UPS question

sunama

sunama

sunama

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Hi,

The power supply to my house has recently become strange. Randomly, my entire house will lose power for a split second, such that my PC will shut down (as soon as power is lost) and restart (when power is regained less than a fraction of a second later). This tends to happen about once a month on average.

I want to prevent this from damaging my PC by introducing a Uninterruptable Power Supply unit.

Can anybody recommend a unit that I would be able to prevent my PC from shutting off, when power is lost for a fraction of a second.

Just to make sure, will a UPS prevent this?

Thanks
 
I'm not too sure, but I think a standard UPS will provide you with power for that second power outage, as it just switches over as the UPS detects power loss and switches to battery within a couple of milliseconds.

However when the power fluctuates up and down this can also cause damage to your components too, to protect the gear you want a voltage regulating UPS. Standard UPS's won't have this, as they only kick in when there's a total power failure. A brown out is when the lights dim, but things like TV's and PC's stay on. If it's below or above a certain range the UPS corrects this.

Stick to APC, don't buy a Belkin. Have a look on the run times, how many displays and computers are you connecting to it? Do you want x minutes of run time? What spec are the computers?

Happy with my APC Smart UPS, about £200 but worth it. I probably didn't need such a high rated UPS (I have sig rig, plus 3700+ HTPC 20" and it's only on the second LED with everything on and playing a game)

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=17695305&highlight=smart+ups
 
I had this problem and got a UPS. Every now and then the lights dim and the UPS kicks in saving my machine! Not quite as bad as once a month but too often to risk.

I got an APC RS800 which works although it does buzz when on battery power. The buzzing also seems to transfer to my monitor and PSU. Phoned up APC who said it was a fault with the unit, they sent me a new one and it did exactly the same.

As it's only once in a while I'd rather put up with a buzz than loosing data.
 
squiffy said:
I'm not too sure, but I think a standard UPS will provide you with power for that second power outage, as it just switches over as the UPS detects power loss and switches to battery within a couple of milliseconds.

However when the power fluctuates up and down this can also cause damage to your components too, to protect the gear you want a voltage regulating UPS. Standard UPS's won't have this, as they only kick in when there's a total power failure. A brown out is when the lights dim, but things like TV's and PC's stay on. If it's below or above a certain range the UPS corrects this.

Stick to APC, don't buy a Belkin. Have a look on the run times, how many displays and computers are you connecting to it? Do you want x minutes of run time? What spec are the computers?

Happy with my APC Smart UPS, about £200 but worth it. I probably didn't need such a high rated UPS (I have sig rig, plus 3700+ HTPC 20" and it's only on the second LED with everything on and playing a game)

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=17695305&highlight=smart+ups
Click to expand...

Squiffy. Can you confirm the following:
If you shut off the power on the plug socket (that the UPS is plugged into), your PC keeps running, unhindered, and the fan powers up on the UPS? And as soon as power is switched back on (to the UPS), the UPS fan, stops. Throughout this, your PC runs without a hitch - no reboot, no nothing.
 
One more question: when there is a power variation (ie. a brownout and the lights go dim and then back up again), does your UPS kick in and its fan spin up? If so, how long does the fan spin at its full speed.

I ask this as I am concerned about this fan noise. I have spent a lot of time and money on getting my PC ultra quiet, using water.
 
The UPS will kick in automatically once the voltage from the socket drops below a certain threshold, a brown out will usually trigger this in my experience with them. Your PC will stay running without a hitch, that's what they're designed to do ;)

The UPS might be a bit loud but it only lasts while the battery is hot, this could be for a minute or two if it's been running for several minutes. For a brownout the battery won't get that warm so the fan will only run for a few seconds afterwards.
 
baldzone said:
I had this problem and got a UPS. Every now and then the lights dim and the UPS kicks in saving my machine! Not quite as bad as once a month but too often to risk.

