plug-in "permanent" house wiring

Greetings,

I have two computers, one in the basement and one on the third floor, which I would like to run off the same plug-in UPS (expensive, so I don't want to purchase another one). There is already conduit going up to the third floor. What do I need to properly (to-code) install a UPS protected outlet on the third floor which shares the plug-in UPS in the basement? Is there a code-compliant solution? Are you allowed to plug a cord into a UPS which goes into a junction box, is spliced to THHN, and then into the house wiring?

Thank you for your time, William

PS: I am not asking for instructions on how to install an outlet. The outlet that the UPS plugs into in the basement is already GFI protected. There are enough spare cubic inches in the box to support an additional device and wiring.

Reply to
William.Deans
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Assuming you only want the UPS to attach to one dedicated outlet on the third floor. You could install a junction box on the existing conduit with a three wire cord set to plug into the UPS, then attach those wires to three conductors going through the existing conduit to the third floor, then from another junction box up there, run those conductors to the PC outlet using whatever wiring method is acceptable in your jurisdiction. This is all contingent on having spare room in the conduit

Reply to
RBM

Greetings,

Thank you but there are other issues?: When someone turns off the main breaker there will still be a live outlet in the attic. Aren't there additional rules about such things?

Does the three wire cord set have to have special properties? a) Wire must be no more than X feet long? b) Wire must be of special type?

When I am done using the setup (years from now) can I simply plug the cord set into a basement receptacle?

Thanks again, William

Reply to
William.Deans

You could be correct. I'm seeing this as something of a temporary setup. I would assume that when your done with it, you'd simply reconnect the outlet as it was.

Reply to
RBM

In your first post you said "third floor". In your second you said "attic".

Since you seem to be concerned about safety, I'm curious about your use of the attic. Will your proposed use meet codes as far as egress, other electrical wiring, etc? While I commend you for tying to hook up the UPS in a complaint manner, will it be the only code compliant item in the space?

Reply to
DerbyDad03

It will cost more to run another wire from the basement to the stars than the $75 for a UPS.

Reply to
HeyBub

The third floor is a converted attic. There is a full staircase, drywall, tile floor, recessed lights, two dormers, 7' ceiling (with sloped side walls) etc.

Reply to
William.Deans

UPS was $800-- it's all rack mount equipment.

Reply to
William.Deans

I'm pretty sure copper prices aren't that high yet, but yes, while a central UPS is nice, with today's UPS prices distributed UPSes are more practical.

Reply to
Pete C.

A new UPS for the third floor would cost $300-400, consume additional electricity, and take up space. Then I would have to replace the batteries in both of them every few years at an increased cost instead of just the one. The upstairs UPS, replacement batteries, and power consumption (including cooling power) would probably come to $750 or more over its lifetime. If a 42U rack costs $1000 delivered then just the space in the rack the new UPS would take up could be considered to cost $100. The dual-UPS solution is NOT the most economical solution.

Reply to
William.Deans

Yes it is.

Reply to
HeyBub

Just how much UPS capacity do you need up in the attic? If it is just one or two PCs to control the server farm you seem to be keeping in the basement, one of the

Reply to
aemeijers

Hmmm, For all the trouble, I'd just get another UPS box. UPS is good when power failure ocurs, as a protector it won't do much if lightning strikes. I have seen it many time in my working days(~40 years in the field)

Reply to
Tony Hwang

Nothing in your list of amenities tells us anything about whether it meets the applicable codes for the space. I'm not saying it does or doesn't...only you can tell us that. I was merely pointing out that you are be very diligent as per the running of this particular circuit, which made me curious about how compliant the rest of the space was.

Reply to
DerbyDad03

Exactly what UPS are you looking at? You certainly don't need a UPS anywhere near that cost to run a single computer, particularly these days with LCD monitors. You're not trying to UPS a laser printer are you???

Unless it's a hybrid UPS with ferroresonant line conditioner, it's standby / float charging power consumption is pretty negligible.

The UPS to handle one computer will be about the size of a shoe box, and shouldn't be any issue to position along with the computer itself.

Not likely. My big UPS with my server rack in my garage is now about 10 years old, on it's original set of batteries and is showing no sign of any problems. The server rack loads it to about 15% capacity and just a couple weeks ago there was a power failure where it ran some 60 minutes on battery until I switched to generator power when the UPS reported 20 minutes of battery remaining.

Wildly exaggerated estimate, unless you're counting it's lifetime as 30 years and even then it's probably a high estimate.

What planet are you on buying new racks delivered? Racks are a dime a dozen used, often free and there is no reason to buy new unless you are building a showcase data center at which point you still need redundant UPSes, redundant generators, redundant air conditioning, access floors, etc.

It is by far, once you open your eyes to the real world and not some fantasy idea of a shiny enterprise data center.

Spend the $100 of a decent UPS at Fry's, Costco, etc., plug it in upstairs and get on with your life.

(The data centers I deal with have UPSes and generators rated in MW total capacity, and $250K/month electric bills)

Reply to
Pete C.

You should also check to see that he gets enough fiber!!

Reply to
RBM

Hi, Let me guess, OP'er came here to argue because he does not have real something to do himself. If he has a wish list, dive in and do it instead of wasting time arguing with everyone. Military installations I used to work on went out some times with all that high tech redundancy. As far as I remember no system has 100% up time. Maybe 99.9999%

Reply to
Tony Hwang

I was going to ask for the math on that but that would be feeding a troll.

-- Tom Horne

Reply to
Tom Horne

The "five 9s" i.e. 99.999% is the gold standard used most places. Perhaps the military adds an extra decimal place. But that 0.001% is why you also mirror / RAID all disks, do daily backups and send them off site, have redundant power supplies on all your CPUs and storage, redundant network links, etc. Perhaps the OP is planning on hosting a pay net p*rn site that will loose money if it's down, in which case it should be hosted at a real data center anyway.

Reply to
Pete C.

deans,

I'm guessing that you know how to run wire, install outlet boxes and wire outlets so my advice is to be sure that the attic outlet has a "red" cover plate. Red is used to indicate the likelihood of electrical current when the "power" is off. I'd put an duplex outlet in the basement and one in the attic with wire (14 ga.?) running between them via the conduit. Put red cover plates on both outlets and plug the output of the UPS into the basement outlet. Voila, you now have UPS available at both outlets. Since you are interested in code, run this idea by the boys in town hall before you do it. I bet red cover plates is all you need.

Dave M.

Reply to
David Martel

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