Why does Tesla refuse to change? Is it warranty issue? It's odd that you can't change setting of something you own.
Powerwall 2 + UPS Connundrum - and solution
- Thread starter NinjaVece
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Why does Tesla refuse to change? Is it warranty issue? It's odd that you can't change setting of something you own.
aesculus
Still Trying to Figure This All Out
They did not bother to state why, just that this is what they were willing to do. Did not think it was beneficial to spend the time "going upstairs" on a situation that will rarely occur so I dropped it.
Mokuzai
Member
We had our first legitimate power outage yesterday for just a few minutes. We didn't even notice anything had happened except that the internet reset. It also reset our media server. So I was skimming this thread looking for UPS ideas and saw the Eaton units are usually good to go out of the box.
My question is would this inexpensive UPS be able to cover a media server (fairly powerful windows based desktop with a 750W power supply) and the cable modem and router for the less than one second it needs to hold over until the powerwalls kick in?
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B...search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1&tag=tmc064-20
My question is would this inexpensive UPS be able to cover a media server (fairly powerful windows based desktop with a 750W power supply) and the cable modem and router for the less than one second it needs to hold over until the powerwalls kick in?
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B...search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1&tag=tmc064-20
I have one of these units for my network equipment and it has worked well so far. But, it is only a 330W unit, so it might be an issue if the desktop is drawing near those numbers (and it very well may not get even close to that 750W number in normal usage.) I think they make a larger version of that (3S) style of UPS that also might be an option. I ended up going with their next model line up (5S) for my computer backup.
MorrisonHiker
S 100D 2021.4.12
As I mentioned in a few earlier posts, reducing the frequency or changing the acceptable voltage limits could cause the Powerwalls to engage much more frequently. After our Powerwalls were updated in mid-May, we went from an average 1-2 "outages" a month to over 230 "outages" within a couple weeks. The dirty power being provided by our utility was causing the Powerwalls to disconnect from the grid 20 to 30 times a day and our solar production was reduced by nearly 45% for several weeks.
Our "outages" mysteriously stopped on 6/8/20. We're waiting to hear back if Tesla reverted their changes or if things were fixed when the power company replaced nearly all transformers and power poles in our neighborhood on 6/8/20 after a derecho on Saturday blew down most of our power poles.
Mokuzai
Member
Ya, I suppose the best way is to get a kill-a-watt device and test it. But at that point may as well just go with the upgraded 5S unit instead.
HankLloydRight
No Roads
According to this graph, it will run for 3 minutes @330W. I'm sure it will work for the <1s it takes to switchover to the PW2:
Battery Runtimes for Eaton
It would definitely work for that. The issue would be that if you have a 750W power supply on a media server that is running hard, plus some other electronics on the UPS, it could breach the 330W limit. (And again, it is very possible the server almost never gets to 330W as it is common to leave a lot of room between the power supply limit and what is actually being drawn, but I do not know all the specifics.) That is why I would also look at either the next higher model of the 3S line (which looks like has a 450W limit) or options in the 5S line (we have one that can handle 600W.)
Personally, I would look at this one in your situation, and plan too if my Tripp Lites don't work out when we do our test outage next week.
https://www.amazon.com/Eaton-5S1000LCD-5S-1000LCD-connector/dp/B00KPX2MOO/
https://www.amazon.com/Eaton-5S1000LCD-5S-1000LCD-connector/dp/B00KPX2MOO/
Last edited by a moderator:
Mokuzai
Member
The house at idle in the middle of the night, according to the tesla app, draws 0.4kwh. I'm sure a bulk of that is the server and networking equipment but also includes two refrigerators and anything else at idle. Not sure if that is rounding up or down so anywhere from 350w-449w at idle. This 600w unit is $80 more and should cover any high load situations where the server is working hard and also skips the $35-40 tester to find out.
https://www.amazon.com/Eaton-5S1000LCD-5S-1000LCD-connector/dp/B00KPX2MOO/
Thanks all for the help!
Keep in mind that what it draws at idle doesn’t really matter. It’s the peak draw that matters. If your server idles at 350w 99.9% of the time, but, say, once a month when it restarts for patching the power supply ramps up and the server draws 700w for a short time, then that 600w UPS still won’t be enough because the circuit breaker in the UPS will trip as soon as the server exceeds 600w. There may be a little leeway if it only draws 700w for a fraction of a second, but for the most part if it ever exceeds 600w then the UPS will shut off and your server and anything else connected to the UPS will go down.
Now, that said, as previously mentioned it’s quite possible that your server will never draw the full 750w or even get close to it, but there is still some risk in getting a UPS that’s not rated for the full power draw of the server plus whatever else is connected to the UPS.
MorrisonHiker
S 100D 2021.4.12
I guess I spoke too soon. Just had the first outage of the day. I'm sure dozens more will follow. At least the UPS devices in the house no longer complain...
Did a test today to see which UPS's in the house can deal with the increased AC frequency. Verified the frequency with a Kill-A-Watt meter.
Exactly none could deal with it.
So I ordered one of these to handle the brief power interruption. I'll run my Ubiquiti USG-3, and POE switch on it, along with the Synology DS1019+
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00DK45T68/
The units we have that don't work include two Tripp Lites, and an APC.
I'm sure glad I held off replacing the batteries on the other three APC's I have.
Exactly none could deal with it.
So I ordered one of these to handle the brief power interruption. I'll run my Ubiquiti USG-3, and POE switch on it, along with the Synology DS1019+
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00DK45T68/
The units we have that don't work include two Tripp Lites, and an APC.
I'm sure glad I held off replacing the batteries on the other three APC's I have.
@GaitherBill Your signature says you have IQ7s, which will play very nicely with a lowered frequency. My Powerwall is set to 62.0hz and my IQ6s work great as do my CyberPower UPSs.
Were you able to get Tesla to lower your PW maximum frequency? If so, do the Tripp Lites and APCs still not work?
What frequency did your system climb to during the test?
BTW, I also have Ubiquiti gear (EdgeRouter 6P, EdgeSwitch 16) and Synology NAS (DS-916+) . All connected to CyberPower UPS
JPP
Active Member
FWIW my CyberPower UPS have a spec of 60 Hz +/- 3 Hz. My APCs have a spec of 57-63 Hz. I had Tesla Powerwall support set the frequency to 62.5. All working great.
It must be at the default frequency because I have not asked for it to be changed.
I’ll have to look into it now.
How they escalate this to tier 2 seems to be somewhat hit or miss (but they will always have to escalate it). Some people have had to get a truck roll to come inspect their situation, and others have not.
I would detail that you "have issues with your UPS battery backups because of the 65Hz frequency, as well as lights flickering and issues with your microwave". Be prepared with your make and model of inverters if tesla did not do your install, as well as letting them know you have Cyberpower UPS devices (brand) which tolerate up to 62hz".
They should (hopefully) tell you that they are taking all that information down and escalating it to tier 2 (or, alternatively, that they will need to send someone out). No idea what triggers one vs the other.
