Is it safe to run a pc on generator current?

[quicky008]

The title of my post is quite self explanatory-what i'd like to know is whether its safe or not to operate a computer on electricity that is produced by the typical generators which are often used to supply power to small /medium sized buildings during blackouts. A technician i knew once said to me that doing so may be risky as generators don't always supply clean power and that the frequencies of the electricity they produce often tend to fluctuate widely,well beyond the acceptable limits-does anyone know whether these claims are true or not? Has anyone ever faced any issues on using a generator? And do typical home UPSes work properly when they are supplied with generator current?

 

[whitestar_999]

indeed it is not voltage but the frequency which is the major issue here.50Hz is the standard in India & Europe but typical fuel generators have poor frequency regulation & it varies widely which is not good for electronics components.ups will probably spend more than half of the time running on batteries or switching/regulating voltage when running on generator power.

 

[kARTechnology]

indeed it is not voltage but the frequency which is the major issue here.50Hz is the standard in India & Europe but typical fuel generators have poor frequency regulation & it varies widely which is not good for electronics components.ups will probably spend more than half of the time running on batteries or switching/regulating voltage when running on generator power.

True... It happened with my 10kva kirloskar and inverter will be on gen power for 10sec and shift to battery and cycle continues every 20sec...

Though voltage is 230 freq is way beyond limits

NEVER RUN ON GEN POWER
but my inverter accepts the power from our community run 125KVA KIRLOSKAR SILENT GEN HAPPILY

Gen technicians could do nothing

 

[quicky008]

@Whitestar and kart technology-many thanks to both of you for lending me your valued suggestions-your feedback is truly appreciated.

 

[quicky008]

I was reading an article earlier today where it was mentioned that online upses,such Apc's smart ups are generator compatible. Is it true that online upses are not affected by unstable frequencies and other issues that usually prevent the commonly available line interactive upses from functioning properly when they are running on generator power? And how much does an entry level online ups cost?

 

[whitestar_999]

if you can find one at reasonable price then it looks good:
A Guide to Standby Power Pt 6 - Matching a generator to your UPS.

Why on-line UPS technology works best with generators

On-line or double conversion UPS designs are ideal for use with generators because they accept input power with relatively wide variations in voltage and frequency. An on-line UPS actually re-develops the waveform. The AC input from either the mains or a standby generator is first converted to DC by the rectifier. The DC current is used to charge the battery. During an outage, DC current from the batteries is reformed by an inverter back to perfect sine-wave AC for the critical load. Newer models also use power factor correction to provide an even wider input voltage range.

Because of this double conversion (AC to DC, then DC to AC), variations in the input frequency are of little concern. Therefore the same frequency variations that would cause an off-line or a line-interactive UPS to transfer to battery power have no effect on the on-line UPS.

 

[quicky008]

Thank you once again for replying whitestar_999.A few days ago,i left my computer running on generator power for about an hour by accident-i was away from home at that time and there was a blackout and our local generator wallah,who provides generator current to our home had turned the generator on in my absence.Do you think there is a possibility that my ups(apc line interactive 650VA) or PC may have suffered some kind of damage because of this?

 

[whitestar_999]

if ups did its job then chances are low.if your pc is working fine & ups too then most likely no damage done.

 

[saswat23]

There are many Generator compatible UPS available now. Why dont you get one such UPS? That should solve your problem.

 

[quicky008]

[MENTION=126812]whitestar_999[/MENTION]:Both my ups and PC appear to be functioning properly because I've not faced any issues with either of them till date-therefore i hope it will be safe to conclude that they sustained little to no damage due to this unexpected incident.And i have a corsair VX 450 psu-can it provide any kind of protection to the delicate electronic components of the pc from unstable power?

[MENTION=107487]saswat23[/MENTION]:Can you mention the names of a few such models along with their prices?I hope you're not referring to online upses which are very expensive-according to my local hardware retailer,an entry level apc 1kva online ups costs rs 14000 and one has to buy the battery pack for it separately which itself costs Rs 12000,bringing the total cost to around 26000! Unfortunately,i can't afford to spend so much on an ups alone right now.

 

[saswat23]

No buddy, I am not referring to those online UPS.
Earlier I had a 600VA Zeb. UPS, it was Generator Compatible (as mentioned on it).
So, I hope now you can get many such models.
Check APC's site. I think there UPS should be Generator Compatible. Else look for other brands.

 

[quicky008]

Well,the zebronics ups that you had was probably a normal line-interactive ups and as far as i know,its nearly impossible to make such an ups work properly with a standby generator.Therefore its quite possible that the claim being made by zebronics that their ups is "Generator compatible" is entirely false as in theory,these upses will never work with generator current.

It seems the commonly available line-interactive UPSes that are manufactured by reputed firms like APC/liebert don't offer any kind of generator compatibility,but I'll get in touch with my local hardware store and try to find out whether upses with this feature are indeed available or not.

 

[whitestar_999]

what zebronics meant by this feature is that ups will work within a frequency range,say 47-62Hz,instead of strict frequency regulation like APC which will switch to battery power even at 49Hz.when using such a ups you will have to take into consideration how your psu will react to such frequency variations at various levels of load(e.g.40%,50%,80% etc) which requires an extensive testing & in my opinion not worth it.better get a home inverter with external battery(should cost much lesser than on-line ups) for longer backup time.

 

[tanmaymohan]

My UPS gives clicking sound while running on generator (1-2min intervals) or if I turn on AC(the way light blinks when compressor starts functioning.) Is it ok to leave it like this ?. Encountered no issues till now.

My UPS is : Luminous Viva

 

[quicky008]

[MENTION=138767]tanmaymohan[/MENTION]:What kind of generator do you have?And for how long do you usually keep your system running on generator power?I don't think its a good idea to keep using it like that as it may damage your pc or ups or both in the long run.

 

[pkkumarcool]

check whether if the avg value of current is zero or not if it is then it is safe.

 

[quicky008]

check whether if the avg value of current is zero or not if it is then it is safe.

What do you mean by average value of current?Are u talking about amperage?If yes,can you please explain why can it be considered safe if its average value is zero?

 

[whitestar_999]

^^it has no significance to this topic.i think he misunderstood something.all you need to know is already given in my above posts.

 

[quicky008]

^^it has no significance to this topic.i think he misunderstood something.all you need to know is already given in my above posts.

Yes,i thought as much.