I'm looking into a UPS for my desktop unit, and was just wondering. We do loose power here a few times a year mostly to drunk drivers hitting the poles on this curvy road I live on. Weather and earthquakes are also a big factor here behind the Redwood Curtain.

Peace :-)>

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Oh, man......
There are soooooooo many out there.
Mine are a couple of Cyber Power 1500AVRs.
They have been around for years, and are virtually bulletproof.
Mine are sorely in need of battery refreshment. But even so, they still provide very good power filtering and will shut down in the case of power glitches so the rigs don't get the shock when the power comes back up. And off, and up, and off.....you get my drift.

I bought these two as 'open box' specials from Tiger, I think. Years ago.

When I get caught up on bills, I shall refurb the batteries so they can once again function as true backups.
LOL...I think these days it might be cheaper for me to find a couple more of them than to replace the batteries.

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"Freedom is just Chaos, with better lighting." Alan Dean Foster

Currently I am using a 1300va APC, like this guy, for my main gaming machine & a few other machines. I also have an older 1000va APC in the living room for my HTPC & TV.

Home UPS units generally have a much lower rating, about 60%, for their output in Watts versus the VA(volt amp) rating. So be sure to check both when selecting your model. Running full tilt my C2D E8400 with a HD6870 runs around 220w IIRC.

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SETI@home classic workunits: 93,865 CPU time: 863,447 hours
Join the [url=http://tinyurl.com/8y46zvu]BP6/VP6 User Group[

Yeah it really is a pretty general question to be sure. Just started looking in to it. I don't really need much. The desktop only runs Seti, but I will be installing a earthquake sensor to it. Since the monitor will be reporting 24/7 I don't want to loose any data and screw anybody up. Same goes with Seti which is of course my favorite program. So far Seti hasn't suffered at all during a power outage.

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I hesitated to mention APC, because they had a REALLY bad rep for producing backups that claimed x and delivered much less than -x, even when new.
They were the cheapest on the market, and delivered as such.
That was a long time ago, dunno if they have changed their image since then.

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"Freedom is just Chaos, with better lighting." Alan Dean Foster

I'm running a 2200vA Smart UPS form APC, and it has worked well so far, I do need to get fresh batteries in it, but it can keep me running for about 20 minutes, but I have it set to shut me down after 5 minutes.

Steve

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Warning, addicted to SETI crunching!
Crunching as a member of GPU Users Group.
GPUUG Website

I have a Cyber Power 850VA/510W that's running close to it's limit. It does a great job with the PC, monitor and router but my modem don't like the switch from AC to battery. It needs to be rebooted whenever the power flickers.

FWIW: my UPS can run my modem and router for an hour and fifteen minutes while I watch Netflix on my Nexus 7.

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</Tazz>

I was the the Engineer that ran the Colleges Hvac System, which ran a program through Johnson Controls and Honeywell. It was a very intense programm to say the least. The Computer program ran everything from parking lot lights, water sprinklers,boilers,a/c units,air comp, room heaters blah ba blah ba bla. I used to look at that UPS in awe. It was huge. The battery case was bigger than any 3 PC Towers. Not sure of the hours it could run,or what it was rated at, but it must have been pretty big. The IT dudes took care of that and any program problems. All I had to do was push keys, and update all the class and campus schedules. That in its self was very time consuming. Never lost any Data due to power failures, and we had a lot. Thats what I want. Just kidding of course. It would be cool though. It would make the farm look pretty awesome.
I think all I really need is one of those smaller personel units, just to get by and properly shut down the PC. Rambling I know. To much Coffee. :-)>

Peace Out

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I hesitated to mention APC, because they had a REALLY bad rep for producing backups that claimed x and delivered much less than -x, even when new.
They were the cheapest on the market, and delivered as such.
That was a long time ago, dunno if they have changed their image since then.

I only switched to using the Back-UPS Pro models, from the Smart-UPS models, in 2005. So I can not really say anything about their home units before that.

If only reviewers would test & compare UPS's like everything else.

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SETI@home classic workunits: 93,865 CPU time: 863,447 hours
Join the [url=http://tinyurl.com/8y46zvu]BP6/VP6 User Group[

I hesitated to mention APC, because they had a REALLY bad rep for producing backups that claimed x and delivered much less than -x, even when new.
They were the cheapest on the market, and delivered as such.
That was a long time ago, dunno if they have changed their image since then.

