The best value uninterruptible power supply for computer?

[morph999]

I got a power problem over here and the power company says they won't fix it so I need a UPS that will basically give me seamless power supply. My parents have one but it sucks so I need one that's a little better. I read that there are 3 versions: standby, line-interactive, and online. I guess I need either a line-interactive or an online version. I'd like one that will give me about an hour's power for a compaq presario desktop, monitor, and modem. Thanks.

EDIT: ok, looks like an hour's time might be unreasonable. My power goes out for 2 seconds and then comes back on. I just need something that will provide power for that 2 seconds because it's driving me crazy.

 

[MitchJi]

Hi Morph,

I really like my APC "Back UPS X5 1500". Much better reviews than Belkin and mine has worked flawlessly for 4 or 5 years (only about 5 or 6 power failures in that time). My Mac recognizes it so I didn't need the APC Software. When I first got it it gave me quite a few (about 1 every other month) false Power Failure indications. APC tech support walked me through (I didn't read the manual ) setting it up to be less sensitive to minor power fluctuations and its been good ever since.

Its not made anymore, I think the closest current model number is the Back UPS XS 1500":
http://www.apcc.com/resource/include/techspec_index.cfm?base_sku=BX1500

Not sure about the capacity for your load. You could use the APC UPS Selector here to determine the correct sizing:
http://www.apcc.com/tools/ups_selector/index.cfm

I have a Comcast internet connection so if I was getting a new one I'd check for a model with (neither the X5 or XS has that feature) Coax inputs and outputs for the surge protection.

 

[morph999]

I read that the APC's have a bug in them like you described. I'm probably going to buy one from Bestbuy unless someone has a better place? We don't have Fry's out here.

I'm looking at this one right now. I'm surprised at how few options that I have.

http://reviews.bestbuy.com/3545/9486683/reviews.htm

 

[morph999]

This one is a line-interactive. How do I know if they are line-interactive or standby? I assume that the cheap ones are standby. Is APC supposed to be a good brand?

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00366BZYA/ref=s9_simh_gw_p23_i1?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=1ZET766DAB14NPFBTP90&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=470938631&pf_rd_i=507846

 

[tycreek]

I have 2 APC's and a cyberpower. I've had one of the APC UPS's for about 6yrs, the others 2 and 3yrs. I figure anything with a battery that works continuously for 6yrs is good! I get low voltage kick'ins at least once a week sometimes several in a day when my neighbor has his big welder going. Computers and entertainment center are always connected and it's nice to lose power and keep on watching a movie through outages without even a blip other than lights in the room going out.

My luck with UPS's over the years has gotten better after I limited loading the UPS to no more than 60% of its rated watts. I also set them to shut down at or before 20%. You can tell what your load is with a simple watt meter or through a UPS itself. I like my cyberpower because it has a digital display and doesn't need to be connected to a PC to see what's going on.

Deciding what one is best is really a tough question and will give as many answers as owners with good luck. Well ... the other way is to get one with the best warranty! Also... be mindful of how much power it costs to simply have a UPS running!!! You might be surprised and it could be worth a few extra $ over the course of a year or two to get an efficient model...

 

[Papa]

I realize this isn't the solution you ask for, and you'd be spending more $, but just thought I'd toss it out there.... I use a laptop. It not only eliminates the need for a UPS, but is much more efficient to boot.

 

[morph999]

hmmm...one person said that the Diablotek broke in a week so I'm going to keep looking. The cyberpower is what my mom has and it failed her recently but not sure if it's because of it's age or the internal workings.

Oh, I think the guy who fried it probably put too much stuff on it. I think I'm just going to put my desktop computer on it and maybe my modem and that's it. Since my power only cuts out for about 2 seconds, that's all I need it for.

 

[morph999]

good point about the power. Maybe I'll unplug the UPS when I'm not using the computer. I use 50 watt light bulbs and I try to be really conservative as it is.

 

[Toorbough ULL-Zeveigh]

honking big inductor.
i got one around here somewhere that came with a scrapped minicomputer that was used to keep it going for 2 seconds when the mains dipped.

