Time to buy a UPS (Uninterrupted Power Supply) Suggestions?

Summer is over and my house had no less than 20 power outages in the past 4 months. Luckily no equipment damage but I'm not going to take any more chances.

Using the Tripp-Lite website, I calculated that my present and future power needs for my computer equipment won't exceed 129 watts.

Some of their UPS' have an output of 180 watts then jump to 300 watts for the next model level.

Should I go with the 180 watt model knowing that my future needs won't approach that requirement or spend a few bucks more and buy the overkill model. All of the other features are very similar.

Suggestions anyone?

well...for one thing, how long do these power outages typically last?

power outages dont kill electronics..its the spike with so many electronics on that causes the damage...

originally I thought of buying a computer UPS...wind up selling the computer and bought a laptop instead...not only does it only uses 1 plug...the UPS is built in

Illum_the_nation said:

well...for one thing, how long do these power outages typically last?

power outages dont kill electronics..its the spike with so many electronics on that causes the damage...

originally I thought of buying a computer UPS...wind up selling the computer and bought a laptop instead...not only does it only uses 1 plug...the UPS is built in

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I'm well aware that it's the spike that kills. I'm hoping that the software that tripp lite provides does an orderly shutdown of my PC.

The outages range from a nano-second disruption to a 4-5 hour, sit-in-the-dark-with-powerful-flashlights ordeal.

Your 129 Watt number seems fairly low to me. I'm running 4 fans total - including the power supply, processor and case fans, a 23" LCD monitor and two hard drives and am using 41% of the capacity of my 1250 Watt UPS. I would not buy anything less than a 500 Watt unit. Just my 2 cents worth.

i was wondering where you get that number....the lowest power supply for a computer is typically near that of 300-400 watts...so what could you possibly be running with 130 watts providing your adding the monitor consumption into your load?

Illum_the_nation said:

i was wondering where you get that number....the lowest power supply for a computer is typically near that of 300-400 watts...so what could you possibly be running with 130 watts providing your adding the monitor consumption into your load?

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I used their calculator.

Maybe I messed up. Try it for your system.

a shumacher 375 watt inverter from Sears is only $25 (reduced from 40) ! all you need is to add batteries, and a little trickle charger to keep them topped off and you're in business.

TedTheLed said:

a shumacher 375 watt inverter from Sears is only $25 (reduced from 40) ! all you need is to add batteries, and a little trickle charger to keep them topped off and you're in business.

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that was my original idea....inverter based UPS...but i cant seem to find a grid transfer system that can be installed without special tools and wont break my budget...

only one piece inverter backup with automatic transfer would be the xantrex PS 400
http://www.xantrex.com/web/id/204/p/1/pt/32/product.asp

but i fear the battery capacity may be too small if you plan to burn the gizmo for 4-5 hours...it claims up to 8 hours...but from the dimensions of the UPS and my own experience with UPS batteries...8 hours is a bit.....long

Marty Weiner said:

Summer is over and my house had no less than 20 power outages in the past 4 months. Luckily no equipment damage but I'm not going to take any more chances.

Using the Tripp-Lite website, I calculated that my present and future power needs for my computer equipment won't exceed 129 watts.

Some of their UPS' have an output of 180 watts then jump to 300 watts for the next model level.

Should I go with the 180 watt model knowing that my future needs won't approach that requirement or spend a few bucks more and buy the overkill model. All of the other features are very similar.

Suggestions anyone?

Click to expand...

Try a 300 watt. My Dell Precision workstation pulls 110 watts when idling, but at 100% CPU that jumps swiftly to 170-180 watts. Get a 300W unit minimum, and APC is a good brand, with good software that will do the unattended shudown for you. I'm using their lighter-duty BackUPS CS 500VA/300W. You can get bigger, but you pay a premium. An alternative is to use multiple units, load balancing the power draw.

Note that VA does not equal watts, a 500VA unit is 300W.

Also, by over-spec'ing your UPS, you have more runtime when the blackouts hit. Running half load will extend the useable capacity of your battery.

KevinL said:

Also, by over-spec'ing your UPS, you have more runtime when the blackouts hit. Running half load will extend the useable capacity of your battery.

Click to expand...

Excellent point.

might give the APC wizard below a try

APC Wizard

using the same specs on both Tripplite and APC came back with :

Tripplite say
watts used : 189
Recommended VA : 800
RUNTIME: 25 Mins
Max Capacity Used : 39%
2 year product warranty / $200,000 Ultimate Lifetime Insurance

APC :

watts used : does not list
Output Power Capacity : 540 Watts / 800 VA
Runtime : 16 minutes
Max Capacity used : Does not list
Standard Warranty : 2 years repair or replace
Equipment protection policy Lifetime : $150000


I have always used a surge protector, have not used a UPS here in the US. , but my power has only gone off 1 time in the last 2 years or so.

