Observations on a UPS - follow up to a previous post
 

Recently I asked about suggestions regarding a UPS. I ended up
getting an 875 VA 525 Watt "Geek Squad" model from Best Buy - yeah,
yeah, everyone says Geek Squad stuff is overhyped junk, but at $69 on
sale, the price seemed right.

It seems to handle my 2 computers fine - a PIV 2.4 gig and a PIII 933
mhz sharing a monitor. With both machines and the monitor on, the
onboard readout shows them well below the unit's max capacity, drawing
about .250 - .260 kw (which I assume translates to 250 - 260 watts) ,
with an estimated run time of 9 minutes with both computers. More than
enough to get me through short hit outages with both machines running.

Interesting to note how much of a difference the monitor makes.
Without the monitor - a 17" MAG CRT, the draw for both computers
drops under 200 watts and the estimate run time for the 2 computers
goes from 9 mins to 15mins. Over 20 mins with just one computer
running but no monitor.

Since this thing has a built-in watt usage meter, any reason I
couldn't hook it up to say a refrigerator or TV to check how much
wattage they're using?

Observations on a UPS - follow up to a previous post
 

"Doc" wrote in message
ups.com...
Recently I asked about suggestions regarding a UPS. I ended up
getting an 875 VA 525 Watt "Geek Squad" model from Best Buy - yeah,
yeah, everyone says Geek Squad stuff is overhyped junk, but at $69 on
sale, the price seemed right.

It seems to handle my 2 computers fine - a PIV 2.4 gig and a PIII 933
mhz sharing a monitor. With both machines and the monitor on, the
onboard readout shows them well below the unit's max capacity, drawing
about .250 - .260 kw (which I assume translates to 250 - 260 watts) ,
with an estimated run time of 9 minutes with both computers. More than
enough to get me through short hit outages with both machines running.

Interesting to note how much of a difference the monitor makes.
Without the monitor - a 17" MAG CRT, the draw for both computers
drops under 200 watts and the estimate run time for the 2 computers
goes from 9 mins to 15mins. Over 20 mins with just one computer
running but no monitor.

Since this thing has a built-in watt usage meter, any reason I
couldn't hook it up to say a refrigerator or TV to check how much
wattage they're using?

I would avoid hookihg it up to a motor driven appliance, as these generate
powerful surges when turned off that can blow semiconductor components. The
TV is fine.

Bob Morein
Dresher, PA
(215) 646-4894

Observations on a UPS - follow up to a previous post
 

Interesting to note how much of a difference the monitor makes.
Without the monitor -- a 17" MAG CRT, the draw for both computers
drops under 200 watts and the estimate run time for the 2 computers
goes from 9 mins to 15mins. Over 20 mins with just one computer
running but no monitor.

My experience -- at least where I live -- is that the power is off for a
fraction of a second, or hours. There's rarely anything in-between.

Than main advantage of an SPS -- again, in my area -- is protection against
the tenth-of-a-second glitches that have little or no effect on anything
else, but cause the computer to drop out. I've had as many as five or six in
a day -- imagine having to restart the computer each time, not knowing if
another might occur and slap you down again!

If you constantly save your work, a hard shutdown won't usually hurt you.
But it's always nice to have enough time -- during an extended power
outage -- to shut down the machine "rationally".

Observations on a UPS - follow up to a previous post
 

In comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.misc Doc wrote:
Recently I asked about suggestions regarding a UPS. I ended up
getting an 875 VA 525 Watt "Geek Squad" model from Best Buy - yeah,
yeah, everyone says Geek Squad stuff is overhyped junk, but at $69 on
sale, the price seemed right.

The price is all wrong. Nobody can build a decent product with
these specs for that price. You cannot even buy the components
needed in decent quality for that price.

It seems to handle my 2 computers fine - a PIV 2.4 gig and a PIII 933
mhz sharing a monitor. With both machines and the monitor on, the
onboard readout shows them well below the unit's max capacity, drawing
about .250 - .260 kw (which I assume translates to 250 - 260 watts) ,
with an estimated run time of 9 minutes with both computers. More than
enough to get me through short hit outages with both machines running.

