TrippLite FAQ

Power Failures, also known as blackouts, are the easiest power problem to diagnose. If the lights go out, chances are you’ve had a power failure. Any temporary, or not so temporary, interruption in the flow of electricity will result in a power failure which can cause hardware damage and data loss.

Violent weather is the first thing that comes to mind, but there are any number of other causes. Overburdened power grids, car accidents that bring down power lines, earthquakes, lightning strikes, balloons, animals and human error are all likely sources.

Brownouts are periods of low voltage in utility lines that can cause lights to dim and equipment to fail. Also known as voltage sags, this is the most common power problem, accounting for up to 87% of all power disturbances.

Overburdened utilities sometimes reduce their voltage output to deal with high power. Recent statistics show that the U.S. population tries to pull an average of 5% more than utility companies can provide. The demand for power is rapidly increasing, but the supply of power is not.

Voltage variation can be the most damaging power problem to threaten your equipment. All electronic devices expect to receive a steady voltage (120 VAC in North America and 220/240 volts in many other parts of the world) in order to operate correctly parts of the world) in order to operate correctly.. Brownouts place undue strain on power supplies and other internal components, forcing them to work harder in order to function.

Designed to regulate both over and under voltages, our Line Conditioners provide three separate levels of voltage correction. This advanced design adjusts voltages from 87 to 140 VAC (168 to 278 for INT models) to provide your equipment with safe, computer-grade AC power meeting ANSI C84.1 specifications. And since all Tripp Lite Line Conditioners include advanced surge and suppression circuitry, you can protect against all three types of power problems with a single unit.

Line noise interference can result in many different symptoms depending on your particular situation. Noise can introduce glitches and errors into programs and files. Hard Drive components can be damaged. Televisions and computer monitors can display interference as “static” or “snow,” and audio systems experience increased distortion levels.

The term “line noise” refers to random fluctuations – electrical impulses that are carried along with standard AC current. Turning on the florescent lights overhead, your refrigerator, laser printers, working near a radio station, using a power generator, or simply working during a lightning storm can all introduce line noise into your systems.

In this power-hungry computer age, utility power systems are often pushed beyond their capacity, resulting in unstable, unreliable power for consumers. Overburdened power grids can generate powerful surges as they switch between sources or generate “rolling surges” when power is momentarily disrupted. Local sources can also generate surges – for example, if your neighbor starts up an electrical motor or the office on the floor below you blows a fuse.

Surges often go unnoticed, often lasting only 1/120th of a second, but they are much more common and destructive than you might think. According to recent studies, your electrical equipment is constantly experiencing surges of varying power. Some of them can be absorbed by your power supply while others can only be handled by a quality surge suppressor. The most destructive power surges will wipe out anything that gets in their way!

A lightning strike can send a spectacular power surge along power lines, damaging equipment that is plugged into nearby AC and phone outlets. The severity of these surges can only be neutralized by quality surge suppression. All Tripp Lite Surge Suppressors and UPS Systems provide surge protection on ALL AC outlets. Select models include RJ11 modem/fax line surge suppression as well, preventing damage to modems and phone systems. The best protection of all is our Ultimate Lifetime Insurance. All Tripp Lite Surge Suppressors and UPS Systems include up to $100,000 Ultimate Lifetime Insurance to protect connected equipment against surges, including direct lightning strikes…for life!

Power surges are a fact of life, but protecting yourself is relatively easy with Tripp Lite power protection. All our high-quality Surge Suppressors, Line Conditioners and UPS Systems feature exceptional surge handling circuitry. Our systems come with Ultimate Lifetime Insurance covering all your connected equipment – even against direct lightning strikes! With Tripp Lite Ultimate Lifetime Insurance, if your connected equipment is ever directly damaged by a power surge from any source, Tripp Lite will pay up to the level of the unit’s policy to have it replaced or repaired.

A: Like power surges undervoltage conditions can damage your equipment. When line voltages are lowered, electrical equipment pulls more current to compensate and generates more heat in the process. Over time, this can contribute to equipment failure.

In addition to providing superior surge suppression Tripp Lite Line Conditioners offer voltage regulation to keep lower or higher voltages from affecting the operation of your equipment. These units can accept an input voltage range between 174 and 270 volts nominal.

A: You can think of surge suppression, line conditioning and UPS support as a stepped network of support for your electrical systems. At the very least, all pieces of electronic equipment should be covered by any good surge suppressor. Modems, scanners, televisions, stereos and other home electronics are all suitable for surge suppression.If you have questions that this FAQ page did not answer e-mail our Customer Support Department.

A: Yes, but anyone performing a battery replacement should be familiar and comfortable with working with electronics. In truth replacing UPS batteries is fairly simple (about as easy as replacing an automotive battery.) Tripp Lite prefers to say that batteries are replaceable only by users competent to do so.

A: In the event of an extended power outage, your UPS may run out of battery power. This poses no problem if you are there to shut down your system, but may result in data loss or hardware problems if the system is left unattended and allowed to crash.

Tripp Lite UPS batteries do not benefit by being drained or “exercised.”

A: You can expect the batteries in any Tripp Lite UPS systems to last about 3-5 years.

A: No. Only UPS system which are specifically designed to accommodate additional batteries can provide longer runtimes. The external battery products are equipped with higher capacity chargers and increased ventilation to dissipate the amount of heat created by long runtimes.

A: There are advantages and disadvantages to either approach. You should first determine the proximity of your equipment to the UPS. Running extension cords to power remote equipment will affect your Ultimate Lifetime Insurance warranty and may be against local electrical codes.

A: All Tripp Lite UPS systems already have surge suppression built-in. However, if you are in an area that experiences frequent or intense power surges, you may place an additional surge suppressor in line before the UPS system in the power chain. Never plug a surge suppressor into the output of any UPS system.

A: Most Tripp Lite surge suppressors have an indicator light which will go out if your protection is compromised by a powerful surge. Units that are not equipped with an indicator light will stop working altogether if unit is damaged by a surge.

A: All Tripp Lite surge suppressors rely on the 3rd prong or ground pin to channel off the excess energy of surges and line noise. With no ground pin, you get virtually no surge or noise suppression. The Ultimate Lifetime Insurance for surge suppressors will not cover you with ungrounded outlets.

A: Yes. Your Tripp Lite surge suppressor continually protects your connected equipment.

Q: What is a Joule?

A: A unit of work or energy equal to the work done by a force of one Newton acting through a distance of one meter.

A: To size a UPS all you need to do is add up the total power draw of your equipment and select a unit from the UPS technical specification page which can support your load for the amount of time desired.

First, decide which pieces of equipment need UPS support. Typically, only the CPU and monitor are supported to cut down on power draw to the UPS, but you may wish to include peripheral systems like modems or Inkjet printers. Laser printers should NOT be plugged into a UPS.

List the nameplate wattage ratings for all supported equipment. Manufacturers vary in how they express draw so you may have to convert numbers to determine VA load.

A: SmartPro Net Series UPS systems offer the same line-interactive support as the OmniSmart PNP Series with advanced network management and control capabilities.

SmartPro Datacenter Series UPS systems provide SMART series support for multiple fileservers and centralized network systems.

SmartPro Unison Series UPS systems provide true online support for critical systems will all the advanced features of the SMART series.

APS / TE / XL models offer extended runtimes for telecommunications, PBX, security, and critical network systems.