Battery Backup Solutions?

[hcproductions]

Our sound power keeps having issues. The entire sound leg will turn off for about 10 seconds and then come back in. We are going to get our building guy in to figure some things out, but in the mean time we were looking into battery backup solutions. I was wondering if anyone has any specific models they use. We have 2
2 Crown Cts3000 3 Crown Cts4200 3 QSC RMX1450 1 Crown CE1000 and our Mac Mini playback system. Any idea of a pretty beefy battery UPS to plug it in to?

 

[museav]

That's quite a few amps, are you sure they're all powered by the same single circuit or might you actually require multiple UPS devices to serve multiple circuits?

The intermittent dropouts of power really should be addressed anyways, I would wait to see what they find there before pursuing UPS options.

 

[hcproductions]

I think multiple UPS backups would be fine, it's a whole sound leg with different circuits. I think the head of the theater is just looking for pricing options for either one. Obviously, I'm going to push fixing the issue rather than putting a bandaid over it, but I can at least present him with some numbers. I was looking at the APC - Back-UPS XS 1500 VA Tower UPS, so about 4 of those split off for 2 crown cts 3000 and 1 cts4200, one for 2 CTS4200, one for the 3 qscs and 1 for the computer and CE1000. Would it seem that this would provide enough juice for them or should I look into getting more? Or even more powerful ones?

 

[sk8rsdad]

Once you step into the realm of multiple kilowatts, you need to start considering IntelliPower, Gentec, or that sort of manufacturer. It's very expensive.

10 second intermittent outages sound like some sort of heat-related issue, possibly in the wiring. FWIW, the last time I saw a failure like this it was solved by replacing a socket.

As Brad suggests, solve the electrical problem before exploring a UPS.

 

[StradivariusBone]

Plus I can't imagine a UPS lasting too long under a cycle of heavy load and recharge like that. I'm not sure how their charging circuitry is built, but it just sounds like a situation that might be abusive to the battery.

 

[hcproductions]

Cool, I will look in to the intellipower and Gentec back ups just to have the numbers. I'm thinking it's a dust issue with our transformer, but not being an electrician I can't be sure. We will have someone come in and take a look. Thanks!

 

[Jay Ashworth]

APC Symmetra's have a pretty good reputation, and they come from 5KVA up to... I don't remember; 30? 40? Datacenter grade UPSs. (At least, I think they're still making the Symmetra. Some large APC/Schneider, at least)

But yeah, if you're having frequent dropouts, diagnosis is probably better than starting with cure.

 

[FMEng]

The circuit problem is not an inconvenience that should be band-aided with a UPS. It is a safety hazard. It may be a connection that is loose and getting extremely hot. The heat causes a vicious circle of heating, loosening and arcing, which can lead to catastrophic failure when the insulation burns off the conductor. The process of deterioration should not be allowed to continue through use.

Since we don't know from your description whether the failure is happening in a main feeder, a panel buss bar, a big breaker, a feeder to a sub-panel, or merely a small branch circuit, we don't know if a catastrophic failure might lead to a fire. It is prudent to assume the worst could happen.

If the problem can be identified as only happening in one branch circuit, then I would lock-out and tag-out that circuit breaker, and move the sound equipment over to other circuits. If the problem is affecting multiple branch circuits, then it is time to cancel performances until the cause is understood.

Also, you need an inspection by a licensed electrician, not "the building guy."

 

[MNicolai]

If this is what it sounds like, forget the battery backup. Get an electrician in there ASAP. Do not investigate this yourself. If you're losing the whole leg off of a transformer or panel, you may have a loose connection at lug or overcurrent protection device. If that's the case, it could be arcing pretty fantastically.

You most definitely don't want to go poking your head or hands around in panels trying to trace this yourself. Without the proper PPE, you may find yourself in the middle of a potentially fatal arc flashover.

Don't mess around. Call an electrician. Fast.

 

[FMEng]

I think Mike and I were on the same wavelength and typing at the same time.