Anyone happy with their UPS?

Ive long used UPS devices. I like them and will continue to use them. If you are in an area with unstable power they are absolutely worthwhile.

His rant is basically well known limitations of the retail model, cheapo batteries, and crappy software, but none of his dispersions devalue the actual function of the UPS device.
 
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TLDR: He's whining that stuff is made as cheaply as possible and doesn't deliver stellar results.

I've actually gotten pretty good life out of my personal UPS units (APC 1500VA) and some of the ones I use at work (variety) take a beating and do fairly well too.
 
I've felt that way too. Guess I'd be pissed too though if my ups barfed when I really needed it to do its job.
 
I'm using a pre-historic APC Back-ups 400, not the same as the current one they sell.
I was given it around 15 years ago, all it needed was a new battery.
Since then I found that nearly all outages are momentary and even a practically dead battery copes with them so the battery is about 10 years old now.
It lasts seconds on a full outage with this battery but that doesnt matter much to me because they rarely happen.
Its the niggly little outages that typically reset my alarm clock and cause a reboot that piss me off.
With a new battery it lasts about 15 mins to 1/2hr with the PC around idle.
This UPS must be 20 years old and hasnt put a foot wrong yet ...
 
So how critical is a up for the safety of a machine?

Im mostly worried about power surges, lightning, etc.

I don't really run a lot of mission critical stuff that can't suffer from down time
 
I've given up on trying to use a UPS to power my main computer, but I do use one to power my cablemodem, router, and access points. This at least lets me continue having internet for my tablets, laptops, phones, and other devices without having to rely on 4G internet.
 
craigdt said:
So how critical is a up for the safety of a machine?

Im mostly worried about power surges, lightning, etc.

I don't really run a lot of mission critical stuff that can't suffer from down time
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I've seen what happens when you don't run a UPS, several years ago, I had a UPS on my computer and my wife's wasn't running one. lightning hit a tree next to my garage, sending a power surge through my wiring. end result, I built my wife a new computer and bought a UPS for it.

If you look at the log of events on my UPS software, its scary, overvoltage spikes, voltage drops (brownouts) complete loss of power for several seconds. worth peace of mind to have one. especially if your local power grid is unstable or you live close to any sort of manufacturing. Large motors starting can play havoc with the local power grid. they are supposed to have large capacitors on the lines to compensate for the voltage drop, but sometimes it still flutters.
 
I pounce on the cyberpower PFC version 1500VAs whenever they go on sale for $140 or less. The most recent time was $120, picked up 3. I have put about a dozen of these in different places and they do the job just fine. Life has taught me that if the power is out for more than a few minutes, its going to stay out.

If you want real uptime, get a fucking generator, and the ones that don't screw up electronics are not cheap (honda, trust me). My dream house would have natural gas and a sweet whole house setup, or at least several breakers worth of generation.
 
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Aluminum said:
I pounce on the cyberpower PFC version 1500VAs whenever they go on sale for $140 or less. The most recent time was $120, picked up 3. I have put about a dozen of these in different places and they do the job just fine. Life has taught me that if the power is out for more than a few minutes, its going to stay out.

If you want real uptime, get a fucking generator, and the ones that don't fuck up electronics (honda, trust me) are not cheap. My dream house would have natural gas and a sweet house house setup (or at least several breakers worth).
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Get a whole house Generac setup, that runs off of Natural gas, if I ever win the lottery and build my dream house, that's going to be on the list, a 10KW auto switching generator that runs off a big ass tank (that also runs a nice gas range and gas furnace) should do nicely.
 
