Employee plugged space heater into the UPS

[Texashiker]

An employee just called and said the UPS is beeping.

Come to find out, she plugged a space heater into the UPS. D:

facepalm.jpg

 

[WaTaGuMp]

Did the UPS driver leave with it still plugged in?

 

[bignateyk]

Maybe she didn't want to risk her space heating losing power? HMMM?

 

[amdhunter]

My XBOX wouldn't work through a UPS either. Pissed me off since I have the console that's on a line with an AC that blows fuses every so often.

 

[rasczak]

lmao

 

[M0RPH]

You're not supposed to plug a heater into a UPS? You make it sound like everyone should know that.

 

[Macamus Prime]

I have never had this problem with DHL and FedEx.

 

[TecHNooB]

An employee just called and said the UPS is beeping.

Come to find out, she plugged a space heater into the UPS. D:

facepalm.jpg

why is that bad?

 

[Texashiker]

why is that bad?

The heater drained the battery in the power supply.

Since the battery is dead, the UPS went into an alarm status and started beeping.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

I wasn't paying attention once and plugged a vacuum into a power strip that was connected to a UPS. Doh!

 

[Josh123]

The heater drained the battery in the power supply.

Since the battery is dead, the UPS went into an alarm status and started beeping.

It will do that if the UPS is plugged in?

 

[waggy]

don't UPS always beep when backing up anyway?

 

[M0RPH]

So what's the lesson here? Don't plug in things that use a lot of electricity?

 

[Nintendesert]

It will do that if the UPS is plugged in?

Do you have any idea what the power draw on space heaters are? We couldn't even plug those in in the winter while in the field, they would cause all sorts of problems with the generators and I plugged one into an UPS that ran a ton of gear, no load and just turning on half of the space heater pulled over 70% load on the UPS. I stopped giving the generator guys a hard time and continued to freeze after that. Space heaters are the devil!

 

[ElFenix]

did she do that because the UPS peed in her front yard?

 

[SP33Demon]

A good UPS will show what % capacity it's at.

And FYI you can run small space heaters off the more expensive ones. Your company is cheap.

 

[Zargon]

run into that every year sadly

 

[Exterous]

Do you have idea how cold it is in space? I wouldn't want to lose power to my heater either

 

[Schfifty Five]

Do you have any idea what the power draw on space heaters are? We couldn't even plug those in in the winter while in the field, they would cause all sorts of problems with the generators and I plugged one into an UPS that ran a ton of gear, no load and just turning on half of the space heater pulled over 70% load on the UPS. I stopped giving the generator guys a hard time and continued to freeze after that. Space heaters are the devil!

I think he was asking if the UPS was plugged into the wall, wouldn't the space heater just draw power from the wall and not use the stored energy in the battery of the UPS?

 

[Lithium381]

space heaters do blow fuses...... i've done itmany shares of time.... i just gave up and put on three sweatshirts

 

[Jeff7]

I think he was asking if the UPS was plugged into the wall, wouldn't the space heater just draw power from the wall and not use the stored energy in the battery of the UPS?

Even when it's running off the wall, the UPS could still identify that there's an excessive load on its battery-backed outlets, and start complaining.

space heaters do blow fuses...... i've done itmany shares of time.... i just gave up and put on three sweatshirts

The trick is to watch what else is on the circuit. Spaceheaters typically max out at 1500W, so 12.5A. That doesn't leave much room for other stuff.
Some have a lower setting that might only be 750W.

 

[SpatiallyAware]

Those things have NO place in an office environment... They're dangerous, especially for the typical person who reverts to a 5 year old once they walk into their place of employment. I've seen two fires from them, both were from leaving the heater underneath their desk and on.

They're also not supposed to be plugged into cubicle power rails.

 

[halik]

So bringing a firehazard and stupid from home ?

 

[dave_the_nerd]

...and you really, really shouldn't be using a heater in a network closet. I mean, how much money do you spend on HVAC for those things in the first place?

 

[lxskllr]

Aside from the physical technical issues, plugging a heater into a UPS will remove its capability of doing its job. If the power drops, the heater will suck all the reserve power out, and not leave enough time for safe shut down of the computer.