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Thread ID: 125439	2012-06-28 08:42:00	The ultimate UPS Test!	Billy T (70)	Press F1

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
1284486	2012-06-28 22:28:00	A surge protector is only any good if theres a surge, in a power cut, brownout or drop they are completely useless, a UPS has surge protection built in as well as a battery backup. A UPS should kick in at the sign of any power related problem. Wainu, how many PCs and Monitors are you connecting to the APC's 700 As mentioned earlier, mine has 1 PC, LCD, Router, 2 Switches, Speakers & phone Charger. All the others have 1 PC, LCD Switches and phone chargers. The workshops only have 1 PC, LCD, Speakers and maybe a switch. They are cheap enough to have 1 per unit. The server has one similar to the one you linked, a cheap one but its good enough as it only has the server running it ( no monitor) , and that keeps going in a power cut for about 20-30 minutes. Sometimes during winter the whole lot click in and out from battery on the odd occasion. A Basic UPS is not meant to keep computers running for long period of times, they are designed to cut in when power problems, and safely allow you to shut the PC done instead of a crash. If you want long battery life expect to pay several thousands of dollars.	wainuitech (129)
1284487	2012-06-28 23:18:00	Having read Billy's 'story' , I am seriously considering getting an UPS. Is this (www.pbtech.co.nz) good enough to protect 2 PCs? That is only 600va, so in watts, whats that, about 400-450w, so I would say no for 2 PCs....I have bought 2 of the 1700va versions recently, they have great software and output is up to 1000w, so the user has his WHS and desktop unit, along with 2 LCD, router and a couple of other devices hanging off it....15% load at PC idle.....	SolMiester (139)
1284488	2012-06-29 01:54:00	Other than APCs, (wainu is using), how about the Eaton brand? Or, is there any brand in particular to 'AVOID'?	bk T (215)
1284489	2012-06-29 05:16:00	A basic UPS is not meant to keep computers running for long period of times, they are designed to cut in when power problems, and safely allow you to shut the PC done instead of a crash. If you want long battery life expect to pay several thousands of dollars. And don't think you can just patch in a bigger battery with higher amp\hour capacity, the switching devices in domestic standard UPS equipment do not have adequate cooling for extended run-times so they will overheat and die. Most UPS units do not even have any ventilation, because they are only expected to run for less than 5 minutes. That is why they supply software for unattended auto-shutdown! Sometimes even bigger batterries are not enough! I was working in the Embassy of an un-named country overseas and they had a massive bank of deep-cycle batteries to sufficient to supply their essential services for several hours, but they were all dead-flat. They hadn't been charged since they were installed several years previously! Cheers Billy 8-{)	Billy T (70)
1284490	2012-06-29 08:14:00	Wainu, how many PCs and Monitors are you connecting to the APC's 700 or APC 550? What's the battery life? An APC 700 can really only cope with just one PC and monitor over a normal battery lifespan and a 550 would not be good enough for a heavy duty PC with all the fruit. Another point here; a UPS battery is usually on float charge 24/7 so its capacity will drop off over a relatively short period of time. In my experience, over quite a few years now, a good quality 12V 7A/Hr Gel Cell (SLA) battery will last between 2 and 2.5 years, with significantly reduced run time from 18 months on. A battery that might hold up for 3-4 minutes when new could be down to less than 2 minutes within 18 months or so, which is why you should plan in some over-capacity. I have 650VA for the monitor (CRT) and 1000VA for the computer. When I change to an LCD (soon) I will have capacity to spare on the monitor UPS so I'll add on my router & switch so that I don't go off-line on power farts. For all that, I only have battery capacity for 5 minutes running on the computer itself. That UPS is rated 1000VA and has three 12 volt 7A/Hr batteries in series while the average UPS has just one 12 volt 7A/Hr. The monitor UPS is 12v 7A/Hr. As a simple rule of thumb, if your computer and monitor are drawing 2.5A then a 12 volt battery will have to supply about 30 A to sustain that load, so a 7A/Hr battery would have a maximum run time of 4 minutes or less, probably just under 3 minutes once conversion losses are taken into account. Two years into the battery life and you'd be lucky to get more than a minute and half. The only Gel cells I have that last longer are in our burglar alarm. They sit permanently on float and only get exercised when I forget to turn the alarm off when I go inside. I get about five or six years out of them because the run-load is miniscule compared to a computer. As they used to say before metrification, you can't get a quart out of a pint pot. Cheers Billy 8-{)	Billy T (70)
1284491	2012-06-29 11:18:00	Thanks, Billy for your explanation. Another silly question: Is it safe to have the UPS with Battery (of course) in an enclosed room, the size of an ordinary bedroom? Will the gas discharge from the battery cause any harmfull effect on humans living in it?	bk T (215)
1284492	2012-06-29 11:42:00	Mine has 980 Ah @ 12V will happily run my netbook for 200 hours + :p	KarameaDave (15222)
1284493	2012-06-29 12:13:00	Thanks, Billy for your explanation . Another silly question: Is it safe to have the UPS with Battery (of course) in an enclosed room, the size of an ordinary bedroom? Will the gas discharge from the battery cause any harmfull effect on humans living in it? It is fine . Sealed Lead Acid batteries do not vent gasses unless sometrhing goes terribly terribly wrong, so you have nothing to fear on that count . I've seen one swell slightly under extreme abuse, but I've never seen one rupture! Mine has 980 Ah @ 12V will happily run my netbook for 200 hours + 980 Ah??? How big is the room you keep it in KD, and what size truck delivered it? Or do you mean 980mA/Hr, which would mean your netbook operated on less than 5mA/Hr . Neither value seems to make any sense to me, but it is getting late and past my ZZzzzz time . :D Cheers Billy 8-{) Cheers Billy 8-{)	Billy T (70)
1284494	2012-06-29 13:26:00	Anyone ever plugged an ipod into 240v? I did once because it stopped working, it got real hot real quick and started venting and spewing smoke all over the place. Good thing my room was sealed so that no body else inhaled the gas. Just kidding it was outside.	Slankydudl (16687)
1284495	2012-06-30 05:36:00	Yes BillyT 980 Ah... It's actually the storage for our standalone power system. Just couldn't resist :D	KarameaDave (15222)
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