The UPS has been a vital part of my system, down in Texas where I live I had been hit directly by three major hurricanes and never had a issue with brown outs or spikes. According to my neighbor who is the transmission manager for our utility company he tells me that the phase is the only thing they must provide(60Hz), voltages are not tightly regulated due to many conditions.
 
motomonkey said:
Get a whole house Generac setup, that runs off of Natural gas, if I ever win the lottery and build my dream house, that's going to be on the list, a 10KW auto switching generator that runs off a big ass tank (that also runs a nice gas range and gas furnace) should do nicely.
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Yeah, I priced a 20kW for a house I almost bought years ago, but multiple things fell through (job market for starters).
 
I use APC just because it's easier to get batteries for. With that said, the internal "board" fries usually after the 2nd replace (anyone from APC want to respond?). UPS's are pretty cheap. I get used to replacing them.

Not sure if I've found a good quality UPS yet. APC does the job, but I think they could do better with regards to lifespan.
 
Powerware 9125.

Works great, double conversion UPS. Picked up used on eBay with brand new batteries.
 
Instead of buyiing large UPS units, I've gone the route of purchasing multiple smaller units in the 350w-450w range. TV and DVD on one, Cable Box and Receiver on another. Cable Modem and Router on one. System in my Sig is on a larger, 1500VA unit simply because I do no heavy lifting with both comps at the same time (incremental backups from one to the other is about as hard as I push the two comps at the same time)
 
GotNoRice said:
I've given up on trying to use a UPS to power my main computer, but I do use one to power my cablemodem, router, and access points. This at least lets me continue having internet for my tablets, laptops, phones, and other devices without having to rely on 4G internet.
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Why has it not worked out for you?
 
craigdt said:
So will these protect against lightning strikes?
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It did for me, but YMMV, this wasn't a direct strike on my house, but anytime lightning strikes nearby, it can induce a large voltage spike in your home wiring, which is why at a minimum you should have your computer plugged into a MOV surge protector, they will stop a big surge and done. where a UPS will regulate the power going to the computer, smoothing out spikes and brownouts. a good UPS isolates the load from the power grid totally.

A large enough surge from a lightning strike will fry the UPS, but should still protect the computer as it dies

edit: My wife's computer died in this same strike, and it blew a good surge protector my home theater system was plugged into, the UPS survived the strike and lasted a couple more years. (An APS)
 
I have been very happy with my apc smart ups but replaced my last one with a cyberpower 1500 sine wave ups.
It was on sale for $20 more than the new batteries for the 12 year old APC smart ups.
I dont like the new smart ups as well as the older sau models.

I also have a apc back up pro 1500 that I got on sale for the less critical stuff upstairs.
Both powered the computers long enough to shut them down then ran some lights and cable modem for hours until the power came back on.
I am happy with both.

Wish I had bought 2 of the cyberpower because of the sine wave but had bought the backups pro before that to replace another 13 year old smart ups and was out of the return period.
So far I haven't had any issues with back-ups pro and power supplies.
 
I have a Cyberpower 1500VA/900W simulated sine wave UPS hooked up to 2 gaming rigs, both with active PFC power supplies, and its saved our asses a handful of times. During the summer (in CA) our circuit breaker would occasionally trip during the day, so the UPS always kept the PCs powered until we got the power back on. We also had some California Edison techs working on something for our neighbors, and they didnt' tell us... power was down for nearly 20 minutes and I kept gaming (I was curious how long it would last) until the power was restored.
 
Good read

I think in the long run it would be easier to tie specific AC circuits to a Powerwall or similar device and use smart outlets to turn off low priority devices as charge starts to drop
That type of solution is going to keep getting cheaper where as home grade UPS is going to stay overpriced, crappy, and not able to be charged from a solar panel
 
notarat said:
Instead of buyiing large UPS units, I've gone the route of purchasing multiple smaller units in the 350w-450w range. TV and DVD on one, Cable Box and Receiver on another. Cable Modem and Router on one. System in my Sig is on a larger, 1500VA unit simply because I do no heavy lifting with both comps at the same time (incremental backups from one to the other is about as hard as I push the two comps at the same time)
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From what I've read, that's non-ideal. In a situation where the surge protector/ups is protecting against higher voltage, having everything plugged into a separate sources can mean a voltage differential and cause problems in and of itself. So if lighting strikes the line that feeds cable, it travels into the house, hits the cable box, jumps to the TV, and since the TV has a higher relative voltage, a discharge occurs between the cable box and the TV. I'm not sure how true/likely that situation is, but I've tried to play it safe since reading that and have kept every system in a single unit.

