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Author Topic: Should I Buy The Most Expensive UPS Baterry Backup System With Surge Protector For My Amiga?  (Read 4328 times)

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Offline Floid

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Well, almost any UPS should offer good protection from surges.

The trick will be sizing it for all that hardware -- though a 1500VA unit should definitely cover it (1200 and CD32 included), and those can be had for US$200 now.  Just plug your power strip into one of the battery-backed outlets and don't overload it.

If you're having very frequent outages, it might be worth it to find one of the line-interactive types that promise to smooth spikes and sags without switching over to battery; otherwise, the cutover time on modern units is so rapid that you probably won't have to fall for the marketing.  

APC has a volt-amp estimator up on their site, which can help.  

The ability of the inverter to deliver current without overloading (and shutting off with an alarm) is rated in VA, the actual capacity (and thus runtime) of UPS batteries seems to come rated in watts.  Once you get up to the 1000+ VA models, there're going to be large disparities in terms of how much battery they've actually got wired up to the big inverter, so remember to check.

It might also pay to find a model that still supports RS-232, so you have a snowball's chance of rigging up an automated shutdown script.  I have no idea if there's software out for that on AmiNet.  (There's now a standard protocol for USB UPSes, but... not every USB UPS uses it.  Mac compatibility is probably a good indicator.)

...

By way of example, I just went UPS-crazy for some "standard" PC setups, using CyberPower's 550SL and 425SL units.  The former ran around US$50-$60 at Best Buy, the latter were briefly $20 a piece(!) at Staples.

The 550VA, 330W units can power a Sempron 3200+ (Socket 939) workstation with onboard ATI video, one 7200RPM IDE drive and 17" LCD (plus a network hub) for about 30 minutes, if memory serves.

The 425VA, 230W can power a PPC Mac Mini, with external 3.5" drive and 19"(!) CRT for about 15 minutes.  However, the unit will go into overload if the CRT is powered from an off state while running from the battery.

Unfortunately, these suckers don't have wattmeters built in, so I can't give actual drain numbers, or guess at just how much inrush the 19" (NEC) CRT takes.  The moral is that a LCD will certainly cut your VA requirement and increase your runtime, while a big honking CRT means you should definitely include some startup leeway in your VA estimation.

...

I wouldn't say you need the "most expensive," unless you really want to squeeze out an hour plus of runtime.  Even then, make sure you're actually getting more battery for your money.
 

Offline Floid

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Oh, and while I have no firsthand experience, my understanding about the 'fried wires' problem was that it had something to do with corrosion and lost contact over time.  If so, using a tiny bit of good-quality automotive conductive grease (as sold for packing DC connectors) would probably be insurance.   :crazy:
 

Offline Floid

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While checking in on this thread, I just remembered one other very important purchasing consideration -- check the alarm frequency of the unit you're looking at!

The CyberPowers have proved pretty nice in that regard; they beep once every 30 seconds or so when the battery is active, then switch over to a faster (but still non-panic-inducing) cycle when they think they're about to give out.

Some others -- like a cheap and very tiny APC "Conext" I wound up with (which is best suited for backing up a DSL modem, router, and cordless phone) -- find it their duty to inform you that the power's out and the lights are off by beeping incessantly every two or three seconds, with a piezo speaker that wouldn't be out of place in a smoke alarm.  I'm tempted to crack that thing open and add a 'hush' switch or circuit -- few consumer-sized models come with one.

A UPS with long runtime isn't very useful if you'll be reaching for the switch just to make it shut up.