Opening a UPS

[HavocXphere]

I've got an unused 600kva UPS lying around (no name brand) that I'd like to use for emergency lighting when the inevitable power failures hit me. i.e. Just a single light so that I can read a book or something.

There is a catch though...this thing beeps like mad when the power fails & being a non-name brand one there is no clear way to disable that (or login to the management interface). How easy/difficult do you think it'll be to open it an cut out the speaker thing? Obviously it'll depend on the model, but just in general...

Also any guesses as to how long a no-name brand UPS could power say a 20W CFL?

 

[MDE]

Easy to cut the wires just make sure you don't touch any of the electrical wires. You'll probably get 3-4 hrs with a 20w CFL

 

[howardb]

Have you tried pressing the power button once when it kicks in. Mine does the same (also no name) and if I press it once it's silenced but continues to work.

Re the speaker, depends on whether it's onboard or wired, should be easy to check out, just ensure the unit is off and battery disconnected before touching anything...

My old 600 used to power a single lamp for a good 10-12 hours easily. The power was never off long enough for it to die

 

[HavocXphere]

Have you tried pressing the power button once when it kicks in. Mine does the same (also no name) and if I press it once it's silenced but continues to work.

Re the speaker, depends on whether it's onboard or wired, should be easy to check out, just ensure the unit is off and battery disconnected before touching anything...

My old 600 used to power a single lamp for a good 10-12 hours easily. The power was never off long enough for it to die

Will have a look at the power button thing - doubt it though. I see to recall that the switch had a fairly mechanical on/off feel to it. As I said...no name brand china edition.

Easy to cut the wires just make sure you don't touch any of the electrical wires. You'll probably get 3-4 hrs with a 20w CFL

That sounds promising. Will have a look & see if I can get some LEDs maybe for a bit of extra headroom. LEDs should be fine with square wave, right?

Thanks guys

 

[ld13]

Opened mine few months ago to try and kill the buzzer... was mounted onto the IC board Resorted to plugging the small hole with wondergom. Not helping too much.

 

[Drunkard #1]

Erm?

 

[HavocXphere]

Opened mine few months ago to try and kill the buzzer... was mounted onto the IC board Resorted to plugging the small hole with wondergom. Not helping too much.

Hopefully its something I can cut out.

Erm?
View attachment 103836

That would work too. UPS strikes me as more convenient due to
1) Me having one lying around
2) Skipping the whole separate charger & messing with charging wires

 

[Mystic Twilight]

Erm?
View attachment 103836

Good luck with that light bulb, those types of light bulbs are 50w plus. Also that lead acid battery isn't the most efficient energy store over a period of long time.

 

[naeem]

to add (not sure how safe this is ) but i fitted a 4 way multi plug extension onto those kettle cords. Basically instead of having a 3pin plug at the end, it had a kettle plug socket at the end.

I then plugged this into the UPS. Used it to power a switch, router, & NAS drive. Worked pretty well, a 400 or 500kva UPS gave at least 4 hours of power.


Didnt help with the beeping

 

[HavocXphere]

to add (not sure how safe this is ) but i fitted a 4 way multi plug extension onto those kettle cords. Basically instead of having a 3pin plug at the end, it had a kettle plug socket at the end.

Did the same. Its perfectly safe...as long as the people you let near it aren't idiots. e.g. The type that tries powering a toaster via UPS.

 

[T-Man]

I've got an unused 600kva UPS lying around

400 or 500kva UPS gave at least 4 hours of power.

I didn't know the UPS come this big. Should it not be VA instead of KVA?

 

[Mk786]

I have a Mecer UPS. I couldn't find the speaker either. Bloody things keeps waking me up at night

 

[MDE]

Take a photo?

 

[MDE]

I didn't know the UPS come this big. Should it not be VA instead of KVA?

