ljwalters Posted March 4, 2008 Report Share Posted March 4, 2008 I had a real scary incident with a Tripp-Lite internet office 500 surge protector. This surge protector has battery back up and the battery started leaking natural gas and carbon monoxide. The odor was slight at first and became stronger over a period of time. For two weeks I kept looking for what was causing this funny odor. Then, one Thursday I became so sleepy in the office that I laid my head down on the desk to just take a short nap, (so unlike me). Luckily I was so bogged down with work I made myself get up, go out side, get a drink and go back to work. The next day the odor was so overwhelming I called a friend to help me identify the cause (new sniffer). She thought it smelled like butane, so I called the gas company hazards line and they sent some one out with in and hour. He found a reading of “natural gas<25% and a reading of <200 PPM for CO at surge protector devise”. And said it was an unsafe environment and if it was an office building down town it would require evacuation of the whole building. He also told me if I had fallen asleep the day before I most likely would NOT have woken up. He could not understand how the battery would emit Natural Gas, but it did. He also said he was surprised that the burning battery did not cause a fire. I am just letting every one know about the possible danger of the devise. I had two and took them both out. By the way I only had two printers and a copier plugged into this six outlet device. The unit is about 5 years old and I replaced the battery about 1.5 year ago. PS. I have no natural gas going to my office building and no butane on the property. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoyDaleOne Posted March 4, 2008 Report Share Posted March 4, 2008 I would never put a copier on a battery back-up, just me. They draw way too much current. How big are the printers? You need both on battery back-up? Just my thoughts for what they are worth. By the way thanks for the warning. Much appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie Posted March 4, 2008 Report Share Posted March 4, 2008 My laser printer came with a warning NOT to put it on battery backup. I have the computers and monitors on backup, but neither of my printers. I can't think what circumstances I would need to use them on battery anyway. If the power goes out, I'm shutting down until it comes back on. The UPS is so the computers can be shut down cleanly, not so I can continue to do tax returns. And yes, thanks for the warning. I would never put a copier on a battery back-up, just me. They draw way too much current. How big are the printers? You need both on battery back-up? Just my thoughts for what they are worth. By the way thanks for the warning. Much appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ljwalters Posted March 4, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 4, 2008 My laser printer came with a warning NOT to put it on battery backup. I have the computers and monitors on backup, but neither of my printers. I can't think what circumstances I would need to use them on battery anyway. If the power goes out, I'm shutting down until it comes back on. The UPS is so the computers can be shut down cleanly, not so I can continue to do tax returns. And yes, thanks for the warning. The printers and coppier were on the non battery terminals. Surge Protect only. I had just rearranged my office and the computer cord could not reach this backup so I added a new one for the computers. The printers HP4100N and the Brother MFC 665CW and the copier Canon PC1061 were on the three none battery side of the protector. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel in Hawaii Posted March 4, 2008 Report Share Posted March 4, 2008 Their meter wasn't reading it correctly as it's actually an acid that has vaporized. Their detectors don't do chemical analysis after all, they base their determination on electrical characteristics of the air most of the time. All batteries give off gas when they are charging, but the batteries in UPS's are sealed type that recondense the gas inside the battery so if they are giving off gas then they have overheated and cracked their cases. ALL ups batteries should be replaced every 2 years on average, less if they infrequently experience power fluctuations, more in a high surge/brownout environment. I bet if you take the battery out you will find that one side of the battery (bottom) will seem 'soapy' as the acid will immediately start to eat away at your skin and give that silky soapy feeling. The plastic case will also seem to be bulging. Once the acid has vaporized you will start to oxidize the plates in the battery and depending on the chemistry of the battery will give off any number of different gasses. On another issue with the surge protection side of the UPS, sometimes the MOV's will fail and the leads will actually short out the hot/neutral wires. I have filed 2 claims regarding this, each time without complaint from the company that we buy our UPS's from and everything got replaced without question. Of course, I was just asking for power supplies and the UPS itself. I guess if it was a higher dollar amount they might balk more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BulldogTom Posted March 4, 2008 Report Share Posted March 4, 2008 Mel, What are you doing typing on the board when you are supposed to be adding features to my new software package?????? Shame on you. Back to work..... NO SOUP FOR YOU!!!!!!!!! How is life in paradise? Tom Lodi, CA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tilt Posted March 5, 2008 Report Share Posted March 5, 2008 Thank God you're OK! And thanks for the warning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel in Hawaii Posted March 5, 2008 Report Share Posted March 5, 2008 Mel, What are you doing typing on the board when you are supposed to be adding features to my new software package?????? Shame on you. Back to work..... NO SOUP FOR YOU!!!!!!!!! How is life in paradise? Tom Lodi, CA During the day while I am at my day job I am not allowed to work on programming, but I have nothing to do. It's been a year and a half since I got notified that they were closing in 30 days, yet we are still there. Just waiting for my severance package to start and then I will be working all day. As for NOW, I am just taking a break. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SCL Posted March 6, 2008 Report Share Posted March 6, 2008 As for NOW, I am just taking a break. isn't taking a break in hawaii something like an oxymoron? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel in Hawaii Posted March 6, 2008 Report Share Posted March 6, 2008 I assume you mean I am on VACATION in Hawaii... Far from. For what people think I am probably doing is far from what I actually do. Hardly go to the beach, spend most of my time sitting behind a desk at work or home or taking care of 2 kids. Except for the lack of shoveling snow and extra work trying to keep the growing plants (lawn) cut back, I could just as easily be in Maine. My routine would basically be the same. Get up, get the kids ready for school, head to work, come home, ensure kids have done homework, make dinner, sit down and work at my desk until I can barely keep my eyes open, go to sleep and start the routine right over again. Weekends are a bit better in that I get some time to do chores around the house and play with the kids a bit, but I put in more time working on my stuff on Saturday than the rest of the week. Oh, not to mention that I do consulting on the side as it pays better than my day job and doesn't take nearly as much time. Besides, I think people in Hawaii work more than their mainland counterparts as just about everyone I know has 2 or more jobs here to be able to afford the extra high prices on everything. People in the mainland complain about the cost of gas or electricity, yet we have the highest prices in both those commodities, even outranking California when they were claiming they had the highest prices. I guess they were comparing against the rest of the mainland. If I hear the airlines or UPS say we are an 'international' destination one more time I am gonna scream. "We're sorry sir, we dont' offer ground service to Hawaii as that's an international destination.", when trying to ship something from Hawaii to Hawaii and talking to a call center in the mainland. Don't get me going.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SCL Posted March 6, 2008 Report Share Posted March 6, 2008 I assume you mean I am on VACATION in Hawaii... Far from...Don't get me going.... i was just kidding. i know work is hard everywhere, and i'm sure you work extra hard no matter where you are. i was jealously bitchin' because you are in hawaii and i am in ice bound iowa - my bad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.