Edumacate Me About Uninterrupted Power Supplies

jyl · jyl's Garage

Looing for a UPS for a desktop PC with a bunch of monitors. What should I know? Any model you use and like?

GH85Carrera · GH85Carrera's Garage

The bigger the longer it will last. I have 4 of the APC brand NS-1350 units. They all have a display of how long they will last with the load on them and the voltage coming from the plug.

They will run my systems for about an hour.

Geronimo · Geronimo's Garage

I have an cyberpower 1500, works great, my computer doesn't notice power interruptions.

edgemar · 10-27-2020, 08:39 AM

get a sine wave one.

flipper35 · flipper35's Garage

Most brands make decent ones. Is this for work? How much run time do you need? The larger the VA the longer the run time relative to your load.

If it is an important computer get one that is at least line interactive but online is best as they run off the battery all the time with pure sine wave output. When the power goes out on an online all that happens is the battery is not being charges and your computer knows nothing.

You can also connect them via USB port so it will power your unit down or hibernate your unit if it is left unattended.

You can get them in rack mount versions or stand alone floor models.

If you need lots of run time get ones with lithium instead of lead, but they are pricey. Like get a small lead one and a generator price.

Bill Douglas · 10-27-2020, 10:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by edgemar

get a sine wave one.

Yes.

It's not just about how long the battery lasts. The cheap ones don't have good quality power (wave shape) and can do more harm than good.

masraum · 10-27-2020, 11:35 AM

Yep, don't cheap out. Sine wave output and bigger will yield longer run time. Is this for short outages or brown outs? Or is this for long outages so you power down or so can keep working uninterrupted?

I think I usually have about 1 hour of life from a UPS that is about the size of a small to mid-sized tower PC. That will allow me to ignore short outages or shutdown without losing work on longer outages. It also allows me to keep my router powered so we usually still have Internet when the power goes down.

RWebb · RWebb's Garage

I just buy APC and replace the battery after several years. I buy a new APC every couple of decades...

masraum · 12:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RWebb

I just buy APC and replace the battery after several years. I buy a new APC every couple of decades...

Yep, I've got an APC XS1300 that's probably at least 10 years old. I've replaced the batteries at some point in the last 3-4 years. It's still running really well.

red-beard · red-beard's Garage

I have my servers (and my PC) setup on a 2200 Watt, 24VDC to 120 VAC inverter, with 2 x 12V x 210AH batteries. The Servers plus Firewall are about 400-600 Watts and my PC + Monitor run about 500-750 Watts. So I'm good for about 3-5 hours.

My setup is about $2500...

red-beard · red-beard's Garage

Quote:

Originally Posted by jyl

Looing for a UPS for a desktop PC with a bunch of monitors. What should I know? Any model you use and like?

#1. What is the power draw of your PC?
#2. What is the power draw of each monitor
#3. Add them up!
#4. Buy a UPS with that much power.

masraum · 10-27-2020, 01:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by red-beard

#1. What is the power draw of your PC?
#2. What is the power draw of each monitor
#3. Add them up!
#4. Buy a UPS with that much power.

I assume you might also want
#5. How long do I want this to power my stuff?
in the list too, right.

red-beard · red-beard's Garage

Maybe. Most of the UPS will last maybe 5 minutes on a regular PC. Enough time for a proper shutdown.

RWebb · RWebb's Garage

plug a big screen into your high zoot laptop and plug it into the wall

AC goes out, you revert to your puny 15/16/17" screen for 3-4 hours

jyl · jyl's Garage

Yikes, lots to think about! Measurements? Calculations? Waah?

I only need time to shut down my desktop PC if the power goes out. 10-15 min? It is a Lenovo workstation with a single Xeon and dual graphics cards. Drives many monitors, but I guess I only need to have one monitor plugged into the APC.

Ideally the APC will shut the PC down if I'm not there, but that's not so key as I (can remember to) close all apps when leaving - there's nothing I need to keep running overnight.

The NS-1350 is only $180. If that will do what I need, I'll spend that to save thinking time :-)

masraum · 10-27-2020, 05:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jyl

Yikes, lots to think about! Measurements? Calculations? Waah?

I only need time to shut down my desktop PC if the power goes out. 10-15 min? It is a Lenovo workstation with a single Xeon and dual graphics cards. Drives many monitors, but I guess I only need to have one monitor plugged into the APC.

Ideally the APC will shut the PC down if I'm not there, but that's not so key as I (can remember to) close all apps when leaving - there's nothing I need to keep running overnight.

The NS-1350 is only $180. If that will do what I need, I'll spend that to save thinking time :-)

The NS-1350 is the modern version of the one that I have. You'll probably get 30-60 mins at least out of it. NS1350 (810W) vs mine XS1300 (780W).

Most of the APC stuff will have multiple sections of plugs. Some plugs will be UPS, others will only have surge protection. Maybe some switched and some not. When I had multiple monitors, etc..., I didn't have my extra monitor on the UPS to conserve power. Make sure that the monitor that you do have on power is the one that is the "main" screen, with the Windows button or gets the logon screen so you can power the PC down from it.

I have mine power my PC, NAS, router and switch. I used to have a couple of other things that I had plugged in for surge protection like a monitor and something else that I can't remember now.

stealthn · 10-27-2020, 10:21 PM

As Red said add all the VA/Watts requirements and you’ll have the minimum size you need. If you want longer run-time get a bigger one.

APC or Tripp Lite are good, APC has a calculator to figure out your size and runtime: https://www.apc.com/shop/ca/en/tools/ups_selector/

Also to monitor it, you can get one with a network card, or connect via USB

flipper35 · flipper35's Garage

Even the cheap APC units have a USB connection and that is how it communicates with your PC to shut it down if the run time gets low.

You can always set your power button to shut down the computer if you lose the screens.

We have an APC 650 on our HTPC and large screen TV. We can run that about 20 minutes to watch the weather after the power goes out. My big PC I get about 10 minutes of runtime unless I just have a browser window with a weather map or something That UPS also runs a 24 port managed switch. The router is on a separate UPS in a different part of the house. It will run over an hour and it is a small 450VA unit.

wildthing · 10-28-2020, 12:07 PM

I upgraded an old one to a CyberPower from Costco... I read through this: https://www.cyberpowersystems.com/blog/buying-guides/choosing-a-ups/ and decided I needed a True Sine Wave one to connect my Router, a PC and a monitor. Hopefully if I shut down the PC and monitor in a few minutes, I have WiFi and landline service for a few hours. (Longest power outage I've had is 2 hours.)

jyl · jyl's Garage

I bought the APC 1350. $175. Plugged a power strip into the battery outlet, have my workstation, one monitor, router, and a small LED light plugged into that. I figure if a power outage, that'll be enough to shut down the workstation and find the shotgun. I connected the APC to the workstation via USB for the auto-shutdown.

My cable modem is on a separate UPS, it's whatever Comcast supplied. Can't really use that for the workstation, in a different room.

Thanks everyone!