Can be both but you do get 500kVA

http://powerquality.eaton.com/Produ...wer-UPS/9315-UPS/9315-400to500-Specs.asp?CX=3

 

[Drunkard #1]

That would work too. UPS strikes me as more convenient due to
1) Me having one lying around
2) Skipping the whole separate charger & messing with charging wires

I guess you've got to be set up for this sort of thing. I've always got a few VRLAs on charge anyway.

Good luck with that light bulb, those types of light bulbs are 50w plus. Also that lead acid battery isn't the most efficient energy store over a period of long time.

It's a high efficiency 35W Osram. He's using a 7.2Ah VRLA anyway, might as well do it without the inverter losses. From the battery's data sheet, 37.8W will give 1.5h use (down to 10.8V).

 

[Flidiot]

Did the same. Its perfectly safe...as long as the people you let near it aren't idiots. e.g. The type that tries powering a toaster via UPS.

+1

I have a few multi-plugs rigged the same way. Like Havoc said, as long as you don't let idiots near it - ever seen someone try to use one of those monstrous impact drills off a UPS? It will go nuts, whether it is on AC or battery.

 

[Dimpie (JIGSAW)]

@ OP, just don't drain the battery completely flat to the point where the UPS is completely dead .... a lot of these cheap UPS models need some power in the battery to go on again.

I've seen a lot of people draining theirs completely flat & when the eskom power is restored, the UPS stays off & only after connecting a battery with some power will the unit go on & start charging again
(you can change batteries after the unit in on)

 

[HavocXphere]

Update - opened it and found the damn thing. Looked like the image ld13 posted (see below)...except soldered onto the board. Destroyed it (carefully) with a side cutter - seemed better than having a go at the soldering. Got at least 1 magnetic part out of it so I'm pretty sure its dead. One minor problem though:

@ OP, just don't drain the battery completely flat to the point where the UPS is completely dead .... a lot of these cheap UPS models need some power in the battery to go on again.

Eish. Its been lying around for 1 year + so I'm pretty sure its completely dead. I've got it connected to AC now, but things aren't looking good....charging light is off and its not humming (which it did).

Best plan of action to revive it? Could I use a car battery charger to put enough juice in it to get going (I'm guessing both 12V)? I don't have a 2nd battery to jump start it as described....also really not keen on swopping a live setup tbh.

I didn't know the UPS come this big. Should it not be VA instead of KVA?

eh - no idea. Didn't really pay much attention - 600 of whatever the no name brand things have.

 

[itareanlnotani]

The ratings are utter lies generally.

Most of the small UPS's contain a 12v 7Ah battery, thats 84W for an hour. (V x A = W)
You'll probably get about 60W out of one before they die given inefficiencies and other factors.

Not sure how that can ever possibly become 600VA!

VA Means Volt Amps
The formula is Watts / Power Factor = VA

So if its a 12v7A battery @ 84W / 0.6 (power factor) = 50.4VA
Yet, they're marketed as 600VA. Strange...

If your battery has been drained and not recharged its probably toast, replace it with another one of the same physical size / rating / type. Last I looked its about R70-150 for a battery, depending who you buy from.

 

[bullfrog]

Not sure how that can ever possibly become 600VA!

VA 600
The formula is Watts / Power Factor = VA

So if its a 12v7A battery @ 84W / 0.6 (power factor) = 50.4VA
Yet, they're marketed as 600VA. Strange...

Is the VA rating not indicative of the load the UPS can handle?

In other words the size of the inverter (convertor? electronics terminology blah) in the UPS which determines how much Amps it can push. It doesn't take into account how long, so if you power a 250w pc it will last 12 mins to shut down (just thumb suck) where as a 600watt pc will go off in 5, barely enough to shut down.

So in short a 600VA (watt) cheap UPS will give you enough time to shut down a 400watt pc without data loss, but is likely insufficient for a more power hungry 600watter (lets not get into PSU/PC efficiencies ) till shutdown.

This is how I've always understood it, meaning the VA rating only indicates the size of the load the UPS can handle, hence not handling 1000watt + power drills regardless of power being on or off.