Which UPS are you using?

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Kai
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Joined: Tue Jan 20, 2015 12:21 pm

If any. Looking for general feedback about UPS (uninterruptible power supply) units that people use or have used in the past etc.

Need one that can support a power-hungry PC that I'm building, the estimated wattage with the monitors is around 1000W (same as the PSU) so I assume something in the 1200-1300W range is required. But have some concerns at this wattage about noise levels since the main idea is to build a very quiet (but powerful) system, and whether pure sine wave is considered a must have compared to modified sine wave.

Overall more concerned about protecting the sensitive bits of hardware than running on backup power for extended periods if/when needed.

But any feedback more than welcome
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Euler
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Joined: Wed Nov 10, 2010 1:39 pm
Location: Bet Angel HQ

I have three back up options, a laptop, a tablet and an anker power unit.

I would use a UPS in the past, but the outdoor camper style lithium battery power units are very good now and provide a quick solution to a major outage. It's parked next to my router and main power source.

I still run a risk of problems at the exact moment of the outage, but that's just a few seconds once the tablet or laptop are connected via my phone.
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Kai
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Thanks Peter, that's interesting as I've not considered lithium batteries, will have to look into that as well
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Euler
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Location: Bet Angel HQ

I also have a petrol generator in the garage in case of a longer-term outage.
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Derek27
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Location: UK

Kai wrote:
Thu Feb 16, 2023 3:03 pm
If any. Looking for general feedback about UPS (uninterruptible power supply) units that people use or have used in the past etc.

Need one that can support a power-hungry PC that I'm building, the estimated wattage with the monitors is around 1000W (same as the PSU) so I assume something in the 1200-1300W range is required. But have some concerns at this wattage about noise levels since the main idea is to build a very quiet (but powerful) system, and whether pure sine wave is considered a must have compared to modified sine wave.

Overall more concerned about protecting the sensitive bits of hardware than running on backup power for extended periods if/when needed.

But any feedback more than welcome
This is what I use, you can use one chimney for each device. :)

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ShaunWhite
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The best you'll do without serious expense is a controlled shutdown. You probably won't be looking at running for more than 10-15mins at best. And if there's power cuts there's a good chance the local fibre exchange or mobile mast might be affected so you probably don't want to be running like some sort of off-grid hero anyway.
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megarain
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I know a lot about this.

2 yr ago I installed an acid battery solution, to kick in when the power failed. Running 3 computers/screens/routers etc is pretty draining and the natural life cycle of an acid battery is maybe 300-500 cycles, depending on what you buy. The acid batteries accumulate dead cells over time, and become door stops. Initially, the acid batteries will last 4-6 hrs of charge but after 2 yrs of usage they down to a mere 30 mins.

DO NOT BUY AN ACID BATTERY.

I now have 2 lithium battery solutions - which cost about £5k. It's wired into the normal power source and kicks in when local power fails.

I get about 10 hrs of normal use from them, which should be sufficient. They can be extended to add solar panels later.

This solution may be extreme, but as Peter says, Lithium is definitely the way to go.

A consideration is the amount of charge time in-between cycles. They can take 6 hrs to charge.

(My solution is extreme as average daily downtime of national power is 6-10 hrs - Yes - 6-10 hrs). Normally 2-4 hr cycles without power.

The solar solution is linked to an app which can show usage etc/reserves.
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Euler
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I'm planning to install solar this year. The technology has developed enough to be practical and I have a large south facing roof that's hidden from our view so can put the panels there.
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Kai
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Great feedback, much appreciated

Most people don't have a real need for these things, unlike day traders who have a genuine use case for them, so hard to find good feedback overall
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Tuco
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I use (and sell) APC UPS's. I'm currently using an APC SMT2200i Tower.

In my biased opinion, APC UPS's are great!

When choosing a UPS one needs to balance load and run-time.
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Crazyskier
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Euler wrote:
Thu Feb 16, 2023 3:37 pm
I have three back up options, a laptop, a tablet and an anker power unit.

I would use a UPS in the past, but the outdoor camper style lithium battery power units are very good now and provide a quick solution to a major outage. It's parked next to my router and main power source.

I still run a risk of problems at the exact moment of the outage, but that's just a few seconds once the tablet or laptop are connected via my phone.
Almost the same as I use, though it's a desktop, laptop and Bluetti 2kWh solar generator unit powering the sim-based 5G router (from Three) in addition to the standard TalkTalk broadband, so I'm always-on, regardless of occasional mains power outages.