I've had equipment damaged by spikes and brown-outs mostly...of the 1/2-wave variety. Some better made equipment managed through it, others burned up.
Entertainment system wasn't immune either.

An UPS is good for preventing loss data, but a power conditioner is desired if you experience the nasties I do.

If I was living in an area that had that many expected power outs, I would be on a laptop as my main computer. I don't know what your computer usage/needs are.... But unless you are doing heavy duty computing, a laptop would be ideal. If you were using an external big screen monitor.... When the power goes out.... Just use the built in or plug the monitor into an inverter.

frisco

My suggestion for a UPS for home use is don't buy new. Businesses throw them out all the time because they replace them whenever they get new machines. The local used computer store here sells desktop models at five for $5. No, I wouldn't trust the surge suppression in those (because there is no way to accurately measure remaining life of MOVs) but you could always plug them into a surge strip.

I picked up a few used $1,200.00 APC Smart-UPS 3000VA Server models with full sine-wave output (important if you want to run motors like in a fish tank filter). How much did I pay, at a retail store? $12.50 each, and I'm still using the batteries they came with three years later. I have so much excess capacity that I can continue to watch the plasma TV and run the stereo when the power goes out.

That's cheaper than Dan's "Ghetto UPS:" http://www.dansdata.com/diyups.htm

The problem with buying used is that the batteries have a limited shelf life AND degrade a little each time that they are used. The batteries can caost and arm and a leg. My 1200 WATT (not va) UPS used 4 12 volt batteries that cost $40 plus shipping each.

I've tried the inverter + charger + battery before. It was not too successful. The problem lies in finding a charger that provides the necessary current AND does not overcharge the battery.

By the time I bought the inverter, deep discharge battery, charger and cables I'd invested almost as much as a good UPS would have run. Then when the power failed I found the battrey had gone dry.

I like the newer UPSes with the auto voltage regulation. If the line voltage drops (a brown out) the UPS kicks it's inverter on and boosts the voltage back to the proper values. My Cyberpower, tripplite and blackout buster UPSes have that feature.

Daniel

Well if it wasn't for most people being leery of buying used UPSes, then they wouldn't be near worthless in the resale market, would they?

I figure it's like buying a used car rather than new. After all with the $3,562.50 I saved, I can sure afford to buy replacement batteries sooner than if I had bought new.

Also, it's possible to find third-party replacement SLAs for APC UPS'es. If I bought a bunch of used UPSes, I'd junk the batteries anyway, and buy new SLAs, just consider it part of the cost, as bfg9000 said. Lots of savings. Man you should send some my way if they weren't so heavy

Before APC started badging their batteries, they left the OEM's name on it. My first BackUPS Pro 650 had a Yuasa SLA, I brought it down to the local battery shop, left the old one with them (recycling program) and went home with exactly the same Yuasa, brand new too. Half the price of what APC wanted.

As long as you use high grade maintenance-free SLAs that mirror the characteristics of the original cell as closely as possible, you should be A-OK.

here's a link to a previous SLA thread

http://candlepowerforums.com/vb/showthread.php?t=130537

as I said in a previous post, SLAs are a bit more delicate than lead-acids and you musn't overcharge them or charge at too high a voltage: a 6 volt SLA battery should be charged up to 6.45-6.9 volts (obviously double those numbers for 12 volt sla)

Ignore me if you like but once you boil away the electrolyte in a SLA battery there's nothing you can do to fix it.

If you want some serious backup capability, you can hook up a UPS to a car battery or more than one if you need even more runtime Just make sure the UPS is rated enough to power all you goodies

I have also used UPS's as inverters. There are two drawback's to just adding larger or external batteries to a traditional UPS. First most inverters need to see 120vac in before they will start, a few will start "cold", but most need to see the grid first. Not a big deal if you're using it as a UPS. The second thing is make sure you have good cooling if your running them for extended times. I believe they often have poor cooling thinking they will only run for 20 minutes at a pop before the batteries dies and the unit shuts down or the grid comes back up.

I would recommend a UPS rated at least twice its power if you are going to run it for extended periods of time. So if you need 400va get an 800va and add a larger battery, personally I prefer about 3-4 times the rated load. The unit it won't get to warm since it not running at 100%. They also will take much longer to recharge the batteries and typically have poor battery chargers, but that is a different story.