Question about a Mecer 850 UPS.

[InternetSwag]

1) Does it need to be powered on for it to be charging? If I just plug it in, there's no LED lighting up. If I turn it on a green LED appears.
2) Do I plug my router (only thing I want) directly into it 24/7? Or once when the power fails?
3) Can you plug a multi plug into a surge protector?

 

[Brendonh]

1. yes
2. better to leave it plugged in if its not in an awkward spot, will prevent your router from turning off and on again when the power fails.
3. for sure, as long as your load on the multiplug doesn't exceed the current rating of the surge protector. (you should be fine with electronics, just dont try and boil a kettle or plug in a heater with the multiplug.)

 

[InternetSwag]

My ups just turned off.
One long beep until turned off. Everything plugged into it went off. Turned it back on everything is fine.

I currently don't have load shedding.

I was gaming and had my pc and screen plugged into it. What would cause it to just turn off? Overload? But it should be on ac mode.

My pc is pretty beefy and I have a 4k display.

 

[Zuner]

1) Does it need to be powered on for it to be charging? If I just plug it in, there's no LED lighting up. If I turn it on a green LED appears.
2) Do I plug my router (only thing I want) directly into it 24/7? Or once when the power fails?
3) Can you plug a multi plug into a surge protector?

1. My 2 mecer 2000va ups don't need to be powered on in order to charge the batteries.
2. Yes keep whatever you want plugged in at all times, the ups is line interactive. Meaning that while eskom is on the ups bypasses the battery/inverter system and feeds eskom power to the output.

And when the power trips its switches on the inverter very fast, keeping your electronics on.

3. Yes, as mentioned don't exceed the wattage rating of your ups, also don't plug in fans or fridges.

 

[mh348]

We use the Mecer 650 and 850 ups's which give us about 10 minutes runtime.. During Load shedding, I advise my staff to shut down immediately when the power goes out (Load Shedding) then switch on just before closing time and process any transactions that were manually captured during the power outage. This works ok on some PC's but on others, even though they shut down their PC's and switched off the UPS, then they try to switch on the UPS, it dies immediately meaning the UPS isn't holding it's charge any more.

Could it be faulty batteries?

Had they continued using the UPS without immediately shutting down it would have still run for 10 or so minutes, but when switched off and back on later in the day, it has zero power.

 

[Geoff.D]

The main issue is how to operate any device connected to a small UPS.
UPS Stands for Uninterruptible Power Supply.
These devices are designed to provide minimal power backup when the power fails, measured in minutes.
They are NOT power back up systems. The time available is there for you to do one of two things:
1. Allow for an Automatic Break Supply Generator to start up and replace incoming mains power,
OR
2. Allow for an organised shut down of critical equipment.

The latter applies to most small businesses and residential homes, which is what you have to do.

The sooner you shut down your systems the better. You should NOT allow the batteries in the UPS to ever discharge completely.

Because of the power surges that are possible when the power returns after an LS event, it is always a good idea to disconnect all critical equipment after LS kicks in, and then re-connect after a few minutes have passed after the power returns. You may be able to avoid this step IF adequate surge protection has been provided for.
The minimum surge protection (Class III) should always be a surge protection power plug, or power strip surge multiplug, even when a UPS is used.
The best is to ensure your home is protected with Class I protection installed on the incoming power feed if you can get that done, and definitely Class II protection which you can get an electrician to provide for in your Main distribution board.

The UPS should be plugged in first after the power return. Then allow it to start up and reach a minimum charge on the batteries before starting up any devices again.

The above process is what you have to do IF you goe for el cheapo, low capacity and cost UPS devices, or no UPS devices. That is the trade-off.

The smaller the UPS units are, the more likely it will be that the batteries discharge too much delaying the return of power. And BTW, the batteries have to be checked regularly. There are no shortcuts in this business. Backup power costs money and personal effort.