battery setup. Iota engineering makes battery chargers and power supplies that are designed to handle dirty waveform and various frequency ranges like on a generator.

What I have with my transfer switch that only powers sensitive devices and LED lights in my house I have two group 29 DC boat batteries and a 1500 watt pure sine wave inverter. This power is the transfer switch and I can run my lights without running a generator. when the batteries need to be charged I have an iota engineering dls-90 with a multi-stage charge control. this has no problem accepting power from my 7000 watt generac generator which most certainly has total harmonic distortion beyond 10%.

The right tools for the right job...Okay I'll shut up now haha !

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Lets back up a little

I know that a UPS is not meant to power a device for extended amounts of time and is only meant to give you enough time to power off your device. I only use them to protect my electronics from a power surge or when the power goes off for a few sec and they will power something small like a router for a long time.

I am afraid to hook up my electronics directly to a generator but that is what i ended up doing in the past and it did not harm them.

A Inverter Generator would solve all this but they are not large enough to power half your house as i am trying to get around running extension cords into the house.

Have you guys seen the new champion Open Frame Inverters? They claim 3% THD...is that good? and are Digital Hybrid inverters. I have never seen a Inverter Generator with 8750 watts.

 

Honda makes a 7000 watt inverter generator but mere mortals like us cannot afford.

6250W Open Frame Inverter – Champion Power Equipment

Champion's innovative 6250-Watt Open Frame Inverter is 50% quieter and 20% lighter than a traditional 5000-watt generator. With Quiet Technology, Extended Run Time, Economy Mode and Clean Power, this inverter is the cost-effective, advanced power solution you need.

www.championpowerequipment.com

That is actually impressive. Inverters are not all created equal, but THD changes with load. Even the cheapest pure sine inverters ive seen have 5-8% THD. Far better than 10-20%.

Price looks reasonable too.

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In Post #6, I made the suggestion of getting a inverter generator to be used alongside the regular generator.

I'm out in the boonies here in northern Florida where the power often goes out for hours on end, not to mention the various weather events and traffic hitting a pole. Price of a generator usually doesn't include the circuitry needed for sensitive electronic equipment and is really comparable to the output: More operating Watts = more price.
A standalone generator of 5,000 Watts is not adequate to power an entire house. You may be able to power a well pump and one or two other 120V circuits, but that is it. Most generators are sized at start-up amps, not at running amps. Any AC motor is going to require more amps to start than to run.

Instead of guessing and hoping, you need to write down the amps needed to power what you want to operate during a power outage and add them up. Volts times amps gives you the Watts and then size your power generator accordingly. Either a Watt meter or amp meter will help you out here. I have a 9,000 Watt generator that I use for extended power outages, usually anything over 24 hours. Anything less, I usually just wait it out. With that 9,000 Watt generator, I power the fridge & freezer (separates) and a couple other circuits, mainly lighting. It's not large enough to power the electric stove or the heat pump because the maximum output of the 9,000 Watt generator is limited to 30 amps on a circuit.

 

I don't need much the well pump, hot water heater and a few outlets would do it to power a freezer and fridge.

In Post #6, I made the suggestion of getting a inverter generator to be used alongside the regular generator.

I'm out in the boonies here in northern Florida where the power often goes out for hours on end, not to mention the various weather events and traffic hitting a pole. Price of a generator usually doesn't include the circuitry needed for sensitive electronic equipment and is really comparable to the output: More operating Watts = more price.
A standalone generator of 5,000 Watts is not adequate to power an entire house. You may be able to power a well pump and one or two other 120V circuits, but that is it. Most generators are sized at start-up amps, not at running amps. Any AC motor is going to require more amps to start than to run.

Instead of guessing and hoping, you need to write down the amps needed to power what you want to operate during a power outage and add them up. Volts times amps gives you the Watts and then size your power generator accordingly. Either a Watt meter or amp meter will help you out here. I have a 9,000 Watt generator that I use for extended power outages, usually anything over 24 hours. Anything less, I usually just wait it out. With that 9,000 Watt generator, I power the fridge & freezer (separates) and a couple other circuits, mainly lighting. It's not large enough to power the electric stove or the heat pump because the maximum output of the 9,000 Watt generator is limited to 30 amps on a circuit.

Can you figure this out by the breaker box? The size of each breaker installed.

 

The problem is that the sign wave of a regular generator is garbage. It can damage sensitive electronics. listen to a power adapter plugged into a generator, it will literally whistle.. The UPS will not run unless the power is clean enough.. Most electronics are built to be able to handle the dirty power but some are not

 

No, good question though. Your breakers are set to trip at a certain amount of over current, they tell you nothing of what is connected to them which is what you are trying to find out. Most breaker panels today are about 150 to 240 amps, which is the total amount of current (amps).

In your example, an electric hot water (storage type) heater runs 30 amps at 220V, or around 6,000 Watts. A typical fridge with freezer will run around 15-20 amps or around 750 Watts. Right there, you are around 7.000 Watts which is greater than the Powermate 5500 can put out. Add in the well pump and you are way over

Really, if in doubt have a qualified electrician run the tests to find out what you need to power the house on a backup generator. You would also need an electrician to hook up a transfer switch between the generator and circuit breaker panel.

