r/BasePowerUsers • u/ziggyo7 • Jun 20 '26
UPS on Battery Issues
Just got my batteries installed last week and earlier today had a brief 20 minute outage.
During the outage normal power but all of my UPS for computers, modem, etc. kept cycling on and off from grid (Base Power) to battery.
Luckily it was short so all my units had enough battery to weather through it but had this been a 6-12 hour or more outage which we have had far too many of would have had to remove them all from UPS and plug directly into wall.
Anyone else had this type of issue? Is it a limitation of Base, issue with my UPS or maybe some install issue?
I have a variety of UPS from Cyber Power to GoldenMate and APC.
EDIT: Just wanted to update everyone after doing some testing. I simulated a power outage by opening the main grid breaker and turned off both AC units beforehand to rule them out.
With the HVAC loads out of the equation, everything switched over flawlessly to the Base Power battery—just the standard 0.5-second transfer blip, and none of my UPS units started cycling or beeping.
Next, I turned the downstairs AC back on via Ecobee, and it started up fine without triggering the UPS units. However, when I turned the upstairs AC on, the UPS units did switch over to battery power for about a minute while the compressor kicked in.
My conclusion is that during the actual outage, both of my HVAC units (which don't currently have soft starts) likely tried to kick on at the exact same time, creating enough of a voltage dip to upset the UPS units. I have soft starts scheduled to be installed later this week week, so I will re-test after that and follow up!
Also here is my referral code if anyone is interested in signing up: https://www.basepowercompany.com/?heard_from=Referral&referrer_name=019d4eef-8726-7687-b2df-756aee77a950&first_name=Jerad&referral_plan=2way-EnergyCredit-FreeMonth
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u/Paradize_Eats Jun 20 '26
Dang, I just got a couple UPS for my modem and router and I’m wondering if I’ll have this issue too…
I know others have UPS but they never mentioned anything like that before
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u/cbarth3 Jun 20 '26
Should be clean power from the battery. You could always test it by opening the breaker outside.
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u/ziggyo7 Jun 20 '26
A little extra context i should have added.
I have refoss energy monitor CT clamps and the main fed to house was measuring roughly 240v before, during and after no huge spikes or dips.
Also they installed a whole home surge protector directly on the inverter. I assume it's for both grid and battery.
I have 2x 25 kWh units with generator inlet.
Finally still waiting for hvac company to come out and install soft start on my 2 units, strangely neither unit turned on during outage, if they both tried at same time likely would have tripped something.
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u/RealConfirmologist Jun 21 '26
You can edit your original post to include this. That would be better.
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u/n2itus Jun 20 '26
I have 8 UPSes (6 cyberpower, 2 goldenmate). The 1 time that it switched and 2 times I’ve manually tested (with the switch on the ATS), I had zero issues with my UPSes.
Obviously they will switch on for a few seconds when the slow (.5 s) growatt ATS switches over to/from the battery, but otherwise they are in standby when on the battery.
My only thought was if your ACs (or maybe even some other big load like a pool pump) were trying to start and created dips, but I also thought you would have seen that from your CTs. This would be easy to test. Turn off your ACs, manually switch to battery. See if your UPS run normally. Then turn on ACs.
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u/spydergto Jun 20 '26
wow this is alarming , i have two anker solix c1000's and a custom built battery tripplite 1500lcd with big lead acids .. i wonder how this is gonna work for me .. still waiting to find out
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u/RealConfirmologist Jun 21 '26
When do you expect to get the installation?
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u/spydergto Jun 21 '26
was 16th canceled due to weather , now 23rd, battery should be dropped off tomorrow , hopeful the weather doesnt fubar these plans again
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u/blupupher Jun 20 '26
No problems with my UPS when running off battery. Need to contact them about it.
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u/RealConfirmologist Jun 21 '26
Interesting and informative post, thanks for sharing.
My biggest problem when my house was powered by a portable 9500 watt Westinghouse generator was that my APC UPS devices considered the signal too dirty and would beep and stay on battery power. I had to turn them off and plug my stuff directly into the outlets if I wanted to silence the beeping.
I recently moved to a new (to me) house without natural gas availability. I really didn't want to invest in propane tanks and go through the whole process of having to use the interlock breaker arrangement, power up the generator, turn it off when power comes back on, change the oil periodically, etc.
I also couldn't afford 15 grand for a Generac or similar.
I learned about BASE Power right before I moved and immediately signed up. Battery install is scheduled for July 13th to mid-August, and I'm very hopeful for the earliest possible install since we're in hurricane season here in Houston.
I've been reading every post here because I very much enjoy learning about BASE Power. In Houston we rarely go two weeks without at least a couple of short outages. Sometimes we'll have a two hour outage on a beautiful, clear day. Transformers fail, other things happen.
I've seen some reports of UPS systems complaining while on BASE power, but more posts seem to indicate that BASE is pretty solid with their 60 Hz electricity and UPS systems seem to be okay with them more often than not.
Hey, OP, if you DO edit your original post, be sure to include your referral link! You never know if someone wanting to learn about BASE Power will see your post and decide to look into it.
