Buying a UPS

mister said:
I have an old 1000VA ups with 2 X 9AH batteries. It used to power a LED for 3.5hrs, then 2hrs, and it's now down to 1hr. It's obviously draining these batteries too much and destroying them. It would probably be wiser to spec an inverter and battery that will not discharge enough to reduce the battery lifecycle.
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Yeah, I think those batteries in a UPS are crappy. I think someone mentioned you can hook up some deep cycle batteries ?
 
Dan C said:
Yeah, I think those batteries in a UPS are crappy. I think someone mentioned you can hook up some deep cycle batteries ?
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I have a 600W UPS that I hooked up to a 70Ah deep cycle battery.
Ripped out the internal 7.2Ah battery, extended the wires and put some crocodile clamps on it. Worked like a charm for a few years.
Long story short, I now have a 7.2Ah battery in it again (put a new one in today), and I use it to power my Asus DSL-N55U in the house. Don't know for how long yet. But 30W, I should see about 2 hours - I hope.

I now have a 1000W UPS in the home office that I did the same to. Hooked up a Ellies 102Ah to it today to power my server rack with Asus RT-N66U, Linksys/Cisco router, Netgear rack mount switch and the media server (6 drives).
I used to have an Intellipower 4 hooked up to the server rack and saw around a days backup but this fried late last year.
I just need load shedding backup so not added the second 102Ah battery to the mix - yet. Hoping to hook the second battery up to my TV and Roku in the bedroom, but need an inverter or UPS for that still. Will probably end up pulling out the 7.2Ah from the 600W again and hooking the TV up to that as it is close to the TV where it is now. Will see... Probably just get a new one for this.

A PC UPS is not designed to run for prolonged periods of time, so if you do this you must make sure the Watt rating of the UPS is at least twice what you intend to pull else you risk overheating and even fire. Also a good idea to stick a fan in it.
 
Yeah some leds connected to even a cheap ups can last quite a while. Was using a setup like that for quite a while. That way one can at least read a book or something
 
mister said:
Obviously you hooked up an external charger?
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Nope. The UPS seems to charge the battery just fine.

I have the 1000W UPS connected to the new Ellies 102Ah I got yesterday. Just checked voltage and it is at 13.47. Also seems to be charging fine.

Should I be connecting an external charger?

I have been reading a few blogs about using a UPS with larger batteries, and none of them advised an external charger. Just to make sure the UPS had a built in fan, and that the rated watts at least doubled the watts you expect to pull to help prevent overheating.

Ideally I want my Intellipower 4 inverter back. It got taken away to get repaired and the job is just not being done. Thinking I will have to find someone else to do the repair work.
 
It's all very confusing for people who don't know much about electricity :(
 
Some UPS' come with really good management software, e.g. APC. Their Powershute software allows one to control computer shutdown and start up when power is resumed, which is very different to cutting off power.

By summarily cutting power, it's possible to cause disk corruption, whereas sending the OS a shutdown command will ensure that all apps are closed.

Similarly, switching the load on when power is restored can cause an overload of the meager charge remaining in the UPS's battery, thus causing another shutdown, power on, then shut down etc. Powershute allows one to set a percentage charge level of the battery before applying power to the load.
 
I see a 1200w UPS with 2 x 102Ah deep cycle batteries is available for around R6.5k

With a calculated draw of 355w (TV, media centre, etc) excluding a couple of low wattage lights, the above should be more than ample to last a 4hr load shed.

Am I correct in my assumption that I should be more than catered for with a 1200w UPS?
 
snowwolf said:
Where, may I ask, did you see this? Or is it a private deal?
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If you Google you will find quite a few options.
I had a setup like this that I paid R3,500 for. After the 2008 load shedding there were surplus units around and selling for cheap on BidorBuy. I grabbed one very quick.
It died late last year. Nearly 6 years of 24/7 use us pretty good I reckon.
 
Vegeta said:
It's all very confusing for people who don't know much about electricity :(
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Buying a car is confusing for those people who can't drive too ;)

Ultimately, if you're not following either:
a. read up, ask questions, everyone here is quite friendly if you ask something specifically...
b. give up and just let the salesman fleece you...
 
Okay - now I don't know what is going on.

I got this UPS (and it's not 1000W, it's 1400VA/840W - checked up on the net) from my electrician because he is taking so long with getting my Tedelex Intellipower inverter back to me.
This UPS came with 2 x 7.2Ah batteries in it. He pulled them out and extended the battery leads so I could hook it up to deep cycle batteries.
He told me it was 12V UPS, so I only connected up one of my new Ellies 102Ah batteries. I did this yesterday and left it charging until just now. With nothing connected the battery measured 13.54V.

