Which UPS to buy ?

[CaliAtenza]

I just got a WEP inverter with a Exide Battery few days back..and its already proved its worth . I think it was like 2 days ago that the power went out at least 10 times and every time it kicked in and was flawless; but the funny thing is that it runs the tv but not the cable output, lol.

[janitha]

Originally Posted by CaliAtenza

I just got a WEP inverter with a Exide Battery few days back..and its already proved its worth . I think it was like 2 days ago that the power went out at least 10 times and every time it kicked in and was flawless; but the funny thing is that it runs the tv but not the cable output, lol.

Natural only, since the cable operators don't use an inverter in such situations.

[S_U_N]

Originally Posted by janitha

Natural only, since the cable operators don't use an inverter in such situations.

That is a significant driving factor for people to switch to DTH which does not have this issue.

[sammyboy]

Need a UPS to save the TV, PS3 and TataSky from Voltage Fluctuations, majorly the period between electricity disappearing and the generator backup kicking in.
At one time I guess there will only be 2 appliances on it but would like something which can take care of all 3 just in case.

Any suggestions?

[Sujai]

I am trying to figure out a power back solution (ups ) for my modem + wifi router( for 2 hours ) . Anyone has tried using ups just for modem and router ?

[Thad E Ginathom]

Further to my reports about my APS ups that was giving two hours when new, and, subsequently, when replaced under warranty... it has dropped to 45 minutes again, just less than one year after that warranty replacement.

I'll live with it, and budget to buy new next year.

[prajwalkashyap]

Originally Posted by Sujai

I am trying to figure out a power back solution (ups ) for my modem + wifi router( for 2 hours ) . Anyone has tried using ups just for modem and router ?

Yes. I have a desktop ups which typically gives only 10 mins for my desktop to run enough to save all the work. So I sold the desktop and replaced it with a laptop which is located all over the house and the ups is now giving backup to my router only. And it gives me 1.5 hours of backup. And its 4 years old.

Its a local noname brand and its working flawless. Can't ask for more. I paid just Rs.1200 at the time, and it was used only for 4 months to power the desktop before it got relegated to powering the router.

Prajwal

[anku94]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

Further to my reports about my APS ups that was giving two hours when new, and, subsequently, when replaced under warranty... it has dropped to 45 minutes again.

Shucks, my APC's backup has been reduced from 13 minutes to 3 minutes in an year. It's a Back-UPS RS 550. Ok, I admit, I've discharged it completely many times, but isn't the UPS supposed to cut-off before the danger stage is reached ?

[Thad E Ginathom]

It would be nice if it did!

Three minutes is not even enough to be sure of Windows finishing its shutdown.

I even had mine configured to shut down well before that. It has been bad, power-wise, in this corner of Chennai recently.

[anku94]

Ha, a few power fluctuations squeeze the juice out of this one. However, I do manage to shut down Windows if I move fast enough. :P

[Raccoon]

Originally Posted by prajwalkashyap

Yes. I have a desktop ups which typically gives only 10 mins for my desktop to run enough to save all the work. So I sold the desktop and replaced it with a laptop which is located all over the house and the ups is now giving backup to my router only. And it gives me 1.5 hours of backup. And its 4 years old.

Its a local noname brand and its working flawless. Can't ask for more. I paid just Rs.1200 at the time, and it was used only for 4 months to power the desktop before it got relegated to powering the router.

Prajwal

Well, it may be apparently working flawlessly, but you never know how good it is at actually filtering the power supply and protecting your equipment.

Originally Posted by anku94

Shucks, my APC's backup has been reduced from 13 minutes to 3 minutes in an year. It's a Back-UPS RS 550. Ok, I admit, I've discharged it completely many times, but isn't the UPS supposed to cut-off before the danger stage is reached ?

Yes, of course a good USP should cut off before the battery gets discharged below a specified level.


An interesting experience - My 2006 APC UPS's battery kicked the bucket last week. I was almost on the verge of buying a replacement battery from Base Terminal (didn't want one from APC). But then I remembered my old DCM Powercom UPS that was lying since I bought the APC. Its battery was changed in warranty just before the expiry of the warranty. Though thought the battery would be dead after lying totally unattended to for about 4 years, I was very surprised to find that it is working quite well in the APC and is giving a back up of about 8 mins. When my APC was new, it gave a back up of about 12 mins (same load), as far as I can recall.

The only difference between the APC battery (Champion) is 7 Ah and the current one doing duty inside it is 7.2 Ah. Both are Chinese made.

So a sealed UPS battery can lie around totally unattended to and still go strong... amazing!

As for DCM Powercom UPSs, don't even touch them if the company pays you to use it. It was one of the worst products I'v used in my life. Without getting into details, it would be safer not to use a UPS than to use a Powercom UPS.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Any thoughts or experience of Numeric as a company?

Their site has some impressive gear with a huge range of specifications

[michschu1]

Well usually when you add any additional components either to the computer or the UPS sometimes the life goes down significantly and so does the backup time. Did you add anything that caused the major drop. Eg. Graphics Card, printer to UPS, Extra hard drive, higher PSU. As of my experience APC 650VA, when new was giving around 25 to sometime 29 mins with the previous config without graphics card and single hard drive and 400 watts PSU, but when I added a 500 watt PSU, a graphics card, and an extra hard drive, the backup time dropped like hell to hardly enough time to shut down and eventually died because it now had crossed warranty, but was a replacement unit of 2009. APC when new is damn good, when you ask for replacement battery, they will give u a replacement unit, which will be some battered one, and then that will conk exactly once your warranty period is over. My UPS was shining new only battery out during warranty period and when I asked them for a battery, they brought me a battered unit instead, which as I expected, died exactly after warranty period. One idea is if your APC unit battery alone conks after warranty period and PCB is still fine, try some other equivalent replacement battery or check out some of the UPS hacks on youtube and you can probably get a better backup time considering you take the precautions and know what you are doing. Otherwise go for a new one after calculating your components wattage correctly +20%.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Nothing added here --- except a pair of active speakers and, yes, that is a noticeable load, so I turn them off when the power cuts.

I substantially reduced the power consumption, about a year ago, by replacing an old CRT monitor with a nice new LCD

[tj123]

I have a 2.5 years old APC UPS Model #: BE650Y-IN, today the battery conked off suddenly without any warning. APC site suggests a replacement battery RBC17, however I am not very sure where to find it, the battery spec shows Volt-Amp-Hour Capacity 108 , which I guess means 12 v 9Ah.

On calling the service centers they say that 9Ah battery is not available, instead they suggested me to go for 7 Ah battery.
Going for a lower 7Ah will result in shorter standby time which I don’t want to do. Also 7Ah battery is Exide make costing around Rs.900, Guys I am a bit confused should I go for Exide ? or suggest me some better alternative.