UPS/Tech Battery Backups: Keep or Remove?
Since getting your Solar with Powerwall, have you removed your home battery backups for PCs or TVs?
Posted Jun 23, 2022, 1:41 AM UTC
318
Keep them. My understanding is that the transfer time for Powerwall could be as long as 500ms, which is far too long for computers.
5
Powerwall by default kicks the frequency up to 65hz to force the inverter to turn off. This can cause UPS's to think there is an outage. Tesla can adjust this frequency but you have to know what frequency your inverter goes off.
But if you want true continuous power for critical devices you need to get UPS's that work.
3
This I have APC Smartups and Enphase micro inverters. Required Tesla to adjust frequency for panel shutdown from 65hz to 62.5hz or the APC would drain itself. APC still required for the blip from transfer switch. Make sure to test everything out before you need it, Tesla takes a few days to get the adjustment done. Obviously frequency will change based on your UPS/inverter combo.
5
Same - Had to open a ticket with Tesla and they resolved it remotely in about a day. This was a "known issue" about a year or so ago, but I was kind of expecting that they'd have addressed it by now. Perhaps they only adjust the frequency for those who complain?
1
FYI Eaton UPS's will accept frequency into the 70s.
1
I think it depends on if you are on self powered or time based control.
Self powered switchover is fast, but if you are pulling from the grid, there is enough delay for sensitive electronics to turn off/reboot.
3
Yes.
1
Powerwall cutover time is fast, but not fast enough for PCs and TVs, so our UPSes remain as-is. In addition, I don’t know how good Powerwall is at acting on a surge, which a UPS will also arrest (hopefully).
My vote would be to keep them.
1
Surge protectors are different and useful. UPS itself can be a a pain.
0
My cutover time is so fast, I don't know there's an outage unless I happen to look at the app, and I'm pretty sensitive to flickers. I got rid of my UPS. Your mileage may vary.
1
I kept one for my desktop and one for my network “rack”
1
Have Tesla adjust your PowerWall max frequency to 62.5 That fixes most UPS problems. If the PowerWall is active (charging or discharging) when the grid goes down, the changeover is nearly seamless. If the PowerWall is in standby, it will cause your electronics to blink out for a half a second or so. That is enough to restart many sensitive electronics. I keep my UPS on my internet router so that I do not have to wait several minutes for the router to restart and reconnect. With a PowerWall, you only need a couple seconds of UPS power but a UPS is still needed in some cases.
1
the powerwall cutover on a power outage is not always fast enough to prevent TVs or PC that aren't on a UPS from powering down until the powerwall takes over. ask me how i know...
in other words, keep them.
1
No, I still have them and I have two.
One for all my desk setup and another one for my Home Theatre system.
0
Remove. More hassle than value.
-1
I removed my UPS. They caused problems.
Since the PW is a UPS; it is like having a UPS behind a UPS, which can be highly problematic. How problematic depends on the details of the devices. The "communication" between them is through the frequency of the AC power. The 2nd UPS can think the power is out even when the PW & Solar are doing fine.
I had one situation where the grid went down on a sunny day and the PW was full and cut in fine. The inverter had to cut off the solar. The secondary UPS viewed this whole situation as a failure and kicked in and eventually died. Whatever was "protected" by my UPS lost power even though there were more than enough.
I do still have power conditioners on the sensitive stuff to catch spikes etc.
-1
You can get Tesla to adjust the frequency slightly to make your UPSes happy during an outage. We had the same situation, I opened a ticket through the app, they requested make/model of our UPSes, and adjusted down so everything functions as expected.
1
I did but I put them back. Powerwall often takes just long enough to kick in to cause reboots.