• Some users have recently had their accounts hijacked. It seems that the now defunct EVGA forums might have compromised your password there and seems many are using the same PW here. We would suggest you UPDATE YOUR PASSWORD and TURN ON 2FA for your account here to further secure it. None of the compromised accounts had 2FA turned on.
    Once you have enabled 2FA, your account will be updated soon to show a badge, letting other members know that you use 2FA to protect your account. This should be beneficial for everyone that uses FSFT.

Which UPS?

dolphumous

dolphumous

2[H]4U
Joined
Jul 6, 2004
Messages
2,138
My PC, 20" LCD and keyboard /mouse on one side of the room.
My cable modem, router and telephone are on the other side of the room.

I'd like to power them all for atleast 30 minutes after a power outage.

I think two smaller UPS would be easier than running power across the room to half the devices.

The Tiger Direct catalog has a decent comparison with the requirements that you may need.

I've only heard of APC. What do you guys have and what should I stay away from?
 
APC is the best brand out there IMHO, but tripp lite, belkin and a few others are close secconds. As far as how big of a ups you auctually need, there is a nifty little selector page on apc's website you can use to approximaite how much power you are auctually drawing, and how much run time you would have with each of their particular products under that load.
 
I've got a 900VA Belkin. Brother and mom both have a Belkin 500VA, no problems with any of them.
 
I have the Belkin 1200VA that i bought last September or October for $60 w/shipping. You get up to $500,000 in protection for your equipment and a 3-year warranty. Good for up to 100 mins.
 
I run 2 X 725VA APC for my 2 machines. 2 PCs with 2 20" LCDs. They run my system for about 20 min before they start to run low. But my machine has 2 video card, 2 hard drives, etc; it sucks quite a bit of power. When my server runs without the 20" LCD it will run for over 40 minutes.

For my networking I run a 325VA APC. They are dirt cheap. (sub $30) You can pick them up at Wal-mart and not have to worry about paying all the shipping.
 
Thanks for all the input. Thanks to your posts I've found these.

Belkin Office Series 750VA UPS ( F6C750-AVR )
$81 Shipped @ Amazon
- Power my PC, LCD and Keyboard / Mouse


Belkin 550VA UPS ( F6H550-USB )
$64 Shipped @ Amazon
- Power my modem, router and telephone

I just received a bunch of Gift Certificates for Amazon. These two just might fit my needs for UPS's. Are there any UPS's that are comparable to these for less money?

If Belkin makes a good UPS I'll be very happy. This isn't going to stop me from going over to my local Walmart and seeing what inexpensive UPS's they have though. Thanks for that brom42.

EDIT: Apparently I have a BossNoodleKaboodle diagnosed syndrome. lol
 
I don't know if it was the manufacturer's fault or the distributor, but the brand new Belkin Universal UPS 1200VA with AVR was broken right out of the box. The plastic front pannel came off and the screw down plates were cracked, also the QC seal on the back was damaged.
 
If you read the description its only 290W and I'm thinking thats a generous rating. I'd seriously look into the SmartUPS series.
 
If it has to be 30 Mins & you have to run the monitor comp etc etc do yourself a favour & put all the equipment together & buy a APC SMART UPS of around 1400/1500 VA you will need it.
These are not cheap & at the same note they are not toys either. If you buy anything smaller it will not work.
I have been thro all the paperwork in the past & everyone & his dog says ya need this & ya need that blah blah ...... 6 months down the line .... Off goes the power & 5 mins later off goes the ups...... Its the pits ....... Ohh beware if you order one..... They weigh an absolute tonne, well 50Lbs or so...... Mind your toes :cool:
 
Frosty_axe said:
APC is the best brand out there IMHO
Click to expand...

maybe in class

got to qualify them thar statements :p
personally Id say Liebert certainly qualifies for that top slot along with APC
Id say they have the edge at the enterprise level (true on-line UPS),
but they do offer a line of small UPS (line interactive SPS)


on of the advantages of enterprise class suppliers is their documentation
for instance . Liebert PowerSure 350 - 100 KVA (direct download rich text format)
 
J..M said:
If it has to be 30 Mins & you have to run the monitor comp etc etc do yourself a favour & put all the equipment together & buy a APC SMART UPS of around 1400/1500 VA you will need it...
Click to expand...