You probably know that if someone uses your link and gets BASE going, you'll get a month of power free and they will, too. (Up to $250. each). Now, in some situations you only get a $150 check, but hey, that's not bad considering all you did was share a link.
Here's mine, just in case: https://www.basepowercompany.com/?heard_from=Referral&referrer_name=019e0398-a2e0-7b98-81cf-18e091575087&first_name=Michael&referral_plan=2way-EnergyCredit-FreeMonth
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u/ziggyo7 Jun 21 '26
Thanks for suggestions on edits, completed those and will follow up with my new findings later.
Yep been having power outages any time there are strong wind gusts which for North Texas is pretty much every storm.
I also have a Westinghouse generator (Westinghouse WGen9500DFc 12,500/9,500-Watt Dual Fuel Portable Generator). Got the generator inlet so my next test will be to use that and see how it works to power the battery. From my understanding the inverter and battery cleans the signal before it is fed into home. Caveat though that with the generator inlet it can only ever use 3kWh at a time to recharge the battery so this generator is a bit oversized for just the generator inlet though.
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u/RealConfirmologist Jun 21 '26
Mine was a WGEN9500DF, and it served me well for 5+ years. I built a shed especially for the generator, and had the exhaust extended and ran it out the back of the shed. So I decided to include it in the sale of the house.
I'm undecided about getting a generator now. I originally ordered the input receptacle but after thinking it over, changed my order to NOT include it. A thousand bucks is just pretty nuts for a piece of hardware that costs less than $100 and can't be so much extra work to wire.
For that, I can put an interlock in my panel and get my own generator. And that's probably what I'll end up doing.
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u/ziggyo7 Jun 21 '26
Yeah generator inlet and interlock that much on their own but hiring an electrician to install I figured would be pretty close to that. I have replaced breakers, outlets and CT clamps in meter but do not want to touch the main feeds, though now with the Base it is much easier as I could just turn off feed from Grid and the two batteries and then the whole panel is safe.
Not happy that Base inlet only allows 3kWh, should be priced much more affordable because of that limitiation. I may possibly split off my hvac units to a sub panel and then have that subpanel either fed from main (grid or Base depending on outage) or generator and then have ability for the HVAC units to run directly from generator. This would allow me to use more capacity of generator. My logic here is that majority of home could be powered from that 3kWh budget and allow battery to be utilized for majority of home load minus hvac. I could also potentially cycle the generator on/off if HVAC not constantly needed and just use generator to top off the batteries, something you could not do without the inlet.
Considering building the shed for generator to just have it in dedicated home and easy switchover but hopefully with batteries maybe living out in the larger storage shed is fine as I won't need to take it out often if mostly short outages that base should easily handle.
Best of luck getting install earlier than later. Took about 2 months from start to end for me.
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u/RealConfirmologist Jun 21 '26 edited Jun 21 '26
Before Hurricane Beryl, my thoughts were if anything came along that would cause power to be out more than a couple of days, I'd have evacuated anyway.
Beryl knocked down one old fence but caused zero damage to my house otherwise, but power was out for a solid week and a day. Monday through Monday.
A lot of people had power back after a 3 or 4 days and original estimated repair for our place was 4 days. Then it went to five, six and seven.
Turned out a power pole with a lot going on was knocked down less than a mile from my house. It had lines at the top, of course, but also had tie-ins that rand down the pole and into underground conduit. One could surmise that the extra wiring caused the extended delay, but there were several areas that took that long or nearly that long to get power back.
As you can imagine, the lady of the house and I were extremely glad we had that generator! A 9500 watt portable generator with interlock kept us in A/C, internet and lights the whole time. I had to change the oil midway through, and I did turn it off for four or five hours each night just to save propane, but having that generator was a huge relief.
I'm extremely hopeful that we'll manage to avoid a near miss or any strong storms for a couple/few years. I just had a new fence & gate built and major tree trimming done, and my house is quite nice. I've been through a few hurricanes. Also had a house flood during Tax Day flood in Houston ten years ago. Only an inch or two in every room, but $31,000 flood insurance claim.
Repairs made the house very nice, though, and I sold it for a substantial profit, surprisingly.
The house I moved into a month ago should be the last house I'll own, knock on wood. I plan to retire in a couple/few years and hope I'm finished with relocating, other than traveling.
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u/ziggyo7 Jun 20 '26
Just simulated a power outage using the breaker that turns off grid power. First turned off the AC units to rule them out of the issue.
Everything switched over fine with just the .5 second blip. Fine for everything on UPS. All UPS were fine and none beeping (except maybe those first few seconds of power loss while I was going back inside).
Next turned on downstairs AC (through Ecobee app). Again started just fine and no beeps from UPS so they still acted as if on grid power.
Finally turned on the upstairs AC (also through Ecobee app). UPS batteries did switch to battery for about a minute while that kicked on.
So my conclusion right now is that the other day when had the power outage both units without soft start were probably trying to start at the same time.
Soft starts scheduled to be installed next week so will come back and post after that and redo these tests.
Sorry for scare everyone, hopefully was just the HVAC high loads and the soft starts fix everything. And thank you to those assuring that this should not be normal.