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?

"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

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".

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.

In comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.misc Doc wrote:
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.

Ugh. Putting them up for each individual hous is a very, very
historic way to do it.

Powerful **BOOM** and a huge column of flame. Not sure what the
fuel for the flame was, do they have oil in them?

Yes, for cooling. If it was an old transformer, you might have
giotten a nice load of Dioxins for free there...

Also a bit
disconcerting since anyone nearby surely would have been in jeopardy
from flaming debris.

The right way to do this is to use bigger transformesr for 10-100 houese
and to bury 3-phase AC lines. A lot more expensive, but pays off
in the long run, since you have less problems. And all these ugly
poles and transformers will vanish.

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

I can believe that.

Arno

On Aug 13, 7:38 am, Arno Wagner wrote:

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.

Ugh. Putting them up for each individual hous is a very, very
historic way to do it.


I don't think there's one by every house, seems like you see them
every few poles.


The right way to do this is to use bigger transformesr for 10-100 houese
and to bury 3-phase AC lines. A lot more expensive, but pays off
in the long run, since you have less problems. And all these ugly
poles and transformers will vanish.


I know the power lines coming into my house are definitely above
ground. They're strapped to a supporting cable coming from a power
pole.

Ugh. Putting them up for each individual hous is a very, very
historic way to do it.


I don't think there's one by every house, seems like you see them
every few poles.


Generally it's 4-10 houses per transformer, it's nice, it makes it possible
to have quite good voltage regulation. I rarely see mine change by more than
a volt plus or minus.


The right way to do this is to use bigger transformesr for 10-100 houese
and to bury 3-phase AC lines. A lot more expensive, but pays off
in the long run, since you have less problems. And all these ugly
poles and transformers will vanish.



I'd love to have 3 phase, I've never seen it in a residence though, and
residential equipment is all single phase anyway, it works.

I kinda like above ground power, at least for the big stuff. Most of the
houses around here from the late 70s on have underground power, but some of
the old lines are starting to deteriorate so they've had to dig up streets
and flower beds to replace them.

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.

Yes. The glitches are rarely isolated events.

Around my area, wind storms often cause sustained outages in areas where the
lines are above ground.

Doc wrote:
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.

TRMOAS (that reminds me of a story)...

Years ago, when Atari ST computers were common, friends of mine lived in
and old house with just such a transformer on the adjacent pole.
Buddy had been trying for ages to get his girlfriend to start learning
to use the computer, but she was always afraid she'd "break something".

Finally one day, he convinced her to sit down and give it a try. She
took a deep breath, put her hands on the keyboard... as the room was lit
up by a brilliant flash through the window, shaken by a magnificent
**BOOM!**, and the computer screen went black.

Poor girl was in a complete panic, she was SURE it was her fault...

As it turned out, a drunk speeding down the road outside in his van had
gone THROUGH two nearby power poles and finally stopped just shy of
hitting a third; the first impact brought the lines down and was
sufficient to explode the transformer just outside their window.

....took her years to ever touch a computer again

Doc wrote:
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.


Yes that transformer on top of the pole is what blew. The fuel was the
oil that acted as a dielectric insulator and heat dissipator. Older
versions have the liquid filled with PCBs (polybrominated biphenyls).
That stuff is quite hazardous.
FK