Some questions on buying a new UPS

[nine9s]

I am thinking of getting a UPS just for safety if power cuts off. I do not leave my computer running when not using it, so my needs are just to be able to shut-down if power goes out.

Three questions please:

1) I bought one a few years ago but it produced a bad smell (new car smell like) and I was worried about health concerns (I think it was ozone) so I took it back. It was probably an APC or Cyberpower (I got it at Circuit City.) Are they still bad in that regard?

2) During normal use, are you using power from the UPS or does it directly pass power? I am wondering if a retail version is bad for your computer's power supply not being full sine wave power. Or is that only when in battery mode when power is off?

3) What size should one get? My PSU is 750 watts but I doubt I pull close to that. I have a LED-backlight monitor, 3770K CPU, 680 GTX, SSD and 1 HD 1 and DVD-drive.

Thanks for any help

 

[philipma1957]

http://excessups.com/

I have 3 refurbished sine wave units from this seller.


this would be a very good unit for you


http://excessups.com/smartups-1400-su1400net-beige-p-40.html

they are heavy he is in buffalo NY IIRC

 

[Blain]

Cyberpower AVR units 1350 or 1500 and you're good to go.
Buy a pure sine wave model if you're so inclined.

 

[nine9s]

Does your power supply always receive the none full sine wave power or when receiving power via the battery? In other words during normal use, with no electricity interruption, will the power be normal full sine or the non full sine power - if a UPS just for when power is out, does it matter?

 

[philipma1957]

the one i listed is pure sinewave with power out. when power works it bypasses the battery and the inverter and uses the power companies power. the cyberpower ones do the same the run the inverter with the battery when the powercompany is out. the skip the inverter/battery when the power company works.

As to wheter you choose the new lower quality none sine wave. over the rebuilt better quailty sine wave model it is your call. One thing for sure new sine wave type models are costly. tha is why I went with the rebuilt models. the oldest one is now 2 years old and still works fine.

 

[snoturtle]

I would highly recommend a pure sine wave model
especially if you have an active pfc PSU
If you do and you get a UPS without pure sine wave it will just shut off when it changes over to the UPS
Had to replace a 1500va unit because of this

Here is some more info
https://www.dougv.com/2010/03/01/active-pfc-enabled-psus-are-not-compatable-with-most-low-end-ups/

And a link to a cheap pure sine wave model
http://www.amazon.com/CyberPower-CP8.../dp/B00429N18S

 

[Charles Kozierok]

1) I bought one a few years ago but it produced a bad smell (new car smell like) and I was worried about health concerns (I think it was ozone) so I took it back. It was probably an APC or Cyberpower (I got it at Circuit City.) Are they still bad in that regard?

I've never had a UPS put out that transformer smell. You were right to return it.

2) During normal use, are you using power from the UPS or does it directly pass power? I am wondering if a retail version is bad for your computer's power supply not being full sine wave power. Or is that only when in battery mode when power is off?

It depends on the model. Most of the less expensive models run off the AC and switch to battery quickly if it cuts out. More expensive units are running off the battery/inverter all the time and charging the battery from the AC.

3) What size should one get? My PSU is 750 watts but I doubt I pull close to that. I have a LED-backlight monitor, 3770K CPU, 680 GTX, SSD and 1 HD 1 and DVD-drive.

Sizing has nothing to do with your PSUs wattage, which represents maximum power. It's a function of your average load and how long you want the machine to be able to run.

The big UPS companies like APC have sizing tools on their website. How much power you'll draw depends on what you're doing -- is it just browing the web, or hard-core gaming? In general figure on 100-200W for most uses, and then divide by the capacity of the unit, derating by 25% or so. Just a ballpark idea.

If all you want is something to buffer outages and give you a chance to shut down, then you don't really need much capacity at all. Be sure to get one that comes with a communication cable and software for auto-shutdown, and configure it appropriately.

 

[richaron]

I would highly recommend a pure sine wave model especially if you have an active pfc PSU If you do and you get a UPS without pure sine wave it will just shut off when it changes over to the UPS Had to replace a 1500va unit because of this

I'm running a cheap "modulated sine wave" cyberpower UPS with a half decent 750W active pfc PSU. It works.

PSU does, however, make an unhealthy clicky sound when the UPS kicks in, as the square(ish) wave smashes the main input capacitors [not designed for instant charging]. But I balance the reduce lifespan of my PSU vs UPS runtime & upfront cost.

It is also more of a problem for me running 240V since the voltage spike of a square wave is also larger than the cap's rated max, 120V should be safer (don't ask me the maths). Still works tho.

 

[snoturtle]

I'm running a cheap "modulated sine wave" cyberpower UPS with a half decent 750W active pfc PSU. It works.

PSU does, however, make an unhealthy clicky sound when the UPS kicks in, as the square(ish) wave smashes the main input capacitors [not designed for instant charging]. But I balance the reduce lifespan of my PSU vs UPS runtime & upfront cost.

It is also more of a problem for me running 240V since the voltage spike of a square wave is also larger than the cap's rated max, 120V should be safer (don't ask me the maths). Still works tho.

Seems to be more hit and miss now
Last time I looked was when I got my 2nd to last Dell and that wouldn't work with a non pure sine wave one but my newer one works fine with my older APC unit

I would still recommend getting a pure sine wave one as they can be had for just over 100 bucks