[geeks] Large UPS Help...

[Porkchop]

Hey all,

I rescued a 200-240v UPS...a PowerWare Prestige 9... 6000P6HV 
(6000VA) with batteries.

Originally, it came with a transformer which was good for 208v. I 
know from the manuals that the transformer wasn't required, it just 
added things like a bypass switch, line noise clearing, and took the 
output of the UPS to 120v. We hooked it in line, but we didn't 
realize the electricians left us 240, not 208. After blowing the 
breakers a few times, we figure it out and removed the transformer.

The UPS accepted 240 just fine. Its output was also 240, so my 
problem was how to get it to power my 120v equipment. Naturally, I 
took the 240v 2-pole circuit and split it so each pole to neutral was 
120v. Job's done, everything powered up, great.

Two days go by...I let the batteries charge, it had been out of 
service for perhaps 5 months so I wanted everything to have lots of 
time. Then a huge rain and windstorm comes through... I bounce home 
with glee and wait for the power to go out.

It does, but the UPS dosn't. The load drops and the UPS starts 
clicking. I wait a few minutes, then press the "power on" button to 
see if it brings up the load and BOOM! Local breakers pop and the 
breaker back at the main panel pops.

I calmly unplug the new UPS and put the old one back.

Figuring it was a hardware fault caused by toying with the 
transformer, I got a new unit on ePay (I can reuse the rescue'd 
batteries). But I'm wondering if my pole-splitting activities (and 
the resulting unevenly balanced load) could have been a contributing 
factor.

Any experts out there? Where can I get a appropriately sized 
240-to-120v transformer?

Danke,
-porkchop