3 ms·

Wait. Why? My laser printer is on a UPS. What is the problem I am not aware of?

KolenCh 3y ago
It would becomes a power event on the UPS. Not only you should not plug it in a UPS (the initial surge when a laser printer is on would likely surpass the power limit of your UPS too), a laser printer and an UPS should not be under the same circuit breaker. I know because due to a limitation to where I lived before, I have to put both under the same circuit breaker. Every time I print something, it is a power event (where I can hear that the UPS temporarily switched to battery powered mode.)
- Loic 3y ago
  My UPS has a plug for the printer. It does only surge protection. This is convenient to have the full IT equipment of the office protected with just one box.
  - masklinn 3y ago
    Does your UPS have a plug for laser printers, or just for printers? It might be assuming an inkjet, which have much lower power draws: an inkjet will draw maybe 50W. A laser printer are generally in the mid-hundreds at least and some models can get into the high hundreds to low kW, you need a pretty heavy UPS to handle that and still power other systems.
    - Loic 3y ago
      For laser printer, it is specified on the plug. It protects only against power surge coming from the utility provider. It does not provide power to the printer, this is just a protection if your house is hit by lightning.
  - KolenCh 3y ago
    Laser printer is known to cause a surge event too. Normally there's a limited amount of surge protection available and routine surge would gradually used up the pool. However, surge protection may not be as important. I heard an argument that it is basically snake oil (because an actual surge would normally be much more powerful and beyond a typical capacity they have, and some causes fire.)
vGPU 3y ago
Mine will always trip the alarm. Voltage draw too high.
- masklinn 3y ago
  Surely it’s current draw? Wouldn’t the printer always operate at line voltage?
  - nbernard 3y ago
    Depending on your supply (for instance in an old house), the printer current consumption can cause a voltage drop on nearby circuits, and this voltage drop can in turn trigger the UPS.
  - anonomousename 3y ago
    Yes. The voltage alarm in this case would be the voltage dipping too low (voltage sag) due to high current.

It would becomes a power event on the UPS. Not only you should not plug it in a UPS (the initial surge when a laser printer is on would likely surpass the power limit of your UPS too), a laser printer and an UPS should not be under the same circuit breaker. I know because due to a limitation to where I lived before, I have to put both under the same circuit breaker. Every time I print something, it is a power event (where I can hear that the UPS temporarily switched to battery powered mode.)

Loic 3y ago
My UPS has a plug for the printer. It does only surge protection. This is convenient to have the full IT equipment of the office protected with just one box.
- masklinn 3y ago
  Does your UPS have a plug for laser printers, or just for printers? It might be assuming an inkjet, which have much lower power draws: an inkjet will draw maybe 50W. A laser printer are generally in the mid-hundreds at least and some models can get into the high hundreds to low kW, you need a pretty heavy UPS to handle that and still power other systems.
  - Loic 3y ago
    For laser printer, it is specified on the plug. It protects only against power surge coming from the utility provider. It does not provide power to the printer, this is just a protection if your house is hit by lightning.
- KolenCh 3y ago
  Laser printer is known to cause a surge event too. Normally there's a limited amount of surge protection available and routine surge would gradually used up the pool. However, surge protection may not be as important. I heard an argument that it is basically snake oil (because an actual surge would normally be much more powerful and beyond a typical capacity they have, and some causes fire.)

vGPU 3y ago

Mine will always trip the alarm. Voltage draw too high.

masklinn 3y ago
Surely it’s current draw? Wouldn’t the printer always operate at line voltage?
- nbernard 3y ago
  Depending on your supply (for instance in an old house), the printer current consumption can cause a voltage drop on nearby circuits, and this voltage drop can in turn trigger the UPS.
- anonomousename 3y ago
  Yes. The voltage alarm in this case would be the voltage dipping too low (voltage sag) due to high current.