I don't need anywhere near that amount of juice. I'd be surprised if my PC, Monitor and keyboard/mouse use more than 300W under minimal use...

Now if I'm gaming and lets just say I was taxing the PSU... 250W...my LCD is around 75W I believe...and my KB/M combo can't be more than 10W...So If I got a 750VA unit that should be more than sufficient...

I'm going to check out tomshardware, anantech and sharkyextreme when I wake up...I'd like to see a solid review of similar units before I purchase...

And 20-30 minutes was a ballpark figure...that would be ideal in my mind...

Using vonage I'd like to keep power to my phone/router/cable modem for a bit so I can call my power company and ask what's going on.

I'll check out those lieberts too after I wake up...
 
a slightly more advanced consideration, something Om actively researching
cut and paste
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------



Power Supply System Integration Part 2: Battery Backup @ Power Electronics Technology

UPS Nonlinear Loads

Most end users are oblivious to the problems encountered when an online UPS interacts with nonlinear load, such as a switchmode power supply. Fig. 3, on page 42, illustrates the interface between an online UPS and a switchmode power supply. The switchmode supply within the host system consumes its current in high amplitude pulses, and as a result overloads the UPS, distorts its output and degrades in performance. This isn't the case if the SMPS has power factor correction (PFC); and in the United States most SMPS don't have PFC.

Repeated measurements under practical conditions show that in non-PFC SMPS, the current peak to rms ratio reaches a crest factor in the range of 2.5 to 3.5. This high crest factor imposes a difficult load for the UPS.

Manufacturers specify UPS capacity in volt-amperes, and set the UPS current limit with resistive loading. This affects the user in two ways: first, the actual power (in watts) that the online UPS can deliver is 75% to 80% of its VA rating. Second, the UPS cannot support a nonlinear load like a SMPS to full power capacity. In fact, it can support an SMPS only rated to 30% to 40% of its capacity. A 1kVA online UPS will only be suitable for backing up a system energized by a 300W to 400W (non-PFC) switchmode power supply. Attempts to draw higher power by the SMPS will severely distort the output of the UPS and may result in shutdown. Some UPSs support nonlinear loads to various degrees, but the above rule is safe to use as a guideline.

The whole idea of generating a high-purity sinewave within the UPS, and then rectifying it within the SMPS is wasteful. A UPS may be deployed to run non-electronic loads, such as lights or motors. However, this is a minor portion of the market for online UPS. Many applications back up computers and telecom devices, as well as instrumentation systems used for critical applications. In all of these applications, the immediate load for the UPS is the SMPS within the systems. Peak current and inrush current are associated with this load at startup. This current of 40A to 80A per SMPS will cause the UPS to shutdown due to overloading, or the UPS must transfer the load to utility to draw its inrush.
Click to expand...

Im "upgrading" the importance of active PFC in purchasing, as it does seem to have a great deal to do with not abusing and effectively employing the capacity of an online UPS (and by extention Id assume a line interactive UPS \ SPS when its on batteries, a far more common UPS scheme)


a bit more on PFC
PFC Decoded
and on UPSs
Power Conditioning 101
DIY UPS all @ dansdata ;)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
So, in essence, if someone with a line interactive UPS were to try to start a computer with an SMPS when the utility power is out, it would overload it because of the startup inrush draw? If the computer was on and the utility went down, the same inrush would not be applicable since the computer is already on?
 
Ill be happy with 4 mins =) so i can save my place in game or tell my online buddies to meet me for some food. hahah during the outtage.. haha :D
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top