just got an apc ups and i have some questions about it

dualblade

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came home tonight and switched on my lights in my room and heard this buzzing sound coming from multiple sources in the room. realized that my ups had switched to using the backup battery, and that was causing my monitor and the power supply on one of my computers to buzz like crazy. only about 460 out of 845 watts were being used, so i wasn't overloading it. unit didn't seem to want to switch back over to wall power until i unplugged both offending devices, unplugged, and replugged the ups (although it didn't immediately switch over to wall power, so the timing could have been coincidental). when i looked at the monitoring program, it said the outlet had a blackout for as long as it was on battery (about 9 minutes), but i tested a lamp plugged into the same outlet and it worked fine (ups on bottom plug, lamp on top one).

what's up with that? is the buzzing bad? was worried that my components were going to explode!

also, i know apc recommends against having a power strip attached to their unit, but is there anything to that? i've got two power strips: one with basically no draw (connected devices are a cable modem and wireless router), and one with alot of draw (home theater receiver, television, htpc). i will eventually be getting another ups for the other side of the room, so the receiver, tv, and htpc will have their own ups. for now, even with everything turned on, i only use 645 out of the 845 watt capability. will the extension cord/power strip hookup cause a problem?
 
Yes, the powerstrip will cause a problem. Each port on the UPS is only capable of so much output. You need to spread that load out a bit. I'm surprised the overload alarm wasn't going off.
 
That's because the cheaper models, such as the back-ups, don't output perfect sine wave when in battery mode. They output squared sine wave. That kind of signal can turn off the powerstrips. It also causes the weird sound in your psu. That kind of ups should be used only to turn off the computer and not to run on it. The problem that you described about the brownout is caused by circuit overloading.
 
MissingGhost said:
That's because the cheaper models, such as the back-ups, don't output perfect sine wave when in battery mode. They output squared sine wave. That kind of signal can turn off the powerstrips. It also causes the weird sound in your psu. That kind of ups should be used only to turn off the computer and not to run on it. The problem that you described about the brownout is caused by circuit overloading.

Q.F.T.

I've run into this problem out in the field quite a bit. IT depts insists on APC product but only use Back-Ups models on non-server hardware like workstations, PBX. We usually come in with Cyberpower or Opti equipment with simulated Sine that's good enough to not trip surge supressors and have no issues. But again, people insist on APC, regardless of price or quality level. I have the same problem with IT depts insisting on Dell. I actually had a client pay us our standard markup over what Dell sold a PC for just to implement a Dell in place of one of our clones. Stupid.
 
thanks for the advice guys. i'm looking at returning this ups and picking up a smartups 1400 instead, because i'd like the output to be sine wave. i hadn't read the specs on my backups but had assumed it was a standard sine wav. it seems like i can get a tested good unit with new batteries for about the same as i paid for this backups, so i guess it's a no brainer
 
Steeeeve said:
They use APC because they are always rated the best and then APC proves it.

It's blanket statements like that that get IT depts in trouble! :D

APC is a full line of product. Not everything they touch is magic. They use their "brand name" to help sell potentially inadequate product for an exorbitant price.
 
i actually ended up getting this unit at a really good price. come to think of it, if anyone needs it, i'd be happy to sell it to a forum member but shipping might be rough on it. it's a bx1500 and i got it for $130 so that's what i'd sell it for. if not, i'll just return it since it's only 3 days old
 
dualblade said:
i actually ended up getting this unit at a really good price. come to think of it, if anyone needs it, i'd be happy to sell it to a forum member but shipping might be rough on it. it's a bx1500 and i got it for $130 so that's what i'd sell it for. if not, i'll just return it since it's only 3 days old

Return it. Same MSRP on similar Powercom, Opti and Cyberpower models yield more ample UPS's.
 
have you tried http://catalog.belkin.com/IWCatProd...t_Id=&Section_Id=77&pcount=&Product_Id=186810 i got 2 of them shipped to my house next day for around 250.00. theres a promo/coupon code after you add to cart ((12345 code)), it brings the cost down to 107.00. seems to still be active as of this typing. the software isnt all that great in terms of looks, but functions pretty well. so far i have one of them powering 1 2405fpw, 2 home built computers ((both athlon 64)) and a few other peripherals. with that attached, im at 53% load. the second ups is powering a tyan k8we, 1000 pc&c, 2x 246 opts, a few fans, hard drive, floppy, and cd drive so far.
 
2 for $250 sounds like a great price.

I sure hope that 12345 code works, because at the price of $279.99 each on the website, for a 1250VA 680W with one 12V battery, that's highway robbery.
 
jonnyGURU said:
It's blanket statements like that that get IT depts in trouble! :D

APC is a full line of product. Not everything they touch is magic. They use their "brand name" to help sell potentially inadequate product for an exorbitant price.

I assume people know this...hopefully...you are probably right -_-.

Just like most companies, including Ultra, they have the crap, good, best lines.

I am running the RS800 which is the best line. Bestbuy sells the XS800 which is good. I think they both have received numerous awards though.

APC gained the top 2 spots from PCWorld
http://www.pcworld.com/reviews/article/0,aid,116725,00.asp

A List of awards
http://www.apcc.com/corporate/awards.cfm
 
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