That said, all my networking equipment is running off of a UPS as well as my main rig. Even the small 350w UPS is enough to keep that stuff up and running through all but the longest of outages.

I need to buy a battery for my "server's" UPS.

To the point of the article, I don't share the author's experience. I picked up this UPS in May of 2012 and it ran strong until I need a replacement battery in October of 2017. I think the difference is I didn't buy the absolute cheapest thing with a bunch of VA. $60 every 5.5 years isn't asking a lot in my opinion.

If you really want something "open source" why not just build a double conversion thing with some batteries, a smart golf cart charger, and a 48v to 120v transformer? Seems like it would be prohibitively expensive, but it should work.
 
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The majority of my business revolves around power delivery.

This guy is mad that he bought something cheap, and got something cheap.

He is right, no one puts all that "stuff" into smaller units - those are commodity items. You do see them in larger systems, because there's enough economy of scale there to be able to justify the higher price tag. He is talking about all these sensors and programming and stuff like it's only a few cents extra to add, and that isn't the case. Even when your talking very high volume, that adds up very quickly. There's a reason auto makers will haggle down a part fractions of a cent, not because you can't afford to absorb a few cents for a better switch on your $50,000 automobile, but because you buy a few hundred thousand of those switches and it really starts to impact things, especially when your competing against other people that are really driving down the margin significantly.

There is no reason he couldn't build his own UPS, using exactly the materials he wants... apart from the fact that he feels like he is qualified to redesign the equipment but doesn't know what he's talking about.
 
Been very happy with my server grade Liebert on-line UPS that I bought back in 2002 because brown outs were a big issue back then. Drops to 92 volts were not uncommon. Local power grid has been upgraded, thankfully.

The PCP&C power supply in my WinXP system is still going strong after 15 years. No doubt tight voltage from the UPS has a lot to do with that.
 
craigdt said:
Why has it not worked out for you?
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With an overclocked hex-core processor and 3 videocards, my computer can use a lot of power and it just takes too expensive of a UPS to keep my desktop computer up for more than a handful of seconds after a power outage. To me, It just makes more sense to use backup power to power things that I can power for a long time, like my cablemodem, router, and wifi, and use my laptop, tablet, phone, etc for my computing needs during the power outage. Though if I thought I was actually at risk at my location from things like lightning strikes and brownouts, I might be willing to spend more money.
 
I use a set of APC UPS's. a couple of 1300 and a 1200 and have no issues with them, always work when the power fluctuates keeping my machines and network up.
 
Aluminum said:
I pounce on the cyberpower PFC version 1500VAs whenever they go on sale for $140 or less. The most recent time was $120, picked up 3.
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This exactly. These units work around 4 to 5 years, then I chunk them.
 
That big wind storm we had in the NE really put my UPS to the test. Power was flicking on and off all day and my PC never hiccuped once. After that the old Liebert deserves a good cleaning. Can see some dust buildup on the air intake behind the front panel.
 
I read about 3 sentences from that "article" before I had to close the tab. What an insufferable moron.



Sealed lead acid batteries are not meant to be drained past the halfway point. When you do this more than a handful of times, they die. This isn't a secret, it's printed all over the damn things. Deep cycle batteries, being a type of sealed lead acid battery, are subject to the same requirements. They just have more amp-hours, or a bigger "gas tank," which means the halfway point takes longer to get to.



