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UPS (again, groan :-( )

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burakkucat:
I really don't know.  :no:

The question I would ask is whether it would support the required load for the required mains outage time. Have you quantified those two requirements, load and runtime?

displaced:
Been very happy with my APC Back-UPS CS-650, which is available for ~£100.

It has a couple of battery-backed AC outputs and one non-protected output. All are female IEC ‘kettle’ sockets (type F, as you mention).

It’s sat in the cupboard under the stairs where it gets some good ventilation from a nearby air-brick.  I’ve got a 10-way 13A socket extension running from the un-protected socket for non-critical stuff like battery chargers, document scanner, shredder and cordless hoover.

On the protected side, I have an HP Microserver, HG612, hard-drive box (8x WD RED drives), a pfSense router (Intel NUC thing), Raspberry Pi and a Netgear 8-port switch.  That’s via a 6-way extension wired with a trailing IEC type E plug.

All that shows as 30% load and it’s reporting ~25 mins runtime at that load.  Plenty of time for the usual kind of cuts we get.

I’ve got it connected via USB to my pfSense box which is running the apcaccess daemon. My server’s apcaccess client connects to that over the LAN so the server can be cleanly shut down on battery-low events.

Works really well and has been tested several times lately as we had an underground cable develop a fault that blew fuses at the substation several times.

Plus, we have a borderline out-of-spec supply here. Our line voltage is usually in the region of 258V, often going above 260V.  It’s very reassuring to have all the protected stuff being fed a stable 230V!

Weaver:
@displaced many thanks for that that is extremely valuable.

I have two APC UPSs one is a back ups CS 550 or something but it’s incredibly ancient, something like 2004 maybe. The other one is a flat type can’t remember the model, lying on its back with 3 pin mains sockets, again an APC model.

But your runtimes are really valuable. That gives me a good idea of the order of magnitude of runtime I should be getting but don’t. I only get a few minutes so I am assuming this is because the batteries are absolutely knackered because they are ancient. Is that reasonable?

Displaced’s power consumption is roughly comparable to mine. I have a Firebrick router (extremely low), an HP switch, a ZyXEL small switch and four ZyXEL modems so not a million miles away.

Does anyone know how much energy a modem uses, even better a B10A?

I am not able to measure the current drain of my kit. Sorry folks.

One question, where do I see the storage in C (or Ah in non-strict-SI units)? I keep seeing figures of so many VA which I don’t really care about as I am not interested in max current as the load will not be heavy.

The only reason I looked at that model is price. Am absolutely broke at the moment so my financial director will not approve it unless I get a very good deal.

The runtime is determined by how long it takes us, arthritic and poorly, to get the generator started and switch over. Assuming that everything is in readiness. But I shall have to replace the generator anyway because Janet cannot start it as she isn’t strong enough to do the stupid stupid pull cord to start it. - why oh why didn’t I get a pushbutton one (well it’s because it was an emergency, after the 2005 hurricane.)

displaced:
Glad the info helped!

From the sound of it, that BackUPS 550 of yours should be able to handle your described usage for a decent amount of time, if it’s battery were healthy.

Looking at my apcaccess data again, I see it also tells me the unit has a max power output of 400W. So my current LOADPCT of 30% means my gear’s using 120 watts.

If possible, can you get data from your existing UPSes? That’d be a good way of sizing a replacement.

Also, it might be worth investigating whether or not your BackUPS unit has a replaceable battery (I think most, of not all of the ‘tower’ APC units have replaceable batteries).  That may well be the most cost-effective route.

(all this UPS chat prompted me to get my Cacti monitoring system back up and running.  I was graphing the UPS stats so I could show UK Power Networks that our supply was consistently high and often > 230V+10%.  I think they might’ve sorted it recently since it’s not gone above 250V overnight)

jelv:
Replace the battery! Google led me to this: https://www.hardwarexpress.co.uk/ups-battery-replacement-kits-for-apc-23-c.asp

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