I've never needed a UPS using these methods, though I admit anything north of around 600 watts draw is quite a lot, so I understand your concern. As Peter mentions, the LiFePO4 lithium generators are amazing and I'm a huge fan and save a LOT on my daily electricity usage using solar and 12V car power to charge it. Jackery have just launched the UK version of the 1500 Pro - worth a look if interested.

Note that my solar panels (2 x 200W) are just in the garden / on washing line when sun is low is sky during winter months - I don't have a professional installation on a south-facing roof. The panels are Renogy costing only around £170 each inc P&P. I ran the MP4 cables through the catflap to charge the generator, lol.

The upshot of my investment is that I can continue to trade for an unlimited amount of time when the sun is shining, and 5-6 hours without any, should the need arise. Even when no power issue, I'm saving £50-£100 on my electricity bill every month, based upon the current cap of 28p per kWh, and this cost saving will increase as the grid electricity cost does! I also get a lot of satisfaction using 'green' solar energy.

As I'm sure MegaRain and others will attest, the solar route is something of a rabbit hole once you start investigating it, but fascinating once you start using the new lithium phosphate (LiFePO4) batteries / generator. It's something the nautical / marine and also vanlife communities have been doing for years and lithium has revolutionised the battery usable capacity and cycles versus the old AGM acid batteries. The cost is now coming down nicely also.

CS
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Bluetti 2kWh Solar Generator.jpg
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Tuco
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Over time ALL batteries lose their ability to keep a full charge even lithium ion batteries - yes even lithium ion batteries!

What you need to be careful of Kai is overkill - you can buy plenty of SLA (sealed lead acid) batteries for £5k! The top quality original manufacturers deep cycle APC branded ones that I use typically last 6-7 years of continuous non-stop use. I sell a pack of these SLA batteries for the SMT2200i/SMT3000i unit I'm using for £300. Smaller UPS's use smaller batteries which cost less but naturally have a lower load capability and a lower run-time.

If you feel you need additional extended run-time you need to get a UPS that can have a battery pack attached which itself uses an additional two sets of these batteries. I don't feel the need to use one of these XL UPS's and I'm happy with the SMT2200i. There is also a SMT3000i for additional load capability.

Whatever you decide, good luck to you :)
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Crazyskier
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Tuco wrote:
Sun Feb 19, 2023 8:30 pm
Over time ALL batteries lose their ability to keep a full charge even lithium ion batteries - yes even lithium ion batteries!
I'm guaranteed a minimum of 80% capacity after 3,000 + cycles with lithium Phosphate batteries. I don't believe ANY lead acid AGM battery manufacturer can guarantee this.

Also the maximum discharge of even a deep-cycle lead acid battery or gel is only 30-50% of it's capacity, unlike lithium which can be fully discharged.

In short, and having spent many hundreds of hours researching battery technology, I am of like mind with MegaRain: Lithium is the way to go for batteries... Period.

Lithium batteries are smaller, lighter, last longer and can be discharged fully. No contest versus lead acid or gel batteries, in my opinion.

CS
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Kai
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Thanks guys, given me plenty to think about, first and foremost need to grab a unit to ensure both protection (from brownouts, surges etc) and smooth power to my main desktop computer
Crazyskier wrote:
Mon Feb 20, 2023 2:21 pm
In short, and having spent many hundreds of hours researching battery technology, I am of like mind with MegaRain: Lithium is the way to go for batteries... Period.
Any special notes on overall safety and safe handling of those units? When compared to lead-acid batteries
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Tuco
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Peter said: "I still run a risk of problems at the exact moment of the outage, but that's just a few seconds once the tablet or laptop are connected via my phone."

I don't run a risk of any problems at the exact moment of the outage (ie zero down-time), as the UPS is running at all times providing the power to the connected devices from the constantly charging batteries and acting as a surge suppressor thus preventing damage to the connected devices from voltage spikes and/or transients.

This is what I'm currently using (I supply and sell [part-time] all variants of APC UPS's both new and used, tower and rackmount):

https://www.apc.com/uk/en/product/SMT2200I/

If the power trips, I just need to reset the trip switch and it the power trips and stays off I can keep running until the batteries (of which I have many more) run out of charge.

How long does it take your modem to reset Peter or do you just run off mobile data during an outage?
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