Battery Backup / Surge Protection

[Hapatingjaky]

Sup homies?

Since the loss of my NAS here a few weeks ago I am looking at a power backup with surge protection.

Currently for my PC I am using some POS surge protector, something from Belki:

https://www.belkin.com/us/p/P-BV108200-06/

That to be exact. My PC, monitor, modem, NAS and router are attached too it.

For my Home Theater I am using the following:

https://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/MX64072

Which I am no longer liking. I can hear a buzzing sound coming from it all the time. The readout shows 124v and moves up and down radically from time to time. Attached too it is a Optoma UHZ65 Projector, Yamaha CXA5100, Apple 4K TV, Nintendo Switch, Shaw Bluesky Box, Sony UBPX800M2 Bluray Player.

I know I have power issues in my home so I am looking at replacing all the surge protectors for my critical devices with battery backups.

I am looking at a UPS from Cyber Power. one of these:

https://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/MX32714

https://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/MX32745

Depending on my needs.

I had a power outage here as soon as I got my new NAS, huge storm came through so I am getting a little concerned.

Anyone can chime in with thoughts or suggestions if this is a good idea or if there's are good products too use.

[Mahjik]

APC or go home...

https://www.apc.com/shop/us/en/categ...-pro/N-1itz49c

[0091/2]

I have their 1350 model for 2.5yrs and without any problems. The software doesn't accurately log all the events but the unit itself does.

[GTwannabe]

Originally Posted by Mahjik

APC or go home...

https://www.apc.com/shop/us/en/categ...-pro/N-1itz49c

APC went to crap after the buyout by Schneider Electric; go CyberPower instead.

[pax]

Ya I bought 2 of the same ultra power on sale and the one on the home theater buzzed like mad so I had to operate on it... Its way down now but can still hear it. The other unit is fine tho.

Having a batt backup on top of LC might be useful, tho power outages are rare here. Are they finally making batt backups with lithium tho?

[Hapatingjaky]

Originally Posted by pax

Ya I bought 2 of the same ultra power on sale and the one on the home theater buzzed like mad so I had to operate on it... Its way down now but can still hear it. The other unit is fine tho.

Having a batt backup on top of LC might be useful, tho power outages are rare here. Are they finally making batt backups with lithium tho?

I will probably get rid of the Ultra Link. I don't particularly like it, and I have to do some weird setup to get everything plugged in. If I go with the Cyberpower I can fit everything just fine without issue, plus it would look cleaner.

I've been re-doing all the cables on my PC and Home Theater all morning trying to make everything clean. Just about to step out and grab some Blue-Diamond HDMI cables so everything matches and maybe grab the Cyberpower UPS.

[Mahjik]

Originally Posted by GTwannabe

APC went to crap after the buyout by Schneider Electric; go CyberPower instead.

A "crap" APC is better than 90% of the cheap unresearched crap that is put into the market. APC is still the brand of choice in the corporate space.

[GTwannabe]

Originally Posted by Mahjik

A "crap" APC is better than 90% of the cheap unresearched crap that is put into the market. APC is still the brand of choice in the corporate space.

I have a large pile of dead APC UPS units at the office that says otherwise. Most recent was a SmartUPS 1500 with less than a year on a genuine APC battery cartridge. Power supply sharted and clicked on and off rapidly knocking out my main switch stack and firewall. Maybe their industrial line is still good but their small and medium business products are junk.

[Mahjik]

Can't say I've had the same problems. I'm not saying you haven't had your own issues, but they aren't one's I've experienced (and we use their small business models for our remote locations).

[Babel-17]

I've got two CyberPower UPS, but neither are pure sine wave. They've worked in a PC with a 550 watt Rosewill Photon, and then a 650 watt EVGA SuperNova P2.

Supposedly they last a long time if you don't constantly have blackouts/brownouts and repeatedly run down the batteries.

They've handled well the occasional power surges in my area that make the lights flicker, and they handled the occasional short power losses I've had. Just have to disable their alarms, in case you lose power!

Amazon usually has good deals on replacement batteries for them, and the units themself go on sale from time to mine. That's how I got my newer/more powerful one.

Lol, my older one would hit its limit when I would benchmark Shadow of the Tomb Raider with my overclocked RTX 2080. I was using the monitoring feature on a second monitor to capture the power usage. Right at the end my UPS would hit its 390 watt limit. Power efficiency has to get factored in, as one's PSU draws from the UPS a certain percentage over what it's delivering to ones system.

I bought the one at the following link during a really good sale for $74.50, plus tax.

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B000QZ3UG0

CyberPower CP1000AVRLCD Intelligent LCD UPS System, 1000VA/600W, 9 Outlets, AVR, Mini-Tower

$35.45 more at the moment ($109.95), but there's always been sales.

My older/less powerful unit I use for my modem, router, TV/Monitor, and some LED lights. I keep just my PC on the bigger one, and that works out well for monitoring how much power its using from the UPS (66 watts just now).

[andino]

I've had APC for years. I like the fact that they have/had a 5 year warranty. On each and every device that I had the battery went out after 3 years because that is roughly the time frame for the batteries. APC replaced each and every one with no charge. Didn't even charge me shipping. If you get one make sure you register it. It's worth the time.

Right now, I have APC on all 6 PC's in my house. Granted, I unplug them all when a thunderstorm rolls in but still they are all running great. No issues at all.

Hope that helps.

