Use a UPS purely for its surge protector?
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Hey all, My dad's in need for a good surge suppressor for a new TV he's buying. I told him not to overpay for anything from Monster (lets not go there), but by the same token, a $15 surge suppressor, IMO, is nearly as bad as not having one at all--it might as well be a regular power strip. I have a couple of UPSes from APC with dead batteries I'm no longer using. I suspect the surge suppressor in those has gotta be decent, as they all come with some sort of "connected equipment warranty" from APC. Can anyone offer any reason why using a UPS like this wouldn't be a perfectly good alternative?
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Hey all, My dad's in need for a good surge suppressor for a new TV he's buying. I told him not to overpay for anything from Monster (lets not go there), but by the same token, a $15 surge suppressor, IMO, is nearly as bad as not having one at all--it might as well be a regular power strip. I have a couple of UPSes from APC with dead batteries I'm no longer using. I suspect the surge suppressor in those has gotta be decent, as they all come with some sort of "connected equipment warranty" from APC. Can anyone offer any reason why using a UPS like this wouldn't be a perfectly good alternative?
A UPS surge protector isn't necessarily any better than a cheapy "protected" power strip. Some are not protected at all. Most have a relay to supply the load nominally, and only switch to battery when they sense the input voltage dropping. The regenerated output is often far from a good sine-wave, but adequate for most loads. Only expensive models isolate & continuously supply regenerated output voltage, because providing true sine-wave output costs $$$ in parts. As with all things, check the specs... -- Ian
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A UPS surge protector isn't necessarily any better than a cheapy "protected" power strip. Some are not protected at all. Most have a relay to supply the load nominally, and only switch to battery when they sense the input voltage dropping. The regenerated output is often far from a good sine-wave, but adequate for most loads. Only expensive models isolate & continuously supply regenerated output voltage, because providing true sine-wave output costs $$$ in parts. As with all things, check the specs... -- Ian
You're right about cheap UPSs not giving a pure sine wave, but do we need it for most appliances? Motors may require it but switching power supplies rectify the input anyway. APC has been pretty good in my experience, but there are seldom any power surges around here (only dropouts due to overloading)
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Hey all, My dad's in need for a good surge suppressor for a new TV he's buying. I told him not to overpay for anything from Monster (lets not go there), but by the same token, a $15 surge suppressor, IMO, is nearly as bad as not having one at all--it might as well be a regular power strip. I have a couple of UPSes from APC with dead batteries I'm no longer using. I suspect the surge suppressor in those has gotta be decent, as they all come with some sort of "connected equipment warranty" from APC. Can anyone offer any reason why using a UPS like this wouldn't be a perfectly good alternative?
An old UPS will work fine as a surge suppressor for line noise. There are several things to keep in mind though: - I differ in recommendation from the above posters; I haven't yet seen a UPS without some sort of basic surge suppressor. Everything from APC has it. - Surge suppressors work both ways. If you have a noisy device that adds high frequency line noise and depends on some line length to filter out the crud, the suppressor will bounce the noise back to the device. AC motors and electronic devices (notably with switching power supplies) generate a lot of noise. Recent computers and televisions generate less noise than older devices. - If you have a television hooked up to external antenna (or satellite dish, cable ...), you can get electrical surges from the antenna and external connection(s) just as easily as the input power. Surges come from many sources; one of the least common is lightning, which is what most people think of first. A surge protector on the power line will "keep in" any zaps that occur on the antenna. See the previous point. - Surge suppressors work largely by placebo effect. Most people don't need one.
-- Harvey
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Hey all, My dad's in need for a good surge suppressor for a new TV he's buying. I told him not to overpay for anything from Monster (lets not go there), but by the same token, a $15 surge suppressor, IMO, is nearly as bad as not having one at all--it might as well be a regular power strip. I have a couple of UPSes from APC with dead batteries I'm no longer using. I suspect the surge suppressor in those has gotta be decent, as they all come with some sort of "connected equipment warranty" from APC. Can anyone offer any reason why using a UPS like this wouldn't be a perfectly good alternative?
I would recommend a whole house surge suppressor that one mounts in the main circuit breaker panel. Protects all the household appliances.
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Hey all, My dad's in need for a good surge suppressor for a new TV he's buying. I told him not to overpay for anything from Monster (lets not go there), but by the same token, a $15 surge suppressor, IMO, is nearly as bad as not having one at all--it might as well be a regular power strip. I have a couple of UPSes from APC with dead batteries I'm no longer using. I suspect the surge suppressor in those has gotta be decent, as they all come with some sort of "connected equipment warranty" from APC. Can anyone offer any reason why using a UPS like this wouldn't be a perfectly good alternative?
You will have a small issue which will require electrical capabilities: once the battery will die, if you don't want to use/replace it, you will start hearing a set of continued beeps which are annoying... You will have to cut the beeper from the mainboard of the UPS system. Apart of that it should work fine.
[www.tamautomation.com] Robots, CNC and PLC machines for grinding and polishing.
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You will have a small issue which will require electrical capabilities: once the battery will die, if you don't want to use/replace it, you will start hearing a set of continued beeps which are annoying... You will have to cut the beeper from the mainboard of the UPS system. Apart of that it should work fine.
[www.tamautomation.com] Robots, CNC and PLC machines for grinding and polishing.
If you keep it turned off, there's no beeps. And since the battery's out anyway, it doesn't matter too much to have it on. At least, I think so.
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If you keep it turned off, there's no beeps. And since the battery's out anyway, it doesn't matter too much to have it on. At least, I think so.
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If you keep it turned off, there's no beeps. And since the battery's out anyway, it doesn't matter too much to have it on. At least, I think so.
:thumbsup:
[www.tamautomation.com] Robots, CNC and PLC machines for grinding and polishing.
