Computer UPS Battery Back Up?

I am looking to buy a UPS power supply for my computer, but I keep reading different things on how it works.
If I am in the middle of a program such as writing , or something similar will the UPS unit keep the power on the computer during a power outage where I won't lose any information?
I read there is a slight delay to transfer the power during a power outage where you can lose the information.

Thanks In Advance.

All power is flowing through the ups even before a blackout, and is specifically designed to maintain hardware operation during the transition to battery. The only issues I'm aware of come with the software.

Unattended, a full setup will monitor battery runtime on the current load, and instruct the software to perform a safe shutdown as configured. It's possible to exceed this time if the shutdown is delayed or takes to long.

Get a good brand, APC or Tripp Lite and you should be fine.

That is what I needed to know. Thanks ElectronGuru.

ElectronGuru said:

All power is flowing through the ups even before a blackout, and is specifically designed to maintain hardware operation during the transition to battery. The only issues I'm aware of come with the software.

Unattended, a full setup will monitor battery runtime on the current load, and instruct the software to perform a safe shutdown as configured. It's possible to exceed this time if the shutdown is delayed or takes to long.

Get a good brand, APC or Tripp Lite and you should be fine.

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The original APC UPS I had always converted all power to DC, charged the battery, and then used the DC to AC conversion for the outup. This had some advantages in the area of response time against glitches, but also was less efficient than modern setups.

The APC UPS I have now has much longer run time, but also uses the battery to "supplement" the AC that is passing through, rather than make it all into DC first. It actually has a setting for how fast the UPS reaction time should be for various sensitivities of equipment. I mostly use a laptop now, so a UPS is not so much for my computer anymore, rather it is to filter out the glitches from the new "Smart Meter" which were causing the DSL router to keep doing a re-start.

I have tested unplugging it, and the DSL router just keeps going. Mine can run the DSL modem for 6 hours. My son uses a lot of UPS setups on desktops for his business to ride through brownouts and glitches, and they seem to work fine.

What I really would like to find is a UPS that can run the furnace fan or a refrigerator for an hour. Starting current is a real challenge for those, especially the refrigerator.

HarryN said:

What I really would like to find is a UPS that can run the furnace fan or a refrigerator for an hour. Starting current is a real challenge for those, especially the refrigerator.

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I am also surprised that no one has developed a solution to this problem. I would think that some sort of high-performance energy storage device such as a capacitor bank or small high-current battery could be charged during idle times to buffer a few seconds of startup energy demand. But I'm no engineer and imagine that this hasn't been done for reasons of space/performance/cost constraints or some other reason.

Also remember to size your UPS appropriately. If you just want to catch the odd mini power glitch then one of the small 250 units will do, but if you want to work effectively through a blackout so you can save everything and put your computer down on your own terms, then you will be looking at a 1000 unit most likely. We go through a lot of UPS' at work, and while the older APC are rock solid, I've seen several failures with the newer smart-ups. I bought several Cyber Power recently and have been happy with them.

Of course, if you want to power a fridge like Harry, you will need several large marine batteries for that!

I appreciate all of your suggestions, and I think I am going for a mid size UPS as I only need to keep the power for a few minutes just to save anything I am working on.

FlashKat said:

I am looking to buy a UPS power supply for my computer, but I keep reading different things on how it works.
If I am in the middle of a program such as writing , or something similar will the UPS unit keep the power on the computer during a power outage where I won't lose any information?
I read there is a slight delay to transfer the power during a power outage where you can lose the information.

Thanks In Advance.

Click to expand...

If you use an online/double-conversion UPS, there will be no delay and it also protects your sensitive electronic equipment from a low quality utility power. In my office, all servers and network devices are protected using APC Smart Online UPS.

An Online UPS will be more expensive compared to Line Interactive and Standby UPS types.

idleprocess said:

I am also surprised that no one has developed a solution to this problem. I would think that some sort of high-performance energy storage device such as a capacitor bank or small high-current battery could be charged during idle times to buffer a few seconds of startup energy demand. But I'm no engineer and imagine that this hasn't been done for reasons of space/performance/cost constraints or some other reason.

Click to expand...

The problem isn't so much the power storage as it is the inverter. A car or trolling marine battery for example can easily deliver far more power than a refrigerator or furnace needs to start, but you'll find it far more cost effective to use an automotive style inverter opposed to a large industrial UPS capable of enough current, since it doesn't really matter if power is temporarily interrupted to a fridge or furnace with the exception that temporary interruption might lose the settings on a smart(er) appliance. For example my refrigerator will default to fine crushed ice and door alarm on after a power outage.