And with the el-cheapo battery in there, that figure will be down to
1 minute in no time. And you would be well advised to test the
claim. Software can be made to lie to you, you know.

Interesting to note how much of a difference the monitor makes.
Without the monitor - a 17" MAG CRT, the draw for both computers
drops under 200 watts and the estimate run time for the 2 computers
goes from 9 mins to 15mins. Over 20 mins with just one computer
running but no monitor.

Since this thing has a built-in watt usage meter, any reason I
couldn't hook it up to say a refrigerator or TV to check how much
wattage they're using?

A) the watt-meter is likely very crappy, given that a good AC
watt-meter costs more than this whole thing. They likely do a
current average and then some magic correction. Can be 50% off
or more even when used as intended. B) this device is
not intended to support motors.

Arno

Observations on a UPS - follow up to a previous post
 

On Aug 12, 9:07 pm, Arno Wagner wrote:

The price is all wrong. Nobody can build a decent product with
these specs for that price.


Well, it was a sale price. I'm not sure that anything they sell there
is "top of the line".

It seems to handle my 2 computers fine - a PIV 2.4 gig and a PIII 933
mhz sharing a monitor. With both machines and the monitor on, the
onboard readout shows them well below the unit's max capacity, drawing
about .250 - .260 kw (which I assume translates to 250 - 260 watts) ,
with an estimated run time of 9 minutes with both computers. More than
enough to get me through short hit outages with both machines running.

And with the el-cheapo battery in there, that figure will be down to
1 minute in no time. And you would be well advised to test the
claim. Software can be made to lie to you, you know.


I'm going by the readout on the front of the gizmo, though it does
have software that gives many of the same readouts along with some
other tasks.

A test to find out how long it will actually run the computer sounds
like a good idea.



Since this thing has a built-in watt usage meter, any reason I
couldn't hook it up to say a refrigerator or TV to check how much
wattage they're using?

A) the watt-meter is likely very crappy, given that a good AC
watt-meter costs more than this whole thing.


Maybe, but a lot of people seem to swear by the Kill-A-Watt meter,
which can be had all day for around $25 online, eBay etc.

Observations on a UPS - follow up to a previous post
 

"Doc" wrote in message
ups.com...
Recently I asked about suggestions regarding a UPS. I ended up
getting an 875 VA 525 Watt "Geek Squad" model from Best Buy - yeah,
yeah, everyone says Geek Squad stuff is overhyped junk, but at $69 on
sale, the price seemed right.

It seems to handle my 2 computers fine - a PIV 2.4 gig and a PIII 933
mhz sharing a monitor. With both machines and the monitor on, the
onboard readout shows them well below the unit's max capacity, drawing
about .250 - .260 kw (which I assume translates to 250 - 260 watts) ,
with an estimated run time of 9 minutes with both computers. More than
enough to get me through short hit outages with both machines running.

Interesting to note how much of a difference the monitor makes.
Without the monitor - a 17" MAG CRT, the draw for both computers
drops under 200 watts and the estimate run time for the 2 computers
goes from 9 mins to 15mins. Over 20 mins with just one computer
running but no monitor.

Since this thing has a built-in watt usage meter, any reason I
couldn't hook it up to say a refrigerator or TV to check how much
wattage they're using?


Yeah CRT monitors take a lot of juice, it's one of the reasons flat panels
are so popular, though I still prefer a good CRT as it looks slightly better
to my eyes.

Sure you can plug in other items, though motorized appliances will probably
not particularly like the modified sine wave those things put out.

Your best bet for that is to buy a Kill A Watt or similar device, they're
only about 25 bucks and will do so much more. You get accurate measurments
of watts, volts, amps, volt-amps, power factor, and accumulated kwa and you
can plug in anything you want.

Observations on a UPS - follow up to a previous post
 

A test to find out how long it will actually run the computer sounds
like a good idea.



That's a good way to kill the battery, these things tend to really punish
batteries, after a few complete cycles they're often pretty well toast. You
should be fine to try it for a bit, say 5 minutes without issues.





Maybe, but a lot of people seem to swear by the Kill-A-Watt meter,
which can be had all day for around $25 online, eBay etc.