I only switched to using the Back-UPS Pro models, from the Smart-UPS models, in 2005. So I can not really say anything about their home units before that.

If only reviewers would test & compare UPS's like everything else.

So few consider them essential equipment, I am not surprise that reviews are not in abundance.

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"Freedom is just Chaos, with better lighting." Alan Dean Foster

I was the the Engineer that ran the Colleges Hvac System, which ran a program through Johnson Controls and Honeywell. It was a very intense programm to say the least. The Computer program ran everything from parking lot lights, water sprinklers,boilers,a/c units,air comp, room heaters blah ba blah ba bla. I used to look at that UPS in awe. It was huge. The battery case was bigger than any 3 PC Towers. Not sure of the hours it could run,or what it was rated at, but it must have been pretty big. The IT dudes took care of that and any program problems. All I had to do was push keys, and update all the class and campus schedules. That in its self was very time consuming. Never lost any Data due to power failures, and we had a lot. Thats what I want. Just kidding of course. It would be cool though. It would make the farm look pretty awesome.
I think all I really need is one of those smaller personel units, just to get by and properly shut down the PC. Rambling I know. To much Coffee. :-)>

Peace Out

So YOU are the one that doinked the servers time after time because the server HVAC failed???
Or are you posturing? I can't quite tell from your last comment whether you are confessing or telling a story.

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"Freedom is just Chaos, with better lighting." Alan Dean Foster

I'm looking into a UPS for my desktop unit, and was just wondering. We do loose power here a few times a year mostly to drunk drivers hitting the poles on this curvy road I live on. Weather and earthquakes are also a big factor here behind the Redwood Curtain.

Peace :-)>

CyberPower PP1500SWT4 Smart App Sinewave UPS - 1500VA/1000W AVR 8-Out Tower SNMP/HTTP

Price: $318.23 & eligible for FREE Shipping @Amazon.com

I'm looking into a UPS for my desktop unit, and was just wondering. We do loose power here a few times a year mostly to drunk drivers hitting the poles on this curvy road I live on. Weather and earthquakes are also a big factor here behind the Redwood Curtain.

Peace :-)>

CyberPower PP1500SWT4 Smart App Sinewave UPS - 1500VA/1000W AVR 8-Out Tower SNMP/HTTP

Price: $318.23 & eligible for FREE Shipping @Amazon.com

I should repost some info I did many years ago......

All UPSs are not alike.

The cheapest ones, when in power recovery mode, do a chopwave imitation of sine wave power. This, at best, confuses many current power supplies. Because they, too, also take bits and pieces of the mains at their will.

The only true backups continue to provide 'sine wave power' on battery backup.
And few do.

Sine wave is what the mains do. Cheap backups give back a chop wave, hoping that the PSU will smooth it out. Not all can do it. The best, like my PC Power and Cooling Silencers, can. They have enough holdup time in their caps to ride out a few millisecond of bad shit and come up with it on their face.

You want to talk worst case.........I have it.

You want true recommendations.....I have them.

I have all my rigs on backups.....the batteries are gone, but they still provide voltage and glitch coverage.

I have a critical rig on another backup, but no backup, as you know it.

A Sola autotransformer.
This transformer does several thinys. It regulates voltage, it absorbs transients, and it has a few milliseconds of backup in it's core windings.

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"Freedom is just Chaos, with better lighting." Alan Dean Foster

Does that mean you don't consider the Cyberpower mentioned
a true sine wave UPS?

Ha Ha Ha, no I never screwed anything up. I worked hand in hand with the IT guys. When something went wrong it was either mechanical/electrical or the pc program went TU. So it usually took myself and a It guy to resolve the problems.

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Does that mean you don't consider the Cyberpower mentioned
a true sine wave UPS?

It is.


It's been a while since i was in the repair industry, so the terminology has changed over time.

Most UPS units are standby units (often known as Line Interactive these days) that put out a modified sine wave. Switch mode PSUs have no problems with modified sine wave input- as long as it's a reasonably clean output. Some really cheap systems are really cheap for a reason.
Standby units can be extremelt basic- if the power goes out they switch over to running from the batteries- that's it. Better units will provide mains filtering, buck & boost (under voltage & over voltage regulation), monitoring software etc.

