UPS: uninterruptible power supply

raddevus

OriginalGriff wrote:

They are brilliant!

That's how I feel about them -- even though I've never had one, only seen them in action at various workplaces.

OriginalGriff wrote:

But ... avoid the Chinese ones:

I know there are a lot of knock-off products when ordering thru Amazon and I think people at various times end up with the knock-off instead of the real devices and I'm wondering if that is what is happening to some buyers which experience the sparks & fires. I would think the real things would have to be able to 100% prevent that. Thanks for info.

raddevus

OriginalGriff wrote:

check the power supply on your computer:

Thanks for info. That's why I was looking at the CyberPower ones. In my case I'm really wanting to power up the wifi router and cable modem so I'm guessing that since they have external power supplies even the square wave ones would probably work?? Not sure though. Thanks

obermd

The only problem I've ever had with a UPS other than old batteries was when UPS bashed a brand new APC unit so badly they bent the sheet metal casing. That said, yes, there have been a small number of reports of fires out of millions made.

raddevus

Thanks for the info. From the reviews it made it seem like they happened quite often. But I understand reviewers often have bad setups, incorrect wiring in their homes, etc. Just wanted to get a feel for what other people experienced.

Lost User

Hosting them in the chimney, should be a safe place :laugh:

It does not solve my Problem, but it answers my question Chemists have exactly one rule: there are only exceptions

David Crow

raddevus wrote:

What is your experience with this? Are these things safe?

I've never experienced any such thing in all the years I've had a UPS. All electronics have the potential to be dangerous. That's just the nature of the game.

"One man's wage rise is another man's price increase." - Harold Wilson

"Fireproof doesn't mean the fire will never come. It means when the fire comes that you will be able to withstand it." - Michael Simmons

"You can easily judge the character of a man by how he treats those who can do nothing for him." - James D. Miles

Rick York

I got a good-sized APC unit quite a while ago at a very good price. Eventually the batteries wore out and I replaced those last year and it's still going strong. I think it is a 1500VA unit. I find it difficult to believe stories of sparks being emitted because how could a unit possibly acquire UL or CE rating with that kind of behavior?

"They have a consciousness, they have a life, they have a soul! Damn you! Let the rabbits wear glasses! Save our brothers! Can I get an amen?"

pkfox

Hi Paul if you ever get around to buying another UPS give me a shout and tell me what you've decided on - I use a SBC as a jenkins and local nuget server for my home and shared projects and it's on 24/7 , I know it's not on the same scale as powering a server but the dear litle box is very useful and a PITA to rebuild ( despite my having an image of the base build )

"We can't stop here - this is bat country" - Hunter S Thompson - RIP

raddevus

0x01AA wrote:

Hosting them in the chimney, should be a safe place

That's really funny and actually indicates smart thinking. I really like that idea, because it shows vertical thinking. :thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

raddevus

David Crow wrote:

I've never experienced any such thing in all the years I've had a UPS.

Very good to know.

David Crow wrote:

All electronics have the potential to be dangerous.

I agree. It was just that there were quite a few reviewers mentioning sparks and fires so I wanted to get another random sampling of intelligent users...and even though I wanted intelligent users, I came here to CP. :rolleyes: Of course, I am kidding. CP Lounge is really full of a lot of great people with vast years of experience. Thanks for the info.

raddevus

Thanks very much for the info.

Rick York wrote:

I find it difficult to believe stories of sparks being emitted because how could a unit possibly acquire UL or CE rating with that kind of behavior?

That's exactly what I thought! If this happened even in 1 out 10,000 it wouldn't be a valid product really. :thumbsup:

Marc Clifton

I bought a cheap "UPS" from Staples, which was a mistake. No sparks, but it's not a true "UPS" - it takes a few tenths of a second to switch over to battery, by which time the devices on it have powered off. So, make sure you get a UPS that actually generates the AC from the battery and doesn't do a "switch over" from the mains to the battery. Can't tell if that CyberPower model does that or not.

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Joan M

I've owned or managed at least 30 or 40 of those things (2 at home others at companies where I worked for years) and never ever they emitted anything that was not expected. Of course they die without further notice, their batteries die... But in my experience they are safe. It's a relatively simple device... I fail to see how brands like APC, EATON and others could do this kind of mistake... which would make them illegal in most cases...

www.robotecnik.com[^] - robots, CNC and PLC programming

raddevus

Marc Clifton wrote:

but it's not a true "UPS" - it takes a few tenths of a second to switch over to battery, by which time the devices on it have powered off.

Thanks for the info. I was trying to determine the same thing. Is this the option where it is sine wave versus square wave? I just can't tell. The flickers are the exact thing I'm trying to get rid of.

raddevus

Joan M wrote:

I've owned or managed at least 30 or 40 of those things (2 at home others at companies where I worked for years) and never ever they emitted anything that was not expected.

Thanks for the great info. This is what I was looking for...various people chiming in who've had a lot of experience with them. I too wondered how it would be a valid product if that sort of thing happened even 1 in 10,000. Thanks again.

Rick York

One additional piece of advice : test your UPS periodically. I work for a rather large manufacturing company and we have UPS' on probably every system in the factories but no one ever tests them so I am willing to bet a majority are useless. The last service call I had to deal with was because of corrupted files that resulted from a power loss where the UPS immediately died because its batteries were shot.

"They have a consciousness, they have a life, they have a soul! Damn you! Let the rabbits wear glasses! Save our brothers! Can I get an amen?"

Riz Thon

I had several APC over the years. As others have stated, the batteries die after several years. Also I find they don't allow for prolonged used without electricity (the ~USD100 ones can give you power for 15 minutes). What I've been wondering for my own setup here is whether it would be possible to have some battery powered modems and routers: you would avoid useless conversions (your UPS's battery converted to AC 100/240V then converted back to DC around 5 to 12V).

Clumpco

Great experience over the years here with EATON - have used APC at work but was never happy with their battery life (I suspect that they ran too hot). We're in a small hill village with many overhead power lines radiating out over the surrounding area, so whenever there is a storm anywhere nearby brownouts or 1-2 second blackouts are guaranteed. All the puters, NAS, switches, modem etc. are on "domestic" UPS units (we have 4) and they switch over just fine during brownouts. My favourite: Eaton Ellipse. Really easy to change the batteries (contrary to some Chinese units). Note that most domestic UPS use 12v 7Ah sealed lead acid batteries that you can find very easily at £12 to £20 ea. (e.g.Yuasa NP7-12L)

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Wizard of Sleeves

Some mobile phones have known to burst into flames.... :-\

dshillito

I have an APC Back-UPS PRO 550. This one is 3 years old. I have had many others over the last 20+ years. Mostly from APC. I used to have hard disk drives fail before that. Never since. The main benefit is the clean power. On the occasions when there is a blackout I get a few minutes of runtime. If I am around at the time I shut the system down cleanly before the juice runs out. I agree with the other reply that said the main hassle is replacing the battery every few years.