Question Online UPS recomendations

[User1990]

Hello! I've had many electricians recommend me to purchase an Online UPS in order to solve my electricity issues.
My pc uses 750W Be quiet platinum power supply and I have a Benq Xl2566k.

Do you guys have any ups to recommend? Around 200$ I'd say my budget is.
Also how can I say the UPS is Online ?
Thanks a lot.

 

[MWink64]

Could a line-interactive UPS actually help with problems like the one I have ?

I'll hesitantly say yes (because we don't really know what your issue is). The problem is we don't know how much it will have to rely on battery power to do so. A UPS is meant to ensure the connected devices receive acceptable power. If the incoming power is unacceptable and it has no other means to correct it, the UPS will switch to battery. Standby models are either passing incoming AC (with mild filtering, like a surge protector) or on battery power. Line-interactive models can boost/trim the voltage (to a limited extent), without using battery power. Online (double-conversion) units never pass incoming AC, always relying on their inverter to generate clean AC. They are generally very expensive and inefficient.

For most people, a line-interactive UPS should be plenty to solve common issues. If they're not, there's likely something seriously wrong with the electrical system/generation that needs to be investigated and corrected. I would suggest trying a good 1500VA, pure sinewave (NOT simulated sinewave), line-interactive model. You may be able to find something like this around $200. As I mentioned before, I'd buy it somewhere with a good return policy, just in case it doesn't work well for you.

The problem is nobody really knows what the problem you have is. Line interactive UPS have the ability to increase the voltage a small amount. So if you have a brownout issue like the voltage would drop to say 105 volts when it normally is closer to 120 the UPS could increase it. It can not fix say if it drops a lot to say 90 volts. I am not real sure if these UPS can run constantly in this mode.

More complex issues like say the frequency of the power does not stay at 60hz a cheaper line interactive unit will not be able to fix. It also can't fix what is called harmonic distortion which is why you can't run a computer on a cheap generator.

Note all of the above is for north american power the other parts of the world use stuff like 240 volts and 50hz.

Again unless the electrician will tell you what the problem really is in terms you can understand I would as recommended above get a device like a killawatt and try to learn what your power is doing. Put it some place you can see it while you are running so you can see what numbers change. This will give you a good idea about how much power you are using as well as if the voltages and frequencies are changing. I use a killawatt to adjust the power output of my generator.

There are some UPSs which have multiple boost levels and can boost voltage drops into the 90s. Yes, a line-interactive UPS can run in these modes continuously. You're right, a line-interactive UPS can't fix frequency problems, without resorting to battery power. A Kill-A-Watt will be good for diagnosing ongoing issues (continuously low/high voltage, frequency issues, etc.) but won't work well for picking up brief blips.

Thanks, will proceed getting a killawatt before anything.

Something entirely different but what's ur opinion on something like this ? https://www.tagaharmony.com/en/product/9087/pf-400usb .
Do they offer any kind of help/filtering or do they just work as a normal power strip and so they are a waste of money ?

To me, that looks like a plain old power strip with fluffy marketing. A simple ferrite choke (or possibly even just a ceramic capacitor) is all they need to claim EMI/RFI noise filtering. I doubt this will resolve your issue.

 

[User1990]

I'll hesitantly say yes (because we don't really know what your issue is). The problem is we don't know how much it will have to rely on battery power to do so. A UPS is meant to ensure the connected devices receive acceptable power. If the incoming power is unacceptable and it has no other means to correct it, the UPS will switch to battery. Standby models are either passing incoming AC (with mild filtering, like a surge protector) or on battery power. Line-interactive models can boost/trim the voltage (to a limited extent), without using battery power. Online (double-conversion) units never pass incoming AC, always relying on their inverter to generate clean AC. They are generally very expensive and inefficient.

For most people, a line-interactive UPS should be plenty to solve common issues. If they're not, there's likely something seriously wrong with the electrical system/generation that needs to be investigated and corrected. I would suggest trying a good 1500VA, pure sinewave (NOT simulated sinewave), line-interactive model. You may be able to find something like this around $200. As I mentioned before, I'd buy it somewhere with a good return policy, just in case it doesn't work well for you.



There are some UPSs which have multiple boost levels and can boost voltage drops into the 90s. Yes, a line-interactive UPS can run in these modes continuously. You're right, a line-interactive UPS can't fix frequency problems, without resorting to battery power. A Kill-A-Watt will be good for diagnosing ongoing issues (continuously low/high voltage, frequency issues, etc.) but won't work well for picking up brief blips.



To me, that looks like a plain old power strip with fluffy marketing. A simple ferrite choke (or possibly even just a ceramic capacitor) is all they need to claim EMI/RFI noise filtering. I doubt this will resolve your issue.

Thanks a lot for your answer!
So I came back today and I have a question to ask as I proceed to do my tests.
How much voltage difference is "big" and would cause problems to my PC ?
Power supplies use 220v as far as I know. How low would be bad ?