Anyway, with a good sized marine type battery that can handle deeper discharge and the inverter hooked up to that, you still need an additional circuit. That circuit could look like a dual pole, dual throw relay that connects live mains AC to the fridge when energized, and connects the inverter to the fridge when non-energized.

The energized state would come from and be detected by being plugged into a mains AC outlet so when power goes out the relay switches to the inverter for powering the fridge.

The problem is that unless you want to spend enough for a large battery array, running a fridge or furnace for only an hour doesn't get you much. A home won't cool down nor a fridge warm up much in only an hour without power, rather it's the longer periods of power outage that you most need to accommodate and those are better handled by a gas generator. Gas generator plus a couple 5 gallon cans of gas will give you more power than a considerably larger volume, thousands of pounds weight and dollars worth of batteries.

JC, you are right about 1 hour of "time". What I was thinking is that 1 hour of furnace fan "run time" might keep a house warm all night without the noise of a generator going. A good generator can re-charge even a pretty big marine battery in a few hours.

A big hole in the automotive market is the option of a healthy inverter powerful enough to run the "must have" items in a house during a disaster, and an automatic engine start to charge up the battery as needed. There are a few very specialized vehicles like this, but they are all over $ 80K. I know I would pay extra for this option.

FWIW, I saw ads for a hybrid pickup truck that included that capability for far less than $80K.
Good for contractors and ranchers.

Since it could use the much larger traction battery for power the inverter output was pretty hefty IIRC.
Tapatalk...

On parallel hybrid/electric vehicles (Prius is a common example), a dc to dc converter charges the 12 volt aux battery from the high voltage traction battery. One could connect an inverter to the 12 volt battery and with the key left in "run", the engine will periodically start and operate to recharge the traction battery (which in turn charges the 12 volt battery)

I also read parts of a website and blog ( http://www.priups.com/ ) [click on the Prius, ignore the dynamite and generator] where the owner tapped directly into the high voltage traction battery on his vehicle and used it to supply a large, commercial UPS unit that normally takes a 240 volt battery bank.

The person I know who got me interested into LED lighting recently bough a Prius that he's also planning to use as an emergency generator.

HarryN said:

JC, you are right about 1 hour of "time". What I was thinking is that 1 hour of furnace fan "run time" might keep a house warm all night without the noise of a generator going. A good generator can re-charge even a pretty big marine battery in a few hours.

A big hole in the automotive market is the option of a healthy inverter powerful enough to run the "must have" items in a house during a disaster, and an automatic engine start to charge up the battery as needed. There are a few very specialized vehicles like this, but they are all over $ 80K. I know I would pay extra for this option.

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The problem is a modern ICE car engine bay isn't designed to accommodate this. There's room for a conventional alternator which is sometimes approaching 200A but usually closer to 100A or less capacity. Now take into account charging losses and inverter losses and even with a fairly large alternator at 140A, the resultant continuous load capability powering AC appliances would be down around 1300W or lower.

That would start an average sized, modern (high efficiency) furnace or fridge, but probably wouldn't be able to start one if the other were already running. It's very close, might be possible in some situations but I like a bit more margin than that.

Granted the battery itself is a bit of a buffer but in modern engine compartments space is so tight that there isn't anywhere to put a 2nd alternator even if you had a clear path to run an additional belt for it. Maybe in an older truck this is easier.

Starting it to charge the battery wouldn't be hard, a simple low voltage detection circuit could trigger an off the shelf car starter module, many of which have a timed engine-off setting or a 2nd subcircuit could cut the engine off when a high enough voltage is detected.

I still think a standalone gas generator is the best option... ready to go, designed to do this, and isn't all that much more expensive than a decent 2000W battery bank powered inverter alone.

A stand alone generator is a good option (perhaps diesel is even better) in areas that do not have oxygenates in the gasoline. In CA, the gasoline is so unstable that it will often start to substantially react and gum up small engine parts within 30 days. This did not used to happen, but over the past 10 years, it has become such a serious problem here that I have to buy special "oxygenate free" gasoline for my Honda lawn mower or it just gums up and won't start right after a mere 45 days.

Trust me, I have gone round and round with Honda and the dealer on this, and it all comes back to problem between small Honda engines and CA gasoline. It just is not stable.

To anyone who works for the CA DEQ - Thanks for the great work on screwing up the gasoline so that the cargo ships can keep burning heavy fuel oil.