 

I know what i have i just have no way of knowing how much power it draws for example the well pump.

Most things have labels on them to tell you like the heat pump, fridge, freezer etc. I don't expect to use all of them when the power if off.

So i was looking at this to power the most needed things and get a electrician to install a transfer switch.

8750W Electric Start Open Frame Inverter – Champion Power Equipment

Champion’s 8750-Watt Open Frame Inverter features push-button electric start with an included battery. With Quiet Technology, Intelligauge, Economy Mode, and Clean Power, this inverter is a lightweight, cost-effective, and advanced power solution.

www.championpowerequipment.com

or this one but it may have dirty power.

12,000W Electric Start Generator – Champion Power Equipment

Our powerful 12,000-watt generator provides up to 9 hours of run time on a full tank of gasoline. The reliable 717cc V-Twin Champion engine with electric start and included battery features Intelligauge and has all the power you need and more for home backup during an outage or your next project.

www.championpowerequipment.com

 

OK, manufacturer claims are just that, claims. I didn't see anything on the product page that states it was independently tested to be below 3% THD. If it were independently tested, the manufacturer would certainly provide links to it as a selling tool.

The 8750 Watt is start-up current and runs at 7,000 Watts. Costs around $1,200 USD.
The 12000 does run at 12,000 watts, or so they claim. 15,000 watts at start-up. Costs around $2,700 USD.

This is why you need to look at all the fine print that a manufacturer claims and they are different across manufacturers. Best case is that you research just which generator you would like to get by searching for independent tests done on it. I'd have the electrician do the tests first, then narrow it down to a couple of different ones and then do the research. The electrician may know of which generators would be the most efficient for you.

 

That 12,000 watts one can be had for $2000 when on sale at tractor supply.

I checked my old one with a kill a watt and it runs at 63hz to 61 even under load not sure if that would matter.

 

For electronics, frequency is very important. Some motors are also very dependent on frequency. That is the reason that your utility tries to maintain that 60 cycles per second and spends big bucks to do so.

Those were Manufacturer Suggested Retail Prices (MSRP). Buy in quantity and get even more of a deal.

 

Can it be adjusted? Wonder if that is off enough to mess with the UPS.

This is the one i have....lots of bad reviews lol

Someone asked about the THD.

The total harmonic distortion (THD) at no load is 12%.

Powermate 5,500-Watt Gasoline Powered Manual Start Portable Generator PM0125500 - The Home Depot

The new Powermate Sx 5,500-Watt Manual Start Generator is ideal for recreation and home backup. The unit features a 389cc OHV manual start gas engine with low-oil shutdown for engine protection. The 7

www.homedepot.com

 

Read through, lots of good info in this thread.

However... that UPS is a toy, really, if you're talking about a true backup power supply. It's gonna roll dirty as mentioned, no real surge capacity and I suspect voltage stability is all over the place as well.

True standby battery capacity and a proper high-capacity full sine wave inverter are going to set you back a few thousand dollars.

 

Well, of course it can be adjusted! The only minor little detail is that you have to be able to design and install the electronic circuit.

Most power generators are used for necessities like food (fridges & freezers) and water and powering electric tools. Computers and TV's are not considered a necessity. Inverter generators are most often found inside a recreational vehicle where they do power TV's and computers in that mobile home away from home. That's really why they are sized so small to be able to fit. And also why they are quite expensive. It's a niche type thing: you want to power a computer and/or a TV, you going to pay for it!

That Powermate 5500 may work well for you as long as you understand it's limitations just as my Harbor Freight 9000 Watt generator works for me.

 

Perhaps it depends on the generator. I have a very similar CyperPower UPS, and it works fine from my Generac generator (a small portable 2 KW one). Kind of like this but an older model:

Page Not Found | Generac

Oops we're sorry. This page is no longer available.

www.generac.com

The manual on my generator explicitly said that it produces a sine wave suitable for the electronic devices, that was an important point for me choosing it. The older UPSes I had were also working fine with it. The only major downside of this generator is that the fuel tank is too small, and I have to refill it in the middle of the night to keep the furnace running.

 

Yes they will work fine on a inverter generator. On a normal generator not so much where the THD is around 10-12 %...inverter generator around 3% from what i have read.

 

A 2000 watt inverter hooked up to a 12 volt battery will run your TV or Computer. ( 169 to 400 dollars from what came up after a quick search)
A battery charger hooked up to a generator will keep the battery charged.
A decent 1100 CCA battery will cost around 200 dollars these days.
You probably have a battery charger already.
Only downside, you have to run extension cords, but since I did not see a 240 volt outlet on the generator, you are already running cords to everything you plug in.

I have a Homelite 5000 watt generator that I run my house off of when I lose power. (6250 starting watts)
It powers the computers (3 of them) refrigerator, Gas furnace, TV and microwave or coffee pot.
Do have to not run coffee pot or microwave when refrigerator is running.

 

most ups systems have a voltage display also. This should help if the generator is overloaded or not generating properly. The Harmonic distortion issue is separate. Some sensitivity setting only look at line voltage. Some system either run on line power out or battery, other better systems develop power from the battery while charging the battery if line power is available. It is hard to get the type that makes it's own line power all the time and charges accordingly, the specs do not spell this difference out.