With quick test I saw it dropping from 220 to 210 but I will continue testing to see if it changes further.
And I also see it more frequently at 210-213 range rather than 220.

Also I read that the standard for my country nowdays is 230.

 

[bill001g]

Hard to say exactly there are many different recommendation and they can vary by country.

What makes this even more confusing is you see numbers that are recommended on the mains coming into the house and different numbers based on circuits inside your house.

Generally you see +/- 5% on the mains and +/- 10% on circuits. The numbers inside your house take into account that you have devices actually using power which many times will drop the voltages a bit.

Most non north america countries use 240 volts as the voltage. You would have to check if it really is 240 or if it is 230. 210 would be too low even at 10% if you start at 240 but would be marginally ok if you start at 230.
It still is likely low enough that a UPS would constantly be on boost mode.

Can you call the power company and discuss this with them. There could be a problem with the power transformer that runs your house.

 

[kanewolf]

Thanks a lot for your answer!
So I came back today and I have a question to ask as I proceed to do my tests.
How much voltage difference is "big" and would cause problems to my PC ?
Power supplies use 220v as far as I know. How low would be bad ?

With quick test I saw it dropping from 220 to 210 but I will continue testing to see if it changes further.
And I also see it more frequently at 210-213 range rather than 220.

Also I read that the standard for my country nowdays is 230.

Look back at my post #15. Your power supply should work from 100 to 240V. But read the label on your specific power supply.

 

[User1990]

Hard to say exactly there are many different recommendation and they can vary by country.

What makes this even more confusing is you see numbers that are recommended on the mains coming into the house and different numbers based on circuits inside your house.

Generally you see +/- 5% on the mains and +/- 10% on circuits. The numbers inside your house take into account that you have devices actually using power which many times will drop the voltages a bit.

Most non north america countries use 240 volts as the voltage. You would have to check if it really is 240 or if it is 230. 210 would be too low even at 10% if you start at 240 but would be marginally ok if you start at 230.
It still is likely low enough that a UPS would constantly be on boost mode.

Can you call the power company and discuss this with them. There could be a problem with the power transformer that runs your house.

230v is the standard here.
Electrician told me that 210v on 230v is pretty bad. 220 would be ok but 210 is too low.

 

[User1990]

Look back at my post #15. Your power supply should work from 100 to 240V. But read the label on your specific power supply.

So you believe psu would work fine on 210v ? I'll look into it again.

 

[kanewolf]

So you believe psu would work fine on 210v ? I'll look into it again.

Assuming that voltage is listed on the specs for the power supply, yes.

 

[User1990]

Assuming that voltage is listed on the specs for the power supply, yes.

Wouldn't it still lose performance tho?
Honestly it's the only thing that makes sense.
PC becomes 200% better late at night and at that time my voltage is around 222-224 and I even see 225.
Which points towards it once more.

 

[kanewolf]

Wouldn't it still lose performance tho?
Honestly it's the only thing that makes sense.
PC becomes 200% better late at night and at that time my voltage is around 222-224 and I even see 225.
Which points towards it once more.

No. It will use more amps if the voltage is lower. Could your lower voltage ALSO be current limited? That could be possible. But it would mean you have very basic power wiring problems that should be addressed by a licensed electrician not an internet forum.

 

[User1990]

No. It will use more amps if the voltage is lower. Could your lower voltage ALSO be current limited? That could be possible. But it would mean you have very basic power wiring problems that should be addressed by a licensed electrician not an internet forum.

Voltage is also more stable at night and it doesnt fluctuate like crazy. Yeah you are right, I have appointments on the way allready to find the problem and fix it.

 

[User1990]

No. It will use more amps if the voltage is lower. Could your lower voltage ALSO be current limited? That could be possible. But it would mean you have very basic power wiring problems that should be addressed by a licensed electrician not an internet forum.

So I called an electrician over and we changed a lot of stuff in the power panel.
Cables/breakers etc.
Now my voltage is a lot better during the day and at night it's literally perfect.
I get 230v at night and I usually stay above 220(depends on the load) at peak times.
Can power fluctuations affect router if not the PC ? Because my voltage is still not stable even tho it's a lot better, if not I might have to call the power company to check things out too.

 

[kanewolf]

So I called an electrician over and we changed a lot of stuff in the power panel.
Cables/breakers etc.
Now my voltage is a lot better during the day and at night it's literally perfect.
I get 230v at night and I usually stay above 220(depends on the load) at peak times.
Can power fluctuations affect router if not the PC ? Because my voltage is still not stable even tho it's a lot better, if not I might have to call the power company to check things out too.

Again, it is a question to be answered by the router's power supply. Most "wall wart" power supplies have a wide input voltage. Check your router's power supply.

 

[User1990]

Again, it is a question to be answered by the router's power supply. Most "wall wart" power supplies have a wide input voltage. Check your router's power supply.

Yeah you are right.
Well we changed/fixed a lot of things on the power panel and it does indeed feel a lot better.
Will report back soon to update if my issues got fixed or not because I'm working a lot lately and don't have time to use the pc.