UPS giving short hissy high frequency noise every few seconds

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steffeeh

steffeeh

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Feb 12, 2016
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Just got myself my first UPS, a PowerWalker VI 2200 LCD, and I can clearly hear a high frequency hissy sound (>10 kHz) that goes on and off every 3-5 seconds or so.

Does anybody know what causes it? First I thought it may be a regular transformer noise, but when googling I see no info of any issue with a hissy noise coming from the transformer(s).

Not sure what to do about this more than moving my UPS to a place where the hiss gets dampened enough. Perhaps this only happens when the UPS is still new, and it may go away in a few days?

Does anybody have any info on this?
 
Solution
steffeeh
HERE'S THE FINAL CONCLUSION:
The noise comes from the transformer inside the UPS, which may be faulty, so the UPS needs to be returned and exchanged for a new one.
This probably isn't any dangerous issue as the UPS otherwise works great and does its job (so don't worry), but the UPS doesn't meet the noise quality standards set by the manufacturer, so it shouldn't be making this noise.

A more detailed description how the noise sounds and behaves (as I'll remove the audio example):
- The sound artifact is a hissy/noisy static treble sound (like a very thin electrical S-sound), and the sound iteslf lies around 10kHz. It's very quiet, yet noticable if you're in a quiet environment.
- It's only audible in line-interactive mode = plug it...
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DarkSable

DarkSable

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Sep 27, 2012
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...explain "hissy" further. That's not a good noise from electronics.

Do you mean like a high pitched whine, or is it more like a static sound?

Honestly, if it's not coil noise or perhaps a failing fan bearing, I haven't the slightest.

EDIT: I can say that's not just a 'new UPS' noise that will break in after a few days.
 
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DarkSable

DarkSable

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Sep 27, 2012
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I just took a listen to it... I'm very confused. That's NOT coil whine, at least not that I've heard in any _regular_ constant-operating power supply. (Such as what monitors are notorious for.)

Those who have more experience with UPS's than I do: could that be the power delivery to the circuit that checks the line power? I don't know enough about how they work to know if that's too slow or not.
 
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steffeeh

steffeeh

Reputable
Feb 12, 2016
265
1
4,815
HERE'S THE FINAL CONCLUSION:
The noise comes from the transformer inside the UPS, which may be faulty, so the UPS needs to be returned and exchanged for a new one.
This probably isn't any dangerous issue as the UPS otherwise works great and does its job (so don't worry), but the UPS doesn't meet the noise quality standards set by the manufacturer, so it shouldn't be making this noise.

A more detailed description how the noise sounds and behaves (as I'll remove the audio example):
- The sound artifact is a hissy/noisy static treble sound (like a very thin electrical S-sound), and the sound iteslf lies around 10kHz. It's very quiet, yet noticable if you're in a quiet environment.
- It's only audible in line-interactive mode = plug it out of the wall and it will enter battery mode, and the noise will stop. If you then plug it back into the wall it will return.
- The noise follows a specific interval, and the interval differs every time it's turned on/off.
The interval is very short and rapid right when the UPS is started up, then slowly goes down in rate over the next 30 seconds or so, until it lands on the final interval, which is anything from 3 seconds to 5 seconds between the noise beeps as well as noise lengths.
What's interesting - plug it out of the wall to enter battery mode, then plug it back in to get back inte line-interactive mode and the hissy noise interval will suddenly jump to 30 seconds of length and silence or so, for the next 30-60 minutes, before returning to back to it's average rate.

Mark this thread as solved. Thank you everybody for your insights!

EDIT: They don't seem to intend to exchange the whole unit, the will just change the transformer, we'll see how this turns out in this particular case.
 
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Solution
steffeeh

steffeeh

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Feb 12, 2016
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UPDATE: So I sent the UPS back to the shop for repair, but instead they just sent me a new one. And the new has the same issue. I've reached out to Bluewalker on this, this may be a wider issue on this model.
 
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