Online UPS units (often known as Double Conversion these days) always run from the batteries- there is no switchover (think of it as a battery charger hooked up to some batteries, which are connected to an inverter) & most will provide a sine wave output.


I've got a couple of cheapie Digitec 1500VA UPS units. One of them has car batteries instead of the original batteries, so when the power goes out it's good for at least 6 hours.
Having both computers on the one UPS is less than 2/3 of it's rated output, but after 5min on battery you could smell the UPS cooking.
Cheap UPS units are designed to support their rated output only for as long as it takes to shut the system down- not even 5min. For extended run times at anything near 50% or more of a UPSs rated output you need a UPS that is designed for additional external batteries.

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Grant
Darwin NT

Home UPS units generally have a much lower rating, about 60%, for their output in Watts versus the VA(volt amp) rating.

That's the case for any sort of inverter output.
Most devices are rated in Watts. The output of inverters is rated in VA (Volt Amps).
Many people would know that Power = Voltage * Current, however that is only true for DC circuits or AC circuits with entirley resistive loads (eg an electric kettle, incandescent light bulb) where the current & voltage are in phase.
With most devices, especially switch mode power supplies, the voltage & current are out of phase & the end result is Reactive Power.
Watts is the amount of power the device is actually using to operate. Reactive Power is the power used due to the current & voltage being out of phase. The total load for a power supply to a device is it's Watts rating + it's reactive power.

So if you have a device that is rated at 300W, with a power factor of .5
300*0.5=150
300+150=450

For your 300W device, you would need a inverter with a minimum rating of 450VA.

In a lot of computer PSU reviews they make a lot of noise about Power Factor correction. For most people it doesn't matter. The power company charges you for the power you use- Watts, they don't charge you for the reactive power. But if you live off grid, or have a UPS, then the power factor needs to be taken in to consideration when deciding just how many VAs the unit will require. Your devices only use their rating in Watts, but if that plus the reactive power is more than the inverter can supply, it will be overloaded.

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Grant
Darwin NT

Does that mean you don't consider the Cyberpower mentioned
a true sine wave UPS?

Cyber Power calls it 'simulated sine wave' output when on battery.
They do not elaborate on that.
So I would say not.

Years ago, when the batteries were still viable, I was here during an outage, and everything clicked along just fine when the power went out. It was kinda funny when everything went dark except the monitor.

Back in the day, the best you could get were the Sola double conversion units.
'Always on'.
AC to DC to AC. With the batteries hung in the middle. When the power goes down, the only thing that happens is the first conversion from AC to DC drops, and the batteries start supplying the juice. There is no switchover time.

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"Freedom is just Chaos, with better lighting." Alan Dean Foster

I have:

APC 1400VA Smart-UPS
APC 1300VA Back-UPS
APC 2200VA Back-UPS
2x Tripp-Lite 1400VA


All are in need of batteries. Need 6x UB12180 and 8x UB1280 batteries to get them all operational again. Cheapest I can find them is 48.60 for the 12180 and 21.95 for 1280... then 80 for shipping.

Right now I'm not using anything since I have a bunch of empty shells. I need to get one of the two Back-UPS working though. Probably go for the cheaper one to get running. The 2200 needs 4 of the big ones, but the 1300 only needs two of the smaller ones.

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Linux laptop:
record uptime: 1511d 20h 19m (ended due to the power brick giving-up)

I have:

APC 1400VA Smart-UPS
APC 1300VA Back-UPS
APC 2200VA Back-UPS
2x Tripp-Lite 1400VA


All are in need of batteries. Need 6x UB12180 and 8x UB1280 batteries to get them all operational again. Cheapest I can find them is 48.60 for the 12180 and 21.95 for 1280... then 80 for shipping.

Right now I'm not using anything since I have a bunch of empty shells. I need to get one of the two Back-UPS working though. Probably go for the cheaper one to get running. The 2200 needs 4 of the big ones, but the 1300 only needs two of the smaller ones.

+1
I've got an APC SmartUPS 750 and an APC SmartUPS SC 420. The battery in the small one ran out a fortnight ago and the 750's died today. They're a bit expensive from eBuyer; I did find one supplier at about half the price, but if I throw in a Titan GPU I could probably get away short of a thousand quid...

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