Isobar On UPS?

[PinkFloydEffect]

For a long time I have used a Tripplite Isobar for my home workstation with no UPS. Now I do have a UPS and I am wondering if I should still be using the Isobar? Is it redundant or a source or problems? I am pretty sure the UPS surge protection is better than the Isobar's right? Am I gaining anything by combining the two? I assume all the battery outlets on the UPS run on the same power rail, so connecting my devices to the Isobar and then connecting the Isobar to a single outlet on the UPS shouldent cause any load balance issues.

 

[OzarkEdge]

For a long time I have used a Tripplite Isobar for my home workstation with no UPS. Now I do have a UPS and I am wondering if I should still be using the Isobar? Is it redundant or a source or problems? I am pretty sure the UPS surge protection is better than the Isobar's right? Am I gaining anything by combining the two? I assume all the battery outlets on the UPS run on the same power rail, so connecting my devices to the Isobar and then connecting the Isobar to a single outlet on the UPS shouldent cause any load balance issues.

I've read that using surge protection inline with more surge protection/UPS is not advisable. You could chat with Tripplite Support and ask.

OE

 

[PinkFloydEffect]

I've read that using surge protection inline with more surge protection/UPS is not advisable. You could chat with Tripplite Support and ask.

OE

We lost power to our office and the only thing I did not have on the UPS were our modems...so we briefly lost all our VPN users on my part. I scrambled to get them on the UPS before I left the office for the weekend and the only thing I had laying around at the office was another Isobar...so I connected the modems to the Isobar and plugged that into the UPS. Not a simple standalone home office UPS like the one I have pictured above but one of our commercial grade 5000VA rack UPS units.

I then realized I just did the same thing I did at home and became concerned so I called Tripplite on my way home, they told me not only will this void my warranty but it also potentially renders the surge protection disabled on both the Isobar and UPS unit. Do not understand exactly why but something to do with it confusing the surge modules the same way it does when you daisy chain surge strips since the UPS is a surge protector in itself. I just thought the surge protection logic's in a UPS were superior to a strip or Isobar so it would recognize that signal change and deal with it accordingly but apparently I am wrong.

This brings up a new concern because at the office we had surge protectors installed on our main breaker panels (DITEK ZEUS D200s). This means technically there are two surge protection devices daisy chained between the source and our equipment, first at the panel then at the UPS itself. I am going to have to reach back out to them about this, and do some side research.

 

[TNCS]

I don't think it necessary, as even cheap UPS now days does Voltage regulation. Even if there is a power spike, your UPS will be the first one to go down. In the event where if your property got stuck by direct lightning without a proper good earthing of electrical wiring, no amount of UPS/surge protection will save your electrical appliance...

 

[Keith Gorham]

From:
https://www.apc.com/us/en/faqs/FA158852/

The noise filtration circuitry in a Surge Protector can effectively "mask" some of the load from the UPS, causing the UPS to report a lower percentage of attached load than there actually is. This can cause a user to inadvertently overload their UPS. When the UPS switches to battery, it may be unable to support the equipment attached, causing a dropped load.

Surge protectors filter the power for surges and offer EMI/RFI filtering but do not efficiently distribute the power, meaning that some equipment may be deprived of the necessary amperage it requires to run properly causing your attached equipment (computer, monitor, etc) to shutdown or reboot. If you need to supply additional receptacles on the output of your UPS, we recommend using Power Distribution Units (PDU's). PDUs evenly distribute the amperage among the outlets, while the UPS will filter the power and provide surge protection. PDUs use and distribute the available amperage more efficiently, allowing your equipment to receive the best available power to maintain operation.

 

[PinkFloydEffect]

I contacted the commercial electrician who installed the surge suppressors on our main panels, he told me that those panel units are different than UPS or surge strips and will not affect our UPS units reliability.

I did remove the Isobar, and installed a PDU in the rack. I took it a step further for my other equipment by plugging everything into the outlets on an automatic transfer switch and connecting the source lines for the transfer switch to a single outlet on each UPS. So I am only pulling a load from one single outlet on each UPS allowing the transfer switch to distribute the power evenly.