Do use a UPS or surge suppressor?

Do you use a UPS or surge suppressor?

  • UPS

    Votes: 62 75.6%

  • Surge suppressor

    Votes: 20 24.4%
  • Total voters
    82
J

Jumpem

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Dec 1, 2000
Messages
1,060
I am curious what people are using for their PC. I noticed that the APC UPS that I am looking at is rated at 1080 joules, but some of their standalone surge suppressors are rated for a much higher number of joules.

I don't necessarily care about being able to run when the power goes out. I just don't want harm in the PC not being shut down properly.
 
Jumpem said:
I just don't want harm in the PC not being shut down properly.
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That's why a UPS is better. Corruption/damage can occur from a sudden power off or brownouts when a system is in use. A UPS allows you to either stay up for brief interruptions, keep the voltage constant or provide time for a proper powering down for a sustained outage.
 
Why not both? :)

Plug the UPS into a surge suppressor, so that if you get a voltage spike, the suppressor takes the potentially equipment-damaging hit and the UPS allows you time to shut down gracefully and reset or replace the suppressor. If the power spike manages to overwhelm the suppressor before it shuts off, you still have the UPS between it and the computer. The UPS will still additionally protect you from brown outs and other, lesser, power fluctuations as well.
 
APC units have been less reliable than city power for me, so I am just using surge protection right now.

I'll simply get a better UPS soon. Now, which one?
 
uOpt said:
APC units have been less reliable than city power for me, so I am just using surge protection right now.

I'll simply get a better UPS soon. Now, which one?
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Cyberpower, pure sinewave model.
 
I started to have issues with my two APC units so I switched to Eaton. I currently have a 5S1500LCD 1500VA unit for my main PC and a 3S550 550VA for my NAS. They aren't pure sine wave but I haven't had any issues.
 
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Grebuloner said:
I second these. I have 2 myself. Fantastic units. Weirdly enough, my oldest one (7+ yrs) is still running great on original batteries while I've replaced them in the newer one twice.
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Recently I had one with 5 year old batteries, no alerts.
Power went off and they only held about 3 min under light load, enough to shut down.
New it would have ran that load 25min+.
Totally killed both batteries.
Replaced the batteries and its fine.
If its something critical I would replace the 7 year old batteries as I have had simular happen before with different UPS brands.
 
I picked up older Tripplite 1500VA units with new batteries off of EBay for ~$100/each (free shipping). I have had ZERO problems with any of the 4 units I bought. To be clear, the electrical lines outside my house arc every time we get a heavy storm in the area. Dominion Power refuses to fix it. The arcing causes severe brown outs that have already eaten a pair of Altec Lansing ADA-880 speakers. I got the UPSs to prtect the rest of my equipment.
 
I'd never run a pc I cared about without a good surge protector but the power only goes out here once every year or two on average and I don't have any mission critical systems so I don't see any need for a UPS, especially since it just adds another possible failure point(every battery tech has issues and a limited lifespan). I would also get a UPS if I lived somewhere that had more power fluctuations but that is rare here too.
 
I use APC Smart UPS 1500 for my PC and a ~25 year old APC Smart UPS 1000 for my TOYO heater. Both have been fine with battery replacement every few years.
 
Naa, gave up on using an UPS, higher outlay and higher electricity use for no real benefit made it pointless for me.

When the UPS battery died last I took a few years deciding on the best option to replace it.
During that period there were 3 or 4 power cuts.
2 things snuffed it on different power cuts + lightning, both hifi, nothing to do with my PCs.
During one glitch power cut my PC kept running as though it hadnt happened despite my TV and audio system doing a reset.
Quality PC power supplies are very good protection against damage.

Its rare I do something critical on my PC, my laptop serves that purpose because I dont clock it and and it has bags of hrs power, so a total power loss is acceptable.
Going outside to climb a tree is a good alternative use of time :)
I dont need an UPS.
 
I always have a UPS connected to my desktops. Altho my secondary unit died last year and I keep forgetting to pick up a new one (nothing to connect on that side of the room right now). One of these days I will either remember to get a replacement and clear off my work bench. Or clear off my work bench, which will trigger my memory that I need to get a UPS. Lord knows which or when.
 
Liebert line-interactive UPS here. At one time my home voltage would brown down well below 100 volts.

Not saying anyone here. It surprises me how many trust their high end system to a used power strip. Often bought at yard sale.
 
APC BR1000MS for the two primary computers, has been 100% reliable. The cluster computers are on a couple of surge suppressors, as they don't retain any important data.
 
Susquehannock said:
It surprises me how many trust their high end system to a used power strip. Often bought at yard sale.
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Just to clarify, for those not in the know already.... "power strips" and "surge protectors" are 2 totally different things...although they come in the same or similar form factors....power strips offer ZERO protection from surges, spikes etc and will allow your equipment, pc or otherwise, to fry really quickly, whereas a quality, high-rated surge protector will not, or at least has the potential to save some of whatever is plugged into it....