I now wanted to test it so I know what I am in for come load shedding. I pulled the power from the UPS and it got about 2 mins in and started beeping like mad (indicating low battery). I plugged the power back in, and removed the charge leads from the battery. Battery measured 12.6V. In 2 MIN!!

I had a chat with my electrician now on whatsapp and asked if he was sure if it was a 12V UPS as this is just dodgy. After all it came with 2 x batteries inside, so suspected it might (just might) have been 24V. He is pretty sure, but not 100% sure.

I am pulling 240W by the way.

I purchased these Ellies batteries because the 2 x 70Ah batteries I had hooked up (in parallel) were only giving me 40 mins or so, with only a 30W draw on the system (router and ADSL modem). So I figured my batteries were old and shot. But now with a brand new battery, it is even worse.

The UPS is an Eco 140. http://www.pssdistributors.com.au/eco-1400va-line-interactive-ups

Any ideas people?

I am on the verge of just taking the plunge and purchasing a 1200W inverter like I had and be done with it. Waste of cash though if I can get my Tedelex back ASAP. Other problem is I cannot find anyone in Edenvale that stocks any.

EDIT: For the 2 mins the UPS was on battery, the battery was buzzing very loud.
 
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Mike Smit said:
Okay - now I don't know what is going on.

I got this UPS (and it's not 1000W, it's 1400VA/840W - checked up on the net) from my electrician because he is taking so long with getting my Tedelex Intellipower inverter back to me.
This UPS came with 2 x 7.2Ah batteries in it. He pulled them out and extended the battery leads so I could hook it up to deep cycle batteries.
He told me it was 12V UPS, so I only connected up one of my new Ellies 102Ah batteries. I did this yesterday and left it charging until just now. With nothing connected the battery measured 13.54V.

I now wanted to test it so I know what I am in for come load shedding. I pulled the power from the UPS and it got about 2 mins in and started beeping like mad (indicating low battery). I plugged the power back in, and removed the charge leads from the battery. Battery measured 12.6V. In 2 MIN!!

I had a chat with my electrician now on whatsapp and asked if he was sure if it was a 12V UPS as this is just dodgy. After all it came with 2 x batteries inside, so suspected it might (just might) have been 24V. He is pretty sure, but not 100% sure.

I am pulling 240W by the way.

I purchased these Ellies batteries because the 2 x 70Ah batteries I had hooked up (in parallel) were only giving me 40 mins or so, with only a 30W draw on the system (router and ADSL modem). So I figured my batteries were old and shot. But now with a brand new battery, it is even worse.

The UPS is an Eco 140. http://www.pssdistributors.com.au/eco-1400va-line-interactive-ups

Any ideas people?

I am on the verge of just taking the plunge and purchasing a 1200W inverter like I had and be done with it. Waste of cash though if I can get my Tedelex back ASAP. Other problem is I cannot find anyone in Edenvale that stocks any.
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That's a 24v UPS you've got yourself there, bud.
 
YingYang said:
That's a 24v UPS you've got yourself there, bud.
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Oh my. I hope I have not buggered up my brand new 102Ah battery now. Sigh..
How did you determine this dude? Could the 2 internal batteries not have been wired in parallel to double capacity?

Not doubting you. Just want to make sure before I re-wire my batteries.

Probably find now I could have continued using my 70Ah batteries (if they were wired properly) and saved myself R3k on 102Ah batteries yesterday ):
 
Mike Smit said:
Oh my. I hope I have not buggered up my brand new 102Ah battery now. Sigh..
How did you determine this dude? Could the 2 internal batteries not have been wired in parallel to double capacity?

Not doubting you. Just want to make sure before I re-wire my batteries.

Probably find now I could have continued using my 70Ah batteries (if they were wired properly) and saved myself R3k on 102Ah batteries yesterday ):
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I found that the higher the wattage the more common it is to use 24v as opposed to 12.

Also, you have nothing to worry about as these things usually come with all kinds of safety features built in to protect both the UPS and the batteries.
 
CPTBoy said:
Has anyone bought from them?

I have emailed them numerous times with information regarding shipping to Cape Town and have not had any replies.
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Ye - emailed and called them. Nothing. Don't respond to emails and did not answer the phone.
 
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