-cj-
10-11-2011, 01:09 PM
Hey guys,
I wanted to build a poor man's centralized UPS system. I got a great deal on a UPS which I recently discovered is expandable with external battery packs. So what I wanted to do is, create outlets and "hard" wire them into the UPS (I'm not going to open up the UPS, just going to use something like a NEMA 5 (?) plug and hook it into the UPS. The other end of the plug will be hard wired into a standard house-hold 120V/15A outlet and essentially create that circuit. I thought it would look cleaner then just having power bars, since the UPS I have only has a handful of UPS'd outlets. Note that I won't exceed the UPS' load rating...
I don't think the above would violate any wiring codes. The UPS has a built in circuit breaker in case I overload the circuit... But I'm willing to incorporate a sub panel into the mix, just for fun.
Now, if I were to add a sub-panel, with the above setup, would everything be cool? Would an inspector see it and think "Wow, what a waste of time/money" or would they flag it? If the above is kosher, what would happen if I took a circuit from my main panel and ran it directly through this new sub-panel which is being fed from the UPS (which in turn is being fed from the main panel)? I don't see that being acceptable, although it would be ideal......
(I'm in the process of mounting my equipment to the wall in the basement and thought this would be a nice finishing touch... I'm used to building datacenters and I'm exposed to this sort of thing in the commercial sector (only with proper gear ;), but I'm curious if I could do this without violating any building codes... I'm pretty sure the second scenario above would violate something, right?)
I know, I know, it's a waste of time, but I'm trying to clean up my equipment and make it look cool.
To recap:
Scenario 1:
Main Breaker -> Outlet -> UPS <- NEMA Plug -> New Outlets Fed by UPS
Scenario 2:
Main Breaker -> Outlet -> UPS <- NEMA Plug -> Sub-Panel -> New Outlets Fed by UPS'd Sub Panel
With Scenario 2, I might re-route a single circuit (which has a computer plugged into it, on the 2nd floor) through the UPS panel... I'm pretty sure this is automatically a wiring violation, right?
Note that the UPS would be "fixed" to the wall, next to the panel, if that matters.
I wanted to build a poor man's centralized UPS system. I got a great deal on a UPS which I recently discovered is expandable with external battery packs. So what I wanted to do is, create outlets and "hard" wire them into the UPS (I'm not going to open up the UPS, just going to use something like a NEMA 5 (?) plug and hook it into the UPS. The other end of the plug will be hard wired into a standard house-hold 120V/15A outlet and essentially create that circuit. I thought it would look cleaner then just having power bars, since the UPS I have only has a handful of UPS'd outlets. Note that I won't exceed the UPS' load rating...
I don't think the above would violate any wiring codes. The UPS has a built in circuit breaker in case I overload the circuit... But I'm willing to incorporate a sub panel into the mix, just for fun.
Now, if I were to add a sub-panel, with the above setup, would everything be cool? Would an inspector see it and think "Wow, what a waste of time/money" or would they flag it? If the above is kosher, what would happen if I took a circuit from my main panel and ran it directly through this new sub-panel which is being fed from the UPS (which in turn is being fed from the main panel)? I don't see that being acceptable, although it would be ideal......
(I'm in the process of mounting my equipment to the wall in the basement and thought this would be a nice finishing touch... I'm used to building datacenters and I'm exposed to this sort of thing in the commercial sector (only with proper gear ;), but I'm curious if I could do this without violating any building codes... I'm pretty sure the second scenario above would violate something, right?)
I know, I know, it's a waste of time, but I'm trying to clean up my equipment and make it look cool.
To recap:
Scenario 1:
Main Breaker -> Outlet -> UPS <- NEMA Plug -> New Outlets Fed by UPS
Scenario 2:
Main Breaker -> Outlet -> UPS <- NEMA Plug -> Sub-Panel -> New Outlets Fed by UPS'd Sub Panel
With Scenario 2, I might re-route a single circuit (which has a computer plugged into it, on the 2nd floor) through the UPS panel... I'm pretty sure this is automatically a wiring violation, right?
Note that the UPS would be "fixed" to the wall, next to the panel, if that matters.