If you're draining your UPS battery, you misunderstand entirely the purpose of a UPS - to isolate the power supply, and send a shutdown signal in case of a blackout so that you don't lose data. If you want to keep playing games during a blackout, you should buy a few dozen car batteries and wire them in parallel.


This guy could have saved a lot of face if he had simply read the labels of the items he was complaining about.
 
I have an APC SmartUPS 1500. It's an oldie but still works perfectly. With the batteries fully charged and nothing plugged into it, it still draws 36w. Is this typical of all UPS ?
 
My biggest complaint about UPSes is that 99% of them are not pure sine wave and not double conversion. It would really not be that hard to make them that way but they cheap out as much as possible. I've seen situations where the delay to switch the load is enough for the system connected to it to crash. This happens a lot with laserjet printers that are plugged into the same circuit (obviously not IN the UPS, just the same circuit). They cause the voltage to dip slightly when first fired up, but not quite low enough for UPS to kick on right away, so it hesitates, and by that time the PSU already missed a full AC cycle and then it kills the system.

I eventually want to build my own UPS for my server stuff, and go the telecom route. Rectifiers to keep batteries floated, and then inverters that run off the same DC bus at all times. Any dip or outage or anything on the AC side won't affect the load at all. Downside is that it's very hard to find this equipment if you're not a telco, so I will probably have to design and build it myself when I'm better at electronics. Currently I have an inverter-charger which does give you the benifit of increased run time by adding as many batteries as you want, but it does not give you the zero switching time of a dual conversion. They DO make dual conversion UPSes but they are rather niche and hard to find.
 
My only experiences are with the big APC's used in "corporate" environments. They work great, last forever and the software works (I have tested many times)...
 
SPARTAN VI said:
I have a Cyberpower 1500VA/900W simulated sine wave UPS hooked up to 2 gaming rigs, both with active PFC power supplies, and its saved our asses a handful of times. During the summer (in CA) our circuit breaker would occasionally trip during the day, so the UPS always kept the PCs powered until we got the power back on. We also had some California Edison techs working on something for our neighbors, and they didnt' tell us... power was down for nearly 20 minutes and I kept gaming (I was curious how long it would last) until the power was restored.
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^^ this.... Hot SoCal summers when everyone is running their AC. I have a mix of the new (white display) and the older version (blue display) of the Cyberpower 1500va's. The older ones ran fine for five years until the batteries basically wouldn't hold a charge. I ordered replacements off Amazon (at that time $70 to replace both sets of batteries on two UPSes - ymmv nowdays) and installed them breathing another five or so years of life into those older units.. I have them under all my network gear and PCs.
 
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Used to have apc ( grabbed 2 from the street and took them to be repaired).
One worked for a while ( IIRC 700va) and then it started beeping in a nuts way .
I have also a line conditioner ( which I bought myself ) and works like a charm ( also apc).


Prices in argentina are insane

Bx800ci is 191usd
 
Pretty happy with my CyberPower GX1325U - works great with my build, and has kicked off twice during hurricane season in Houston. Once during Harvey as well, haha
 
im still running a 10+ yr old apc back-ups rs 1500. caught it onsale for less than half of what it normally retailed for at the time. ive replaced the batteries once. which was actually really cheap to do, less than $50 for both batteries. ill continue to use it until batteries are either to expensive to justify or it dies. it has rarely been in use over that time span. when it has tho its been top notch. ive had plenty of time to save/shutdown etc. im planning on getting another ups for for my test bench. thinking ill go with a cyber power this time around. they have a nice looking 1500va sine wave unit im waiting to grab on sale but i forgot the model.
 
I am running my SmartUPS 1400 XL after more than a decade (I will have to check exactly how long). I just installed the 4th set of batteries. This time I got them on Amazon Prime so the shipping on the batteries was free. The last time I replaced the batteries was September of 2014. Then some time in 2011. The manufacturer date on the UPS is 1998.

I remember that I paid less then $200 shipped for the refurbished UPS with new batteries.
 
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