South Africa’s biggest forum. Discuss, discover, and connect with thousands of members.
My advice is to hold off doing anything now, prices are crazy. Spend this time reflecting on what you want. When loadshedding stops and everyone forgets, prices come down again.
Yip the commercial units are really expensive atm.
What's that?
www.alarmtec.co.za
Most reasonably price suppliers are out of stock for mini-ups devices. I have two of these devices:
www.geewiz.co.za
www.geewiz.co.za
I got this:Most reasonably price suppliers are out of stock for mini-ups devices. I have two of these devices:
Mini UPS
Buy Mini UPS online at the Best Prices! Door to Door and Overnight Delivery. Voted the best online store in SA. View Here
Mini UPS
Buy Mini UPS online at the Best Prices! Door to Door and Overnight Delivery. Voted the best online store in SA. View Here
All out of stock.
I tried helping a friend track down stock, I could not find a reasonable price, as these devices sold out fast. She went with an overprice device (overprice in terms of battery capacity).
To me at a certain price point, you should then move to a bigger solution.
You just have to swap plugs when power goes out or do you leave it permanently connected?
Sorry Sherlo
Yes just swop plugs. I do it like this for my fiber router and ONT. But I just use a small 7AH brick/gate motor battery. For the 7AH battery you must get a charger that preferably charge at about 1amp. The high amp car battery chargers will destroy them.
sinetechstore.co.za
sinetechstore.co.za
Thanks and regards
The blue is my Explorer decoder male plug and the other my universal ups male plug both ways - what I need is an adaptor cable connecting both type male plugs but terminology is everything - what would these two 5.5 plugs be termed and even better where to source? Google not helping as I dont have that terminology.
Oh hey it's the small units we stock. Had a bunch just come in but have already sold them or had them booked out.
Eishbox looks pretty neat, anyone here have one?As many have mentioned so far. Powering your fibre box and router can be done with those small "DC UPSs" for about R1000
if you want DSTV and a TV, then you probably don't want a UPS, since they have tiny batteries.
For that you want an inverter with a larger battery. You can either get a power trolly type solution, but there are lots of rubbish quality ones and they use lead acid batteries that need to be replaced after about 50-100 load shedding sessions. There are some power trollies out there with Li-ion batteries but they are quote pricey and probably overkill for what you need. Li-ion batteries will last 1000-2000 load shedding sessions, or about 3-4 years at minimum. Another thing to watch out for with inverters is to get a pure sinewave inverter, not a simulated or modified sinewave. Its not that they cant work, its more that those are usually very low quality.
A middle of the road option is a "portable" li-ion inverter.
View attachment 1350656
Omnipower Eishbox Portable Power Station Batt Capacity 426Wh Pure Sinewave | Sinetech
Omnipower Eishbox Portable Power Station Batt Capacity 426Wh Pure Sinewave
This model's battery can just about run what you mentioned for about 3 hours, if your TV's is not too old, or one of these super bright HDR TV's. A safer option would be the larger one.
View attachment 1350662
both however have the problem that in 3-4 years time, when the battery gets tired, you wont find an easy replacement and would need to buy a completely new unit.Omnipower Eishbox Portable Power Station Batt Capacity 740Wh Pure Sinewave | Sinetech
Omnipower Eishbox Portable Power Station Batt Capacity 740Wh Pure Sinewave
or if you can afford it, something with a nice large replaceable li-ion battery is probably the best long term
View attachment 1350668
They sell for about R15k with a 100ah li-ion battery.
What is the budget? It's difficult to advice if you aren't sure someone is looking to cobble together some DIY thing or is looking for a complete professionally built package.
As many have mentioned so far. Powering your fibre box and router can be done with those small "DC UPSs" for about R1000
if you want DSTV and a TV, then you probably don't want a UPS, since they have tiny batteries.
For that you want an inverter with a larger battery. You can either get a power trolly type solution, but there are lots of rubbish quality ones and they use lead acid batteries that need to be replaced after about 50-100 load shedding sessions. There are some power trollies out there with Li-ion batteries but they are quote pricey and probably overkill for what you need. Li-ion batteries will last 1000-2000 load shedding sessions, or about 3-4 years at minimum. Another thing to watch out for with inverters is to get a pure sinewave inverter, not a simulated or modified sinewave. Its not that they cant work, its more that those are usually very low quality.
A middle of the road option is a "portable" li-ion inverter.
View attachment 1350656
Omnipower Eishbox Portable Power Station Batt Capacity 426Wh Pure Sinewave | Sinetech
Omnipower Eishbox Portable Power Station Batt Capacity 426Wh Pure Sinewave
This model's battery can just about run what you mentioned for about 3 hours, if your TV's is not too old, or one of these super bright HDR TV's. A safer option would be the larger one.
View attachment 1350662
both however have the problem that in 3-4 years time, when the battery gets tired, you wont find an easy replacement and would need to buy a completely new unit.Omnipower Eishbox Portable Power Station Batt Capacity 740Wh Pure Sinewave | Sinetech
Omnipower Eishbox Portable Power Station Batt Capacity 740Wh Pure Sinewave
or if you can afford it, something with a nice large replaceable li-ion battery is probably the best long term
View attachment 1350668
They sell for about R15k with a 100ah li-ion battery.
No DIY kits. Looking at straight plug and play.
Should it be expandable to solar in future?
