So I’ve got a funny one here, had my Victron inverter for around 2.5 years, works like a dream no issues but I found out yesterday that the moment loadshedding kicks in my son’s PC switches off immediately and then powers back on. I have a ton of iot / networking gear / some PC’s etc… on my network ± 70 devices at a guess and this is the only device that does this.
Had a look at the voltage / load etc… when it happened yesterday and everything seems perfectly in spec.
Any ideas?
I could pop a UPS down but kind of defeats the whole purpose…
The PSU of this computer most likely cannot bridge the transfer time. The PSU hold-up time should be greater than the inverter transfer time. So the solution is probably to look for a PSU with a hold-up time that is greater than the transfer time, or install a UPS with a transfer time lower than your PSU hold-up time.
Ah ok didn’t think of that, makes sense, I’ll check the datasheet for the PSU but probably order a new PSU for it, its a gaming chassis so would expect it to be above an entry level spec PSU.
Also,
You will most likely see that the PC will be fine when idle, but during high usage it might restart. The GPU and CPU will consume more power during high load, which means the capacitors in the PSU will be depleted faster that when the PC would be idle. So sometimes just by installing a larger PSU the hang time available will be larger and the PC will not reboot.
PSUs also slowly degrade over time, so it may be that it’s just about time for a new one. I remember from my time in IT, 3 to 5 years and the caps would be cooked. Yes, we had machines that hung around that long.
Thanks for the feedback everyone, just checked it out and it is actually a regular desktop chassis but has a decent GPU / Processor etc… so agree the caps are most probably drained faster than the transfer time. I’ll just buy a decent spec PSU for it.
Harping … get a UPS first. All solar inverters pass through what Eskom gives. And that is bad.
It is when Eskom goes off, worse when Eskom comes back on.
The ideal situation is to install a Tripconnect in your DB that will disconnect from Eskom at a set volt, “long” before the inverter disconnects.
Secondly, when Eskom returns, the DB stays disconnected for 5 minutes, before reconnecting with Eskom, the inverter syncing only then again with Eskom.
The UPS has all the protections built in, that are not in a solar inverter, which is the 2nd layer of protection.
And FWIW, check with your insurers. Could be a claim. But take note, they are getting quite strict on LS claims. One by one they are “updating” their policy wordings.
The output voltage from my inverter seems pretty consistent even just before / after loadshedding sessions has started and ended, I would imagine that the Victron is also doing some sort of voltage regulation / filtering.
Its literally only this 1 single PC and the PSU is pretty crappy and considering that the motherboard, CPU, RAM, GPU etc… are all very decent I think replacing the PSU is the way to go.
I’ve got a small UPS laying around that I can put it on just not too keen on getting random beeps in the middle of the night as a byproduct of me keeping my 11 year old’s PC happy
Just be carefull here. You get different types of UPS and they don’t have the same protections.
The basic cheaper models you normally see are off-line UPS. They only protect from a power loss and has a fast transfer switch for when the grid fail to switch to battery mode. These don’t give a lot of protection agains spikes or anything like that.
The on-line UPS, which is always used (the inverter is always giving the power either from the grid or the battery), and line-interactive UPS, which is like a mix of the other two, give more protections and can clean the output.
So first check what UPS you have and if it has any protection. Don’t assume it does.
I hear you but I think the cause here is an underpowered & under spec PSU, I have 3 other PC’s on the network and they don’t have this issue, it wouldn’t be practical to install a UPS for every PC so I do think that replacing the PSU is in fact addressing the cause and not the symptoms
Also, as mentioned my AC out voltage is very consistent even at the point of loadshedding kicking in and out.
Is your son crypto mining on his PC? Many gamers do this during downtime, but it can load up the PSU enough that it will not easily survive even short transients.
Nah definitely not, that’s a little bit over his head at his age the complaints are usually mid gaming so think its GPU / CPU usage pushing up consumption.
Most of the UPS’es I use are in the +R2k range retail. One was a online double conversion till it developed a problem = uneconomical to repair.
All the UPS’es I have, was free. Asked the kids to ask on their WA/FB groups for anyone who wants to chuck a UPS “in disgust”. Once received I replace the dead batts with the cheapest 12v 7ah cells I can find.
The last free one was an APC that retails for R5500. Batts are close to EOL, but still perfect for 1-3 minutes.
People buy the UPS’es, drain the dinges out of them at max load, then chuck them.
Jinne, just the lead in the dead cells I have removed is paying towards the replacement batts.
but has a decent GPU / Processor etc… so agree the caps are most probably drained faster than the transfer time. I’ll just buy a decent spec PSU for it.