 

[MitchJi]

Hi Morph,

I think I'm just going to put my desktop computer on it and maybe my modem and that's it. Since my power only cuts out for about 2 seconds, that's all I need it for.

You should have the monitor on it also. If its not an LCD its a good time to upgrade. I got a pretty nice used Samsung LCD for $50 about 5 years ago (prices have gone down in the interim).

The particular APC I linked to costs about $180 vs the $99 model you linked to but it has almost twice the capacity so you can probably get a similar capacity APC for a similar price.

 

[amberwolf]

FWIW, you may be able to find old APC server UPS that only have dead batteries in them, for cheap or free. They are good units. I have a small one that is a rackmount type, used 4x 12V 7Ah SLAs in 2s2p, which were all swollen up and dead when I got it. Since it had an Anderson Mulitpole two-conductor connector on it exactly like my bike stuff (some of which came from another APC UPS), I can just connect up a much bigger 24V pack made from 31Ah powerchair batteries, and get a really long runtime from it (untested max so far, 20-something minutes minimum running my LCD and desktop).

The one I harvested some batteries from was an APC 2200 48V unit, that was bigger than my whole PC *without* the secondary add-on battery pack. That UPS didn't work, but if it had it would probably have run my PC for an hour or more, with fully-charged new batteries.

So, you could find one of those old ones, replace the batteries with an external pack that has whatever Wh total you need, and you'd be all set. Just keep in mind that the SLAs may die after a couple of years or less, depending on conditions, charging methods of the UPS, etc.

Whichever kind you get, test it periodically to make sure the batteries are still good, so you don't get surprised by the sudden way-too-short-runtime of a failing battery.

 

[JRitt]

The biggest problem with a (standby) UPS is they take up to 50ms to transfer power from mains to battery. Most computers (ie. Dell, Acer etc..) use a cheap powersupply that will not keep power going to the computer for more than 15-20ms. There are 3 solutions to this problem. 1) buy an on-line USP. It has no swith over time because it runs on battery power all the time and the plug recharges the battery. A low power one will cost $450+. 2) buy a laptop. 3) The least expensive solution is buy a good powersupply (any of the name brands like Antec will work if a standard powersupply will fit your case) then go ahead and buy an inexpensive stand buy UPS

 

[morph999]

Line-interactive is also good. Right? I read that it's the next best thing to an online one. There are a lot of good reviews for the Diablotek Line-interactive. My mom has a stand-by version and it sucks.

Has anyone ever ordered from Compusa? I'm either going to order from Compusa.com or Amazon.com.

 

[amberwolf]

AFAIK Compusa.com is part of Tigerdirect.com, ever since the closure of Compusa as a whole back in Dec 2007. I've never ordered from the site itself; I just used to be a lead tech in one of the brick-and-mortar stores here in Phoenix.

Regarding standby-types, the timing issue is correct, with cheap pc powersupplies it can take too long to switch over, but a good one will work fine.

 

[MitchJi]

Hi,

Regarding standby-types, the timing issue is correct, with cheap pc powersupplies it can take too long to switch over, but a good one will work fine.

My APC has worked fine on two or three Mac desktops.

FWIW, you may be able to find old APC server UPS that only have dead batteries in them, for cheap or free.

Good idea! One problem is the surge protection circuit has a sacrificial part (MOV) that is impossible to test. So you might end up with a great UPS with poor surge protection. I think a good used UPS combined with a cheaper decent quality conventional (MOV based) surge protector would be a cost effective solution.

More info here:
http://www.brickwall.com/?gclid=CIDh4LeAoaICFQ06agodbj_kyg

Surge Protectors That WILL Not Fail!
* No sacrificial or wear components, No MOV's, No Surge protector failures
* No surge diversion to ground
* Exceptional powerline filtering
* fastest surge protector response time
* lowest surge protector clamping level
* lowest surge protector let-through voltage

The Challenge
Do yourself a favor and visit The Electrical Resource's Power Quality Directory's Surge Protectors section...this is the "competition." What you will find is a "snazzy" array of surge protector products with bells and whistles galore. What you'll have trouble finding is any information concerning the technology and components utilized in the manufacturing of their surge protectors.

