Home theater UPS dead, looking for suggestions for new setup

AshG

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Jul 11, 2016
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For over a decade, an old APC 1500VA UPS has kept my home theater system up and running during brownouts and blackouts. The battery finally decided it had lived long enough and gave up the ghost.

As I've gotten older I've come to the realization that I tend to go a little overboard on these things and am turning to the hive mind here to give me some more reasonable ideas as I move forward. I am even willing to consider that a UPS has been a pointless waste of money if that's what the experts say.

Here's what sits in my home theater area, powered by the APC and a Tripp-Lite unit hooked up to one of the powered ports:

LCD TV
Cable modem
Edgerouter X
PoE injector for an AC-Pro
FireTV
Ooma
Phone
NAS
BluRay



The cable modem and router aren't on my office UPS because the landlord didn't authorize running a working line into the bedroom we use as an office. I am trying to create space for the NAS to be moved in here (it's a very tight space).
 
Unless you have really questionable power where you live, to the point where you can't make it through a movie night without being interrupted, I'm not convinced you need a UPS for most of that gear.

You might want to keep a UPS for the NAS and possibly the Ooma if you use it for security or want to make calls while the power is out (or ever need to call 911)

This may be a silly question, but why not just replace the battery, if that's what it needs? I find I have to do that every two years anyway, and the old APC units are built like tanks, much better IMHO than any new stuff.
 
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This may be a silly question, but why not just replace the battery, if that's what it needs? I find I have to do that every two years anyway, and the old APC units are built like tanks, much better IMHO than any new stuff.

We got the UPS when we were living in an area that matched what you described. If there was a storm, we were guaranteed a power outage. It became a family member.

I like your suggestion and hadn't thought about just replacing the battery. I'll pull the unit tomorrow and check out the model number. Prices for replacements on Amazon are nice and cheap!
 
I have several of these 1500VA APC UPS units.. I truly believe they have saved my electronics over the years from damaging surges and brownouts. Voltage sags/brownouts can be even more damaging to electronics than small surges. I have my main rig on one. And my main living room TV, HTPC, and receiver etc on another.
1500VA Smart UPS tend to be around 400-500 dollars themselves. I have replaced the batteries in mine for 65-100 dollars in the past. I tend to get about 4 years of service life from the SLA batteries.
I would recommend to anyone that they should use a UPS for their home theater systems. All of the UPSes I have were salvaged from recycle centers where they were tossed simply because the batteries were end of life. They were like new, so I was lucky there. Replaced the batts and good as new.
 
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