[deadite_9]

Love the CyberPower PFCLCD series. Currently using a combination of five CP1500s, two CP1000s, and one CP850 for PC, network, and home theater duty throughout the whole house, along with some smaller AVR units for light duty here and there. We don't really get brownouts around here, but we frequently get severe storms during the spring and summer months (I live in the southeastern US). I am able to gracefully shut down both PCs and the whole home theater if the power goes out, and if the power just blinks off and on again, everything just keeps puttering on like nothing happened.

Had an older APC SUA750-- my first true sinewave UPS-- that chewed through replacement batteries like nobody's business, even though it very rarely had to kick them in and was never once even fully depleted. It worked great, but the battery costs were getting to be too much. After the fourth replacement, I finally chucked it... and I won't buy APC again. Just my $.02.

I will say that my most recent purchase of a new CP1500 in June (from Amazon) was a disappointment, though. It had a faulty front panel that was only partially connected from the factory, so none of the buttons (apart from the main power) actually worked. How it ever passed QA is beyond me. Judging from the new packaging, it looks like CyberPower is finally starting to cheap out on a few things. I returned it to Amazon, since they refused to replace it, and bought another CP1000 from Newegg after deciding that the 1500 was overkill for the spare PC/desk. That one came in the newer box, but the unit itself has performed flawlessly so far.

In other words, it's all luck of the draw and YMMV. But personal experience tells me you'll get good service out of the CP1500/1350PFCLCD if you go that route.

[andino]

I had a CyberPower PFCLCD for a few years. They burn through batteries too. The only difference between the APC and the CyberPower is that the CyberPower does not warn you when the battery goes down like the APC does. So when the power went out the backup didn't function on that unit. I moved it to the kiddos PS4 and X Box in the living room and put a APC on the main computer rig.

[deadite_9]

Originally Posted by andino

I had a CyberPower PFCLCD for a few years. They burn through batteries too. The only difference between the APC and the CyberPower is that the CyberPower does not warn you when the battery goes down like the APC does. So when the power went out the backup didn't function on that unit. I moved it to the kiddos PS4 and X Box in the living room and put a APC on the main computer rig.

To be fair, I also had an old APC tower unit from 2004 that lasted on its original battery until last summer (over 14 years). But that pure sinewave model was downright obnoxious when it came to battery failures. I can't remember how long the original battery lasted, but after it croaked I got no more than 12 to 15 months out of each replacement... and these weren't el cheapo generic aftermarket batteries from Batteries Plus, either.

So far I've had no failures with any of the CyberPower units, though the oldest units are over 7 years old at this point so I'm probably due.

[wabbitslayer]

Originally Posted by Babel-17

I've got two CyberPower UPS, but neither are pure sine wave.

Someone more knowledgeable than I talk about this, please: Does it really matter?

I've read a bunch on "pure" sine vs "simulated" sine, and I know from audio stuff that clipped waves are bad for speakers....is there something similar going on here in terms of harm to components?

We rarely have outages here (knock on wood), so I'm just running a surge protector, no UPS.

[Treeckcold57]

Originally Posted by wabbitslayer

Someone more knowledgeable than I talk about this, please: Does it really matter?

I've read a bunch on "pure" sine vs "simulated" sine, and I know from audio stuff that clipped waves are bad for speakers....is there something similar going on here in terms of harm to components?

We rarely have outages here (knock on wood), so I'm just running a surge protector, no UPS.

I'm not sure how to say this, but I think pure sine might has to do with the power supplies with PFC. I'm no electrician expert tho.

[Mahjik]

If you have a device that requires "clean power", then you want a pure sine wave UPS. If you don't (and if you don't know, then you don't have one), then it doesn't matter. Devices will usually have requirements on them for power if they do...

Basically, unless you are running some sensitive scientific, medical, or sensitive audio equipment; you don't really need pure sine wave UPS's.

[deadite_9]

Originally Posted by wabbitslayer

Someone more knowledgeable than I talk about this, please: Does it really matter?

I've read a bunch on "pure" sine vs "simulated" sine, and I know from audio stuff that clipped waves are bad for speakers....is there something similar going on here in terms of harm to components?

We rarely have outages here (knock on wood), so I'm just running a surge protector, no UPS.

I think the main thing you want is one with some sort of built-in AVR function to protect against temporary spikes and/or brownouts.

My first modular PSU was an Enermax Liberty that also used active PFC, and it absolutely would not tolerate a simulated sine wave. When the power went out and it was attached to an average UPS unit (in this case, the APC that I mentioned that lasted for 14 years), it lost power. So the UPS was utterly useless in that scenario, which is what led me to getting that first true sine wave unit.

I think most reputable active PFC power supplies these days are gonna work fine with a simulated sine wave, though. I know that EVGA (at least) has stated that theirs do.

If you can afford a pure sine wave model, then I'd say to go for it; it can't hurt, but at the same time it probably isn't absolutely necessary for the equipment you're running. But having one that is at least "line-interactive" (one that actively uses AVR to adjust the voltage up and down as needed) is essential IMHO.

[Shadowless]

Originally Posted by Mahjik

APC or go home...

https://www.apc.com/shop/us/en/categ...-pro/N-1itz49c

APC blows. CyberPower or Eaton all day every day.

[BababooeyHTJ]

Originally Posted by Shadowless

APC blows. CyberPower or Eaton all day every day.

Eaton makes a ups?! I would be all over that!

[Shadowless]

Originally Posted by BababooeyHTJ

Eaton makes a ups?! I would be all over that!

Yup. I have an Eaton unit powering my DR Host for work, and when our rackmounted APC unit in the office inevitably needs new batteries I'm going to yank it and replace it with either an Eaton or Cyberpower depending on what kind of deal I can get.