I got an APC RS800 which works although it does buzz when on battery power. The buzzing also seems to transfer to my monitor and PSU. Phoned up APC who said it was a fault with the unit, they sent me a new one and it did exactly the same.

As it's only once in a while I'd rather put up with a buzz than loosing data.
Click to expand...

My dad works for APCs IT support department and is basically in charge of keeping everything in the plant running for the last 14 years so I asked him what was wrong with your machine. Apparently you have a "dry joint". It seems just very bad luck that both machines you got had the same problem. Apparently it's not serious but does cause the buzzing you notice.
 
Thanks Darg. It's out of warranty now anyway.

As it's only a backup I'm not overly concerned. Just a little annoying that the buzz is transferred to the PSU and monitor and it's not quiet!
 
Squiffy. Can you confirm the following: If you shut off the power on the plug socket (that the UPS is plugged into), your PC keeps running, unhindered, and the fan powers up on the UPS? And as soon as power is switched back on (to the UPS), the UPS fan, stops. Throughout this, your PC runs without a hitch - no reboot, no nothing.
Click to expand...

I have tested the UPS by switching off the mains to the socket that the UPS is plugged into. There is no power loss on the monitor, the two PC's, the router or the phone (I've wired up a IEC connector to a 4 way mains block for low current devices)

The fan does kick in when it's on battery, it is quite loud, and the UPS beeps, but really you will only get the odd power failure, so noise during that time isn't that bad. When the power comes back, during the charging process the fan stays on, but once it's charged it switches off.

The UPS will kick in automatically once the voltage from the socket drops below a certain threshold, a brown out will usually trigger this in my experience with them
Click to expand...

A brown out might not trigger the UPS, only the smart line offer voltage monitoring/smoothing (keeps it within range) - AVR trim & AVR boost.
 
squiffy said:
A brown out might not trigger the UPS, only the smart line offer voltage monitoring/smoothing (keeps it within range) - AVR trim & AVR boost.
Click to expand...

But your UPS is a "smart" UPS. Does your offer voltage monitoring/smoothing?
 
sunama said:
One more question: when there is a power variation (ie. a brownout and the lights go dim and then back up again), does your UPS kick in and its fan spin up? If so, how long does the fan spin at its full speed.

I ask this as I am concerned about this fan noise. I have spent a lot of time and money on getting my PC ultra quiet, using water.
Click to expand...
my ups doesnt have a fan in it.
for what you want it for any ups will be fine.
i have had a ups for the past 4-5 years now and its saved my pc a few times
 
Ok just done a run time test

Started 18:45, was at 100% charge
Finished 19:21 with 1 LED lit. I don't have UPS software installed so don't know of exact discharge level.

Connected equipment- PC in sig, windows idle, but overclocked CPU. All hard drives switched on.
HTPC is 3700+, 2.5" HD, 1GB RAM, ATI X300, windows idle, CAQ enabled
Philips 20" display
USB 2 3.5" enclosure, reading to HD on sig rig.
Router
Landline Phone base station

DNS-323 isn't being powered off UPS.
 
So that was 36mins, which is more than enough time for a home user to save his/her programs before shutting down.

I am looking at the APC Smart 1000VA, which I should have within the next 2 weeks or so.
 
sunama said:
So that was 36mins, which is more than enough time for a home user to save his/her programs before shutting down.

I am looking at the APC Smart 1000VA, which I should have within the next 2 weeks or so.
Click to expand...

APC Smart UPS 1000 £230
APC Smart UPS 1500 £200

Weird I know. :)
 
Right. Today I took delivery of an APC SMART 700.
Ive hooked up my monitor and PC to it, switched the mains power off and on a few times and the pc and monitor are totally unaffected and run as normal. This is exactly what was required.

It cost me £55, so Im pleased that it didnt break the bank. To be honest, for what I want, this is a bit overkill, but I was unable to find a SMART APC UPS that had a lower power rating; I think they do a 450 model, but I was unable to find this.

Thanks for your help people, especially squiffy.
 
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