EE friend of mine compared one to a $2500 power analyzer at work, found that
the Kill A Watt performance is pretty much inline with the specs printed for
it. It's not as good as the professional equipment, but it's really very
impressive for what it is and certainly adequate for consumer use. The
wonders of modern microelectronics, it's amazing what they can do with one
inexpensive chip and a handfull of passive components. I still remember when
a pocket calculator was $300, then a few years later $50 would buy one just
as effective, and not long after that they were under $20 and those are all
more capable than large machines costing many thousands just a few decades
earlier.

Observations on a UPS - follow up to a previous post
 

"James Sweet" wrote in message
news:ehPvi.2400$jy5.785@trnddc07...

"Doc" wrote in message
ups.com...
Recently I asked about suggestions regarding a UPS. I ended up
getting an 875 VA 525 Watt "Geek Squad" model from Best Buy - yeah,
yeah, everyone says Geek Squad stuff is overhyped junk, but at $69 on
sale, the price seemed right.

It seems to handle my 2 computers fine - a PIV 2.4 gig and a PIII 933
mhz sharing a monitor. With both machines and the monitor on, the
onboard readout shows them well below the unit's max capacity, drawing
about .250 - .260 kw (which I assume translates to 250 - 260 watts) ,
with an estimated run time of 9 minutes with both computers. More than
enough to get me through short hit outages with both machines running.

Interesting to note how much of a difference the monitor makes.
Without the monitor - a 17" MAG CRT, the draw for both computers
drops under 200 watts and the estimate run time for the 2 computers
goes from 9 mins to 15mins. Over 20 mins with just one computer
running but no monitor.

Since this thing has a built-in watt usage meter, any reason I
couldn't hook it up to say a refrigerator or TV to check how much
wattage they're using?


Yeah CRT monitors take a lot of juice, it's one of the reasons flat panels
are so popular, though I still prefer a good CRT as it looks slightly
better to my eyes.

Sure you can plug in other items, though motorized appliances will
probably not particularly like the modified sine wave those things put
out.

Your best bet for that is to buy a Kill A Watt or similar device, they're
only about 25 bucks and will do so much more. You get accurate measurments
of watts, volts, amps, volt-amps, power factor, and accumulated kwa and
you can plug in anything you want.


But be aware that in general, these cheap 'power' meters are expecting
'traditional' sine-draw loads. I have seen wildly inaccurate standby figures
being given for equipment, by eco-campaigners that have been let loose with
one. A lot of modern equipment that makes use of switch mode power supplies,
handles standby mode by brief bursts of full draw operation. This can
confuse a simple power calculating algorithm that's expecting continuous
draw. Also, the draw by many cheapo switchers is very asymmetric and
'dirty', and may also not produce a true reading.

I wouldn't connect a UPS to a fridge. These things are notorious for pulling
a short-term startup current of tens of amps, as they get the compressor
turning over. The UPS would probably fall over before being able to supply
this, and might, as someone else suggested, even sustain damage.

Arfa

Observations on a UPS - follow up to a previous post
 

On Aug 12, 8:45 pm, "William Sommerwerck"
wrote:

My experience -- at least where I live -- is that the power is off for a
fraction of a second, or hours. There's rarely anything in-between.


In general, I'd say that's my seat of the pants impression too, though
not always. I also notice they'll often come in clusters.

The transformer - if that's the correct term for it - big gray
basically cylindrical unit on top of a power pole - near my house blew
once. Powerful **BOOM** and a huge column of flame. Not sure what the
fuel for the flame was, do they have oil in them? Also a bit
disconcerting since anyone nearby surely would have been in jeopardy
from flaming debris.

Needless to say, power was out for a while on that one.

Observations on a UPS - follow up to a previous post
 

On Aug 12, 10:24 pm, "James Sweet" wrote:
A test to find out how long it will actually run the computer sounds
like a good idea.

That's a good way to kill the battery, these things tend to really punish
batteries, after a few complete cycles they're often pretty well toast. You
should be fine to try it for a bit, say 5 minutes without issues.


Seems I've heard an occasional complete drain-down and recharge will
extend the life of a rechargeable battery, that being constantly
partially discharged and recharged is what shortens their life. Not
so? Does it depend what kind of rechargeable it is?