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November 26, 2011 at 1:02 pm #2207927
Which UPS to buy?
Lockedby johnny9183 · about 12 years, 4 months ago
I have a Dell XPS 8300 and 2 LED monitors. The power specs for the XPS8300 are as follows:
DC Power Supply
Wattage: 460 W
Input Voltage: 115/230 VAC
Input frequency: 50/60 Hz
Output current: 8A/4ANow I am planning to buy a UPS for battery backup and surge protection. But despite hours of web research and chat with dell support, I am still not sure which UPS to buy. The Dell tech recommended this:
But still I am curious to know what to look for while selecting a UPS. Is more wattage better? Won’t it fry the system?
I am confused. Please help!
Thanks in advance.
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November 26, 2011 at 1:02 pm #2446383
Clarifications
by johnny9183 · about 12 years, 4 months ago
In reply to Which UPS to buy?
Clarifications
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November 26, 2011 at 1:16 pm #2446382
The more Wattage the better
by oh smeg · about 12 years, 4 months ago
In reply to Which UPS to buy?
Wattage is just a measure of available power. So if you have a choice between a 50 W and a 1200W the 1200W will run the system for much longer at the stated voltage.
What you have to watch out for is Battery Life in any UPS so you want one with Good Batteries not cheap nasty batteries and ideally Jell Cell Batteries which will not leak in the event of the outer casing being broken.
As for what you listed above it’s OK and will give a reasonable amount of time on Battery but to be perfectly honest I’m not sure that it will be much of a Filter to absorb Power Surges and to be perfectly honest if you spoke to Dell you should expect them to recommend something that they sell. Doesn’t mean it’s better just that they will make money out of the sale.
You should look at local Sellers in your area and see what if anything that they have available. Of course APC UPS’s are the best available but they will cost you for the privilege. 😉
Col
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November 26, 2011 at 1:46 pm #2446377
Reponse To Answer
by johnny9183 · about 12 years, 4 months ago
In reply to The more Wattage the better
Thanks Col. I was just wondering, is it ok to connect an UPS to a surge protector. So from the desktop’s point of view, there will be 2 surge protectors, but I am not sure it will be safe.
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November 26, 2011 at 2:08 pm #2446375
use of surge suppressor
by chacok43 · about 12 years, 4 months ago
In reply to Which UPS to buy?
Most UPS boxes you buy state that using a surge suppressor or even an extension cord between the wall and the power input to the box will void any warranty. It will actually slow down the switch-over to battery power in the event of an outage. In short, not a good idea.
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November 26, 2011 at 2:34 pm #2446373
Reponse To Answer
by johnny9183 · about 12 years, 4 months ago
In reply to use of surge suppressor
Thanks for the tip. I would plug the UPS directly then.
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November 26, 2011 at 2:34 pm #2446374
APC or Tripp-Lite
by thechas · about 12 years, 4 months ago
In reply to Which UPS to buy?
I personally recommend APC or Tripp-Lite over Cyber-Power for most users.
APC has a number of guides and white papers to help you choose a UPS.
I am running an older version of this UPS.
http://www.apc.com/products/resource/include/techspec_index.cfm?base_sku=BE750G&total_watts=400
This is the APC model similar to the Cyber-Power from Dell.
http://www.apc.com/products/resource/include/techspec_index.cfm?base_sku=BR1000G&total_watts=200
Keep in mind that for both the monitors and the computer you very seldom use the full power rating. I would expect your typical draw to be around 200 Watts.
In addition to my computer and monitor, I run a cord from the UPS to my DSL modem and primary router.
Chas
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November 27, 2011 at 4:04 am #2446353
Reponse To Answer
by johnny9183 · about 12 years, 4 months ago
In reply to APC or Tripp-Lite
Great tip, didn’t know that you don’t use full rating always. Thank you!
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November 26, 2011 at 10:25 pm #2446359
Try the new APC Smart-UPS 1000
by elibarikikilewo · about 12 years, 4 months ago
In reply to Which UPS to buy?
APC Smart-UPS 1000 has a new LCD alpha/numeric display providing detailed and accurate information previously restricted only to software or NMC. it also include flash upgradeable firmware and the most importantly it saves more time and it holds 3 year warrant
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November 27, 2011 at 5:22 am #2446348
Confusion over UPS and SPS
by trevorkrause · about 12 years, 4 months ago
In reply to Which UPS to buy?
