Question UPS questions (modem PC)

[danny009]

I have few questions about UPS, this is a local brand, would be MUCH appreciated if any of you here reply them in this order so I can get answers properly! Thank you!

1. VA , W is same thing?
2. Have a desktop PC, 1000 UPS power is enough to let me turn off my pc when power is down? Why is that UPS suddenly shuts down itself with the PC when power outrage happens? It didn't give me enough minutes to turn off my pc
3. 600 is enough power to protect our internet connection AND the modem power itself and lets us turn off them safely in enough time?
4. Do we need to empty then fill the UPS's built in power supply from time to time? To keep the UPS's lifespan?
5. What's the difference between online UPS and interactive UPS and APC UPS?
6. Which UPS type do we need to give us enough time to turn off our hardware safely before power outrage cuts down everything?
7. Is it possible that internet connection gets cut when power outrage happens but modem power itself doesnt affected?

Thank you so much

 

[hotaru.hino]

I have few questions about UPS, this is a local brand, would be MUCH appreciated if any of you here reply them in this order so I can get answers properly! Thank you!

1. VA , W is same thing?

No. In AC circuits there's three types of power one typically worries about:

• Load (or true) power: the power actually doing work
• Reactive power: the power that's used to charge up inductors and capacitors. This doesn't contribute to doing work.
• Apparent power: The combination of load and reactive power

VA represents the apparent power, W is the load power.

2. Have a desktop PC, 1000 UPS power is enough to let me turn off my pc when power is down? Why is that UPS suddenly shuts down itself with the PC when power outrage happens? It didn't give me enough minutes to turn off my pc

I'm confused, first you say the UPS immediately shuts off, then you say you don't have enough time to shut it off. The latter implies it doesn't actually immediately shut off.

In any case, how long the UPS lasts depends on the battery capacity and how much power the computer (or anything else you plug into the UPS) is using at the time.

3. 600 is enough power to protect our internet connection AND the modem power itself and lets us turn off them safely in enough time?

Modems and routers don't need to be shut down safely. In fact most of them just have hard switches to power them off, if they even have one.

The only reason why you need to safely shut off a computer is to make sure any data you want saved gets saved.

4. Do we need to empty then fill the UPS's built in power supply from time to time? To keep the UPS's lifespan?

No. Especially if the battery in the UPS is a lead acid one, which you can significantly reduce the lifespan of it if it drops to 0.

5. What's the difference between online UPS and interactive UPS and APC UPS?

See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uninterruptible_power_supply#Technologies

Though APC is a brand. It's not a type of UPS

6. Which UPS type do we need to give us enough time to turn off our hardware safely before power outrage cuts down everything?

To determine this, you need to do a practice run with a power measurement tool like a Kill-A-Watt

• Make sure to plug in the things you absolutely need, which I'd imagine is the computer and monitor.
• Do something you'd normally do that takes up a lot of power
• Note its VA count, this is how much the UPS needs to provide
• Time how long it takes to shut down everything on the computer
• If you want to do a worst case scenario, multiple the VA count by the time it took to shut down the computer. This is how much battery capacity you need to shut everything down at the minimum, so you should add padding (like 30-50% more capacity)

EDIT: it crossed my mind batter capacity is typically rated in amp-hours. Divide the VA count by 120 if you're in North America or Japan, 240 otherwise. This will give you how many amps everything is drawing

7. Is it possible that internet connection gets cut when power outrage happens but modem power itself doesnt affected?

It depends on if the ISP have a backup power supply (e.g., generators) on site.