Tripp-Lite SMART1000LCD Tear-Down

[Memhorder]

Thanks Dan for your tear down. Interesting. Looking forward to the next.

I considered Trip Lite too. They've been around for Ages (Est 1922). I figured they would have had better design over Cyber Power (1997) due to their established presence in the game. Guess they just know how to cut corners to a bare minimum after all these years haha

 

[Daniel Sauvageau]

Guess they just know how to cut corners to a bare minimum after all these years haha

Many higher power UPS also use their inverter transformer to charge their large battery packs, there is nothing fundamentally wrong with it: it is a time-proven, inexpensive and rugged method of doing so. Just not very efficient.

The problem is that they are also using the same 1kVA transformer with 10-15W of core losses to power a 1W UPS control circuit instead of giving it its own efficient power supply so the transformer can be switched off when none of its functions are needed: having a personal UPS that blows 20W in standby power is difficult to justify when environment protection agencies are encouraging people to disconnect their rarely used devices to save less than 2W a pop.

 

[Memhorder]

Guess they just know how to cut corners to a bare minimum after all these years haha

Many higher power UPS also use their inverter transformer to charge their large battery packs, there is nothing fundamentally wrong with it: it is a time-proven, inexpensive and rugged method of doing so. Just not very efficient.

The problem is that they are also using the same 1kVA transformer with 10-15W of core losses to power a 1W UPS control circuit instead of giving it its own efficient power supply so the transformer can be switched off when none of its functions are needed: having a personal UPS that blows 20W in standby power is difficult to justify when environment protection agencies are encouraging people to disconnect their rarely used devices to save less than 2W a pop.

AAAAnd lack of a circuit breaker. I'm surprised the FCC passed that without any type of safety measures on a box that put's out 500w. I suppose the inline fuses are enough. Once that goes your getting a new box right? Unless you know how to tear one down and find them 😉

 

[Daniel Sauvageau]

AAAAnd lack of a circuit breaker. I'm surprised the FCC passed that without any type of safety measures on a box that put's out 500w. I suppose the inline fuses are enough.

No inline fuse for the mains there, unless that's your nickname for a breaker-less #16 cord. The in-line fuses I have mentioned are on the battery cable, in case one of the FETs blows shorted or something of that nature.

As for the FCC, you got the wrong agency there: you could sell an electric match in a ball of tinder soaked in gasoline and solid-oxygen and still get the FCC's approval so long as it does not generate interference as it burns your home down. Safety is Underwriters Lab's and other similar organizations' department. In UL1363, the thinnest gauge any device acting as a branch circuit extension of some sort should be #14, unless the standard has been downgraded since the 1997-2001 editions.

 

[Memhorder]

oh man. I just seen the FCC stamp and assumed it was like the CSA in Canada without looking it up. UL is what I meant. HAHA Didn't see that stamp though.

So essentially the power cable IS the fusible link?

 

[Daniel Sauvageau]

oh man. I just seen the FCC stamp and assumed it was like the CSA in Canada without looking it up. UL is what I meant. HAHA Didn't see that stamp though.

So essentially the power cable IS the fusible link?

The FCC is more like the CRTC. Underwriters' is all over the world, not just in the USA: when a product gets its UL listing in Canada, you see a 'C' added to the UL mark, same for most other countries UL operates in.

The cord becoming the fusible link is not likely to happen: the continuous overload limit of a 20A breaker is around 25A and if you passed 25A through a #16 cord, the cord would dissipate about 15W/ft. In open air and natural convection cooling, that should translate to unbearably hot but not imminently hazardous otherwise.

To make #16 copper blow like a fuse, as in less than one second from applying the overload, you need to overload it to 400A which should be enough to trip the 100-200A service entrance breaker.