Uninterruptable Power Supply/Source Questions:

[BigHurt]

Ok, so I was looking into purchasing a UPS because the power in the house is not very constistant, voltage wise. "brown-outs" I think they are called..

Anyhow, I was doing some research into UPS's and it seems there are a few different configurations, such as continuous vs. standby.

Main difference I see is that continuous or "online" UPS's run all equipment directly off the battery pack that is constantly charging.

On the standby UPS's, your equipment runs off the ac wall outlet until a power outage, or a detected brownout occurs, and then switches to battery backup.

Now I tried to determine which brands carried the continuous/online UPS's but their documentation wasnt very clear to me at least.

I would like my computer, etc. powered directly off the battery at all times, so slight fluctuations in the electrical current wont affect the screen/powersupply.

Any suggestions?


Thanks

 

[BigHurt]

early afternoon bump... anyone have an idea?

this is the link to a website i referenced that shows diagrams of continuous (online/true) vs standby : Link

 

[jpmills]

According to your link the online type are only very large units. I use an APC BX800 which does provide some protection for brownouts and voltage fluctuations. I haven't any trouble with the unit.

 

[harrkev]

Standby units are cheaper, so they are a LOT more common.

I would not worry about it too much. Your computer's power supply is pretty good at filtering out most fluctuations. By the time the power supply is struggling, the standby UPS should kick in.

But if you are looking for a continuous unit, disregard every unit that is under $100.

**EDIT**
The "OneAC" brand is supposed to be rock-solid, but expensive. Clicky

 

[imported_Quintin]

If you looking for a good solid double conversion (aka online) UPS. I?d recommend the Pulsar EX family from MGE UPS Systems (not to be confused with MGE, the computer enclosure and power supply manufacturer).

I have an EX 10 1U rack mount and an EX 15 for my desktop computer and peripherals. They have never let me down and are extremely reliable. Their size is also modest. The EXs are very pricy, so in my opinion, go with a line interactive model like the Ellipse line from MGE UPS Systems, which I am also using with great success. You could also get a APC line interactive UPS, because the MGE UPS Systems units can be hard to come by, other than through an electrical distributor like Granger or CED.

Another thing to consider is your KVA requirements; the double conversion units offer power from ranging from1 KVA to several KVA for single phase and 250+ KVA for three phase, while the line interactive units usually peak at around 1.5 KVA

I hope this helps and let me know if you have any more questions.

-Quintin