There is a bit of confusion over what is a UPS (un-interrupible power supply) and what is a SPS (stand-by power supply).
The SPS normally runs the load directly from the mains while charging or trickle-charging the battery. Only on a supply side fault or interruption, the unit in a finite time switches over to the battery until the mains supply is restored.
The UPS maintains only the battery charge from the mains supply. The load takes it power directly from the battery via the inverter always. Therefore there is no changeover or switching of the power supply and any transients or brownouts on the supply side does not effect the load directly as they are separate systems connected only through the battery.
The UPS is not as efficient in energy management as a SPS, but it is much better in maintaining a clean power supply to the load(computer etc).-
November 27, 2011 at 5:47 am #2446346
Reponse To Answer
by johnny9183 · about 12 years, 4 months ago
In reply to Confusion over UPS and SPS
I didn’t know anything about SPS. Thanks for introducing me!
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November 27, 2011 at 1:31 pm #2446320
Reponse To Answer
by thechas · about 12 years, 4 months ago
In reply to Confusion over UPS and SPS
Interesting. By the definitions then, most of the home and small office UPS systems sold in the US are actually SPS systems. I have yet to use a portable “UPS” that runs off of the inverter when main AC power is present.
I would expect that some large building and data center UPS systems are running off the inverter.
Chas
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November 27, 2011 at 2:24 pm #2446315
Dont buy Cheap UPS!
by jrez · about 12 years, 4 months ago
In reply to Which UPS to buy?
Make sure you buy an online UPS not offline. When power cuts and you have an offline UPS there is a small break in the power being sent to devices and servers do not like this. Online UPS the power is directed through the batteries. I recently took over a new position at a company and they had a cheap crappy UPS so I put in a EATON 9130, it cost around 5K but I know my servers (x4) are safe and if there is any power problems they will run for around an hour and half. Oh and some of the EATON UPS’s have a network management card add-on, pretty cool.
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June 11, 2012 at 10:27 am #2437770
Surge protection and backup
by mjd420nova · about 11 years, 10 months ago
In reply to Which UPS to buy?
Most all UPS units state their ratings as VAH (volt-amp-hours) This rating is mostly one for one to the wattage rating of the devices you connect to them. Example: A unit rated at 1,000 VAH will power a unit with a 1,000 watt rating for one hour. So for your case, with a 450 watt load, and a 1,000 VAH unit will run for about two hours. There are some very good units made by APC and Tripp-lite and are a bit expensive but are a commerical rating and used in small offices. All units need to be exercised on a monthly basis. The major failure will be in the batteries, most commonly the gel-cell type but easily replaced.
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June 22, 2012 at 4:52 pm #2436126
As mjd420nova said
by nicknielsen · about 11 years, 10 months ago
In reply to Which UPS to buy?
The units need to be exercised on a monthly basis and the major failure will be in the batteries.
Most modern UPSs will automatically exercise themselves, particularly the enterprise-level units. They will also let you know when the batteries need replacing. A good battery (or set, in the larger units) should last three to five years. You can save money on the replacements by going to Batteries Plus or Interstate Battery. Both businesses will build the battery combination you need for your UPS at not much more than the cost of the batteries.
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June 24, 2012 at 5:20 pm #2437435
Beware of generator support
by jpelectron · about 11 years, 10 months ago
In reply to Which UPS to buy?
Note that if you have a generator, or might in the future, don’t get a cheap UPS. Because a generator won’t output a steady 60GHz in the same way your electric company does, cheap UPS’s are prone to cycling between battery and line (generator) which will wear out the relay and/or burn out the UPS.
Unfortunately, the newer APC units with the LCD screen’s all suffer from this problem, either because they were taken over by Schneider Electric who has an engineer with a screw loose, or simply cause they want you to buy the the more expensive “On-Line” series.
For this reason and other’s I’ve switched from liking APC to Tripp Lite and suggest the “double-conversion” or “online” type of UPS.
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June 25, 2012 at 9:21 am #2437405
Reponse To Answer
by nicknielsen · about 11 years, 9 months ago
In reply to Beware of generator support
The problem with generators is not the frequency, but the output voltage. Generators do not react well to changes in load at higher (>75%) load levels., and tend to voltage surges or drops. [u]This[/u] is what causes your UPS to boost orattenuate the voltage, not the changes in frequency.
If your generator doesn’t maintain 60 Hz, it’s time to look at the maintenance contract and find somebody who can set it up and maintain it properly.
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