And if you buy USED electrical stuff @yard sales, well, good luck with that !

I've been using CyberPower units AND surge supresssors on all my computers, tv's, audio systems, and appliances for years, (mainly due to a flaky power grid in my area) neveranottaproblemo :D
 
My uncle built my first PC in the 90s. Windows 3.1.

Gave me this to go with it,

jfbv0flfmhi11.jpg


Still use it today. XD
 
I use a UPS but unless you keep up with battery replacement, they end up causing more problems than they solve. I replace the batteries every 3 years, working or not. Do not rely on the battery indicator on the unit itself to determine if they're healthy or not.
 
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uOpt said:
So which one of these nearly identical 1500 VA ~900 Watt ones is the better buy?

Cyperpower:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00429N19W/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&th=1

Eaton:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00DK45T68/ref=ox_sc_act_title_3?smid=A29CFOW4UM3L3L&th=1

I would default to the Eaton since I have a past bad experience with Cyperpower. But it is long ago and I'm open to suggestions.
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I would go with the Cyberpower for the sinewave. But, I would find out how much the replacement batteries are going to run you for each before making a choice.
I don't buy directly from the manufacturer (I forget the place I bought my APC batteries from)but you can get a good idea from digging around a bit.
 
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dogDAbone said:
Just to clarify, for those not in the know already.... "power strips" and "surge protectors" are 2 totally different things...although they come in the same or similar form factors....power strips offer ZERO protection from surges, spikes etc and will allow your equipment, pc or otherwise, to fry really quickly, whereas a quality, high-rated surge protector will not, or at least has the potential to save some of whatever is plugged into it....

And if you buy USED electrical stuff @yard sales, well, good luck with that !

I've been using CyberPower units AND surge supresssors on all my computers, tv's, audio systems, and appliances for years, (mainly due to a flaky power grid in my area) neveranottaproblemo :D
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Good catch on my poor wording. Meant combo power strip/surge suppressor.
 
uOpt said:
So which one of these nearly identical 1500 VA ~900 Watt ones is the better buy?

Cyperpower:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00429N19W/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&th=1

Eaton:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00DK45T68/ref=ox_sc_act_title_3?smid=A29CFOW4UM3L3L&th=1

I would default to the Eaton since I have a past bad experience with Cyperpower. But it is long ago and I'm open to suggestions.
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Cyperpower, sinewave which is better for your power supplies and I have used a ton of that unit with good results.
Factory batteries are around $90 for the pair and new connector, Aftermarket $70ish for 2 batteries.
The eaten probably uses the same aftermarket batteries.
 
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Only surge suppression. I have an APC unit sitting under my desk which needs a replacement battery that I've never gotten around to ordering.
 
I put nearly anything of value in my home behind UPSs. Usually used APCs I just buy on EvilBay and put new batteries in. Big TVs, computers, router, NAS, etc. If I care about it, and it's electronic, it's on an APC ups usually.
 
Always a UPS and always AVR (Line-Interactive) for desktops. Online (Double Conversion) for servers. Online (Double Conversion) if you need to run off inexpensive generators with high total harmonic distortion (THD)

I'm a fan of APC and Cyber Power. Not a fan of Tripp-lite.
 
Grebuloner said:
I second these. I have 2 myself. Fantastic units. Weirdly enough, my oldest one (7+ yrs) is still running great on original batteries while I've replaced them in the newer one twice.
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The newer SLA batteries suck hell even car batteries suck now so both sealed and flooded lead acid batteries are affected by the cost cutting measures these days
 
pendragon1 said:
i think my power bar has surge suppression...
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There might/should be a Joule rating on a sticker/box. Something like 500J L-N, L-G, etc. The good ones advertise this.
I always have a UPS. Always sine, always line-interactive/AVR. My favorite brand is APC, then there's Ever (a Polish thing, https://ever.eu/product/en/ups-ever-eco-pro-700-avr-cds-1 ).
I also had a few CyberPowers, but had bad luck with them. They're probably not bad, though.
 
michalrz said:
There might/should be a Joule rating on a sticker/box. Something like 500J L-N, L-G, etc. The good ones advertise this.
I always have a UPS. Always sine, always line-interactive/AVR. My favorite brand is APC, then there's Ever (a Polish thing, https://ever.eu/product/en/ups-ever-eco-pro-700-avr-cds-1 ).
I also had a few CyberPowers, but had bad luck with them. They're probably not bad, though.
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its buried under my desk, it seems ok, even though i know i should have better...
cyberpowers used to be cheap crap, they have come a long way since the '00s. APC is what i usually recommend too.
 
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