Electronics & Appliances Extended use UPS/Solar Batteries?

Some plugs are the same size and can be plugged in either way, some have one side larger than the other, some have three prongs. How can the second two possibly be plugged in the wrong way?

Simple, nothing 'makes' the electrician wiring the outlet run all the live wires to the big/right side and all the neutral wires to the normal/left side. I have seen many many outlets - even on the same circuit - wired opposite of each other.

 

So how would you test this. Take a volt meter and measure AC voltage to a ground?

 

If you know how to use a voltmeter to check outlet voltage you can check both grounded (3 prong) and ungrounded (2 prong) outlets. *Warning/Disclaimer - this can be dangerous, don't do it if you don't know how to use your voltmeter. Don't touch probes to anything but specified testing points.*

Grounded - check prong to prong to check voltage, then move one side (I always move left side 1st) to the ground. If you see the same voltage the right side is live, check by moving probe from right side to the left, voltage should drop to zero, left side is neutral. Prong to prong shows voltage, live prong to ground shows voltage, neutral prong to ground shows zero.

UnGrounded - Prong to prong shows voltage, live prong to air (do not touch to anything, including you) shows a volt or two, neutral prong to air (do not touch to anything, including you) shows zero.

 

And when buying Wiring to do the Kitchen my only option was to buy the thickest available Wire which was 2x Wires in White outer casing. Again; no distinguishable colour coding like the Australian Wiring.

I GAVE my Multi-meter to the 'Electrician' who did our wiring (because for all the years I owned it I never learnt how to use it) and even then he was HOPELESS at connecting something as simple as the Light Switch! When I tried to tell him he needed to cut a wire and plumb it to the switch for the On-Off he totally ignored me as if I were invisible, so I drew him a diagram, when I tried showing him, he turned away from it each time I placed it under his nose, "I HAD TO CUT THE WIRE AND SCREW IT IN TO SHOW HIM HOW TO DO IT"!! I have made it very clear to the Family here there is no way he is to be employed to do any future work in this house!

Question:
Is it wise to unplug a UPS/AVR when not in use?

With all of the shyte around here going up in smoke, I have taken to unplugging the UPS/AVR for the PC and the AVR for the TV at night when I go to bed in case they become the next victims. Is this overkill, and do they have their own inbuilt protection, or is it a wise thing to do (unplug when not in use) just to be on the safe side?

 

I am not even close to being an electrician but have years of experience with my dad remodling, a few university classes, new construction home/light commercial builder, Beatles tribute band 'sound guy' and recent 100 hours of research on my UPS build. Long way of saying everything I say is opinion and not necessarily industry approved standards.

There are arguments both sides of the 'do I unplug when not in use' issue. My personal strategy is leave it plugged in unless I feel there is imminent threat of lightning strike.

One of my Uncle's daughters is a big environmentalist and always unplugs his TV when she is over (well used to, leaves it alone now). Every Time you plug in any equipment it takes a power surge (think about that little spark you see sometimes when plugging something into the outlet). All those surges built up and blew the capacitors in his (my old) Samsung LED TV. Luckily I was still around and replaced them for about $10 vs the $150+ TV repair places wanted. Electronics are made to deal with power fluctuations, especially a UPS which probably has a circuit breaker and automatic voltage regulator. Unless hit by lighting the changes in line voltage will remain much lower than the spike caused by initially plugging something in.

 

I have noticed the 'arcing' when plugging in, that is why I stopped unplugging the Laptop, plus I was told that the Laptop Charger converts 220V to 12V so is (is NOT as I found out) safe to leave plugged in as the Laptop should not receive a damaging spike... Expen$ive way to find out that information is not correct!

I plan to eventually buy the Powerboards from Unitop that have switches for each plug that lights up when turned on so I can simply turn on and off, (I have one plugged into the UPS now to run the extra Modem etc) and they also come with the convenience of taking 3 or 4 different plug styles so that is also a plus!

I have always been told that any unit that is left on standby uses the same power off as well as turned on, so always unplug or switch off at the source after use. Now with the Server AVR, I turn off the TV (Samsung 43" Flat Screen) via the Remote, then switch off the AVR, then unplug the AVR, in that order in the hope no more expensive disasters. Basically same order also for the PC with the UPS/AVR *touch wood*

 

I don't know if you are interested in buying anything for testing your receptacle polarity but the simplest way to test is with a polarity tester. I have owned simpler ones than this but this is the first one that came up on Lazada and I copied it just so you could see it. I too have seen receptacles with reversed polarity even in the same circuit. It is not uncommon but is not desirable.

 

Well up at 3am with pain again, might as well post here before the power goes out.

Posting here because Great News! I received my inverter/charger yesterday, just in the nick of time for today's scheduled brownout... Hold it, battery not here yet so won't do me much good (supplier is great, patiently and quickly answered all questions, shipping company has been dragging their feet). Should have it for next time though, oh well.

Got battery here (closed group to keep spammers out of their group) batteries ship slow because ship or truck only. Log in to Facebook | Facebook

And inverter here. Inverter/charger got here in 4 days via air cargo. SOLARENERGYPhilippines.com

 

Final update. Replaced my APC UPS 650 (325 watt modified sine wave inverter, 3 amp charger, with 9 Amp/hour battery) with a 1,000 watt pure sine wave inverter, 30 amp charger, and a 170 Amp/hour battery.



size comparison