Why? Well, underneath the hood all of these surge protectors are pretty much the same. These surge protector products represent, for the most part, an interchangeable commodity (it's all the same technology). It can be summed up in three words (or one acronym): Metal Oxide Varistors (MOV's).

As our chief engineer is so fond of saying... "Yes, an MOV is an excellent component. Unfortunately, it's just not a very good component to manufacture surge protectors with."

Point blank: as far as being the main surge protection component, the MOV has severe limitations (read Surge Protector - No Failures and Surge Protectors - Ground Current).

Are there any advantages to MOV based surge protectors? Well, they are very inexpensive (pennies), so the profit margins on surge protector products manufactured with these components are substantial. So you can see the allure...

We claim that our Brick Wall Surge Protectors offer performance, reliability and safety advantages that are unparalleled by other surge protection products. This website explains how we do it, how they do it, and the differences between basic philosophies and the technologies involved in the manufacturing of surge protectors.

We make the best surge protectors in the world. We know that. Then again...we're biased.
WE'RE ASKING YOU TO ASK QUESTIONS!!!!

Morph,
I'd get more capacity (20%- 50%) than you think you need. You know battery estimates tend to be optimistic and batteries get worse as they age.

You might want to change the topic title to:
"Cheapest Computer UPS with decent online reviews" .

 

[morph999]

I was planning on getting one that is 600va/300W which is on the low end on what you can get. I used that APC link you gave me and it said I could do with anything above 500va/120w. The next one up is a 1000va/600w for $90 including shipping. The 600va/300w model is $60 with shipping.

 

[westom]

Line-interactive is also good. Right?

You concern is the intermittent drop out that occurs for maybe two seconds. That means any technology UPS is perfect. To get you to waste money, many will argue line-inactive/standby nonsense that is irrelevant in most cases.

A UPS typically has a life expectancy of three years. Because these UPSes (even the $500 version) are made so cheaply, its battery typically degrades quickly. So, how much power is required? Most computers (even those with 700 watt supplies) consume 200 watts. So you need a UPS that can do 350 watts. Then a degraded UPS is still working three years later. Be concerned with its power output. Be aware of how cheap all those UPSes are constructed. And why electronics are designed to make crappy UPS power irrelevant. UPS in battery backup mode will be some of the 'dirtiest' power those electronics will see.

All minimally designed UPSes can be massively overloaded without damage. Any properly designed UPS would simply shut down without damage.

A standby UPS that meets your load power requirements is more than sufficient for what you have asked to solve. Most will recommend more expensive UPSes to solve irrelevant problems. See that other poster who recommended testing a UPS periodically. Very important. Every so often, disconnect the UPS from AC mains. Do electronics work normally? Test is that simple.

 

[TylerDurden]

You may want to test with dummy load...

 

[morph999]

what is a dummy load? how do I test it?

 

[MitchJi]

Hi Morph,

what is a dummy load? how do I test it?

Tyler means you don't want to test it with your computer hooked up because if it fails the test you subjected your computer to a power failure which is what you are trying to avoid.

 

[GrayKard]

I have an APC brand unit at home and it's worked great on several power outages. It has software with it that will shut my PC down if the outage is long enough to deplete the UPS batteries.

The best value in one is a unit I found at work that they thought was bad. Turns out they had it plugged in but had not turned it on.

Par for the course here, half the equipment on my desk is stuff that they thought was broken...

Gary

 

[morph999]

I ended up ordering this from Amazon.com . It works great. The power went out again last night for 2 seconds and my PC never went off.

http://www.amazon.com/Diablotek-UDP-600-Interactive-Uninterruptible-Supply%C2%BF/dp/B0036C1XGO/ref=sr_1_30?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1277146976&sr=8-30