Michael K Johnson
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Michael K Johnson's Information
Michael K Johnson's Bio
1st Fedora Project Lead. Co-author Linux Application Development. Pendo Distinguished Engineer. Ex-{Linux Journal, Red Hat, rPath, SAS}. Christian. Father. Maker (including machining, 3D printing, and electronics). Books. Classical music. Aviation (inactive PP-Inst-SEL). Amateur Radio KZ4LY
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Michael K Johnson's Posts
Michael K Johnson has 5 posts.
Michael K Johnson
In response to this post@ai6yr Most of these small generators don't have oil filters. Only a few even have magnetic dipsticks. Some recommend oil changes much more frequently than 100 hours; mine recommends oil changes (of synthetic oil) every 25 hours.
It's kind of wasteful.
I have imagined, as an aftermarket option, an alternative plug with a pickup that goes into the sump and a return, a small electric pump powered by the generator, and a filter. Not only could it circulate oil through the filter when running, it could also be used to pump out the oil for oil changes more cleanly and easily. I haven't found such a thing for sale though.
Is anyone aware of such a part available for sale? Maybe I just don't have the right search terms.
Mentions: @ai6yr@m.ai6yr.org
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Michael K Johnson
@ai6yr @toroidalcore The Dell/APC was probably about 5 years old when I got it... 12 years ago? And I decommissioned it just a few months ago. The re-used AGM batteries I had connected it to were running out of life. So yeah I get it! ☺
The original APC non-rebadged version of my old UPS was a DC unit and had the button to select sensitivity. I assume Dell had it cut as part of their usual BOM-cost-trimming exercises; the case still had the hole where a button would otherwise have been. So there's definitely old DC APC hardware out there with a white button that can cycle through sensitivity settings.
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Michael K Johnson
@ai6yr @toroidalcore My old no-longer-in-service Dell-rebadged-APC 3kVA UPS could not be configured to wider tolerance and wouldn't charge off my old standby generator. But most of the branded APCs I've seen can.
APC calls the setting "Sensitivity" and they default to high sensitivity (transferring off mains power with small deviations from nominal).
Here's some documentation for the Smart-UPS line for changing the sensitivity mode for many of them:
https://www.apc.com/us/en/faqs/FA156514/
For Back-UPS there are lots of different ways depending on the model. For example: https://www.apc.com/us/en/faqs/FAQ000265097/
A search for your model number and "adjust sensitivity" should find what you need, and there's a good chance it will help you have more working power through this awful event. 🤞
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Michael K Johnson
@ai6yr @toroidalcore Some UPSes can be programmed to be more tolerant of wider ranges of voltage and frequency. I've done this for some APC and Cyberpower UPS units in the past to successfully tolerate non-inverter generator power.
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Michael K Johnson
@ai6yr My Cyberpower 1500VA "modified sine wave" (because switching power supplies don't care if they are fed square wave) UPS units run fine off my Sol-Ark inverter, FWIW.
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