BUY A UPS!!!!

[Modelworks]

Originally posted by: Foxery

Originally posted by: AccruedExpenditure
How often do destructive power spikes happen? I haven't experienced one in the US before. Are they common occurances?

Originally posted by: Modelworks
Another option rather than plugging everything into surge protectors all over the house is just to get a whole house surge suppressor installed. They cost about $120 + installation and cover everything in the home.

That won't save you from blackouts, and worse, brown-outs, the real killer. My trusty APC units have saved my ass from these several times; most notably, the massive grid failure in the Northeastern US about 5 years ago.

UPS stands for Uninterruptable Power Supply. As in, regardless of what's wrong with your power.

And your UPS will not protect other things in the home. We were discussing power spikes not power failures.

I use a commercial UPS that runs from deep cycle batteries and can run for days if it has the power at 2KW, also an EE, so I'm familiar with the concept. Most of the consumer UPS are designed to run for short durations and are not continuous power units like the commercial ones. They also have much lower surge suppression capabilities than a whole house suppressor.

Ever here a click from a ups ? That is it switching over to battery. The commercial units always are running off the inverter and have no switchover time.

A UPS are ok for the average power failures, but don't think for a minute they can protect you in a lightning strike.

 

[Aikouka]

I use two UPS devices right now. The hardest thing I have when it comes to choosing them is the number of plugs at times. For my computer, it's fine using my 1500V APC model as it only has 6 powered and 2 unpowered. But I needed more for my entertainment center, which it has 5 powered and 5 unpowered (another APC model). Although, it seems the 10 plug APC unit refuses to work when I hook certain devices into the powered plugs. I hooked a PC, 360, TV and a PS3 and I believe all devices refused to turn on. The UPS just made an annoying beeping noise 🙁. So now one of those is on the unpowered... oh well.

 

[Eli]

Text

+

Text

=

Text

😀

I used it to backup my cable/router, and if necessary my laptop. It would run my cable modem/router for 45 hours; 30 with my laptop hooked up. 75Ah! 😉

It did come in handy. There was never a time the power went out that I didn't have an internet connection.

 

[Modelworks]

Originally posted by: Aikouka
I use two UPS devices right now. The hardest thing I have when it comes to choosing them is the number of plugs at times. For my computer, it's fine using my 1500V APC model as it only has 6 powered and 2 unpowered. But I needed more for my entertainment center, which it has 5 powered and 5 unpowered (another APC model). Although, it seems the 10 plug APC unit refuses to work when I hook certain devices into the powered plugs. I hooked a PC, 360, TV and a PS3 and I believe all devices refused to turn on. The UPS just made an annoying beeping noise 🙁. So now one of those is on the unpowered... oh well.

Usually when a UPS beeps like that and the power is fine, it means the UPS is overloaded/too much plugged into it.
The numbers they give for a UPS can be misleading. Like the 1500V you would think that is 1500 watts, but it is 1500VA , which is under 1000 watts.

I guess its a marketing ploy of mine is bigger than yours.