Question UPS

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Demeter12

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Jul 8, 2019
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We have been having some short power outages without warning recently. Sometimes they only last 10-20 seconds and sometimes a little longer maybe an hour or so. I want to protect my desktop and peripherals and purchase a UPS that would keep everything running for an hour or so. My set up probably draws about 200W an hour. Any suggestions about whether I need a sine wave set up and any preferences between Cyberpower and APC? I'm thinking of a 1500VA to keep me up and running possibly until the power comes back on and avoid damage. Thanks for any input. I am running a Dell Precision desktop, LG widescreen monitor, speakers and a standard modem.

Someone commented that speakers shouldn't be plugged into a battery backup because they could be damaged.....can anyone comment on that as well?
 
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SamirD

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Yep, I see the same thing here. To the point that even the TV and Roku and routers and switches have UPSes.

For 200w, you may even want to go with more capacity as I don't think you'll get a full hour out of it with 200w continuous usage. If 200w is peak, then maybe you'll get an hour or so.

That being said, I'd definitely go for a sine-wave unit if you can afford it. sine wave power is the best for all cases. As far as the speakers getting damaged--that's an odd statement unless the speakers will get damaged with stepped sine-wave power. That's another reason to go with pure sine wave.

We still use APC units in our businesses and their top-tier units are just as good as they've always been. We have some 1000va units on their 3rd battery and they're 20 years old still working great. That being said, we found a great deal on some cyberpower 1500va units in the cdw outlet (great place to find cheap open box/closeout UPSes btw) and have been happy with them so far. We've put one of them in service next to some APC units from 2013 so we'll see how it stands up over time.

Hope this helps! And feel free to ask any questions--we've got everything from rack mount UPSes to the smaller backup units, even some medical grade ones.
 
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Demeter12

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Thank you for responding Samir & happy holidays! I went ahead and ordered the APC with a small boxing day discount - if the run time is less than an hour I can live with that and not ready to install a generator yet. That should give me time to finish what I'm doing and shut down properly especially since it displays the time remaining. Good tip about the cdw outlet....I'll check it out
 
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SamirD

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You're welcome! Yep, Boxing Day can bring out some great sales. :D

Yep, if you're looking just to have enough time to shut down, you should be in good shape with almost anything. Remember that you can also just put it to sleep and turn off the monitor and everything else and the runtime will go up significantly. Glad I could help! :)
 
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Demeter12

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So I ordered a 1500W unit and charged it up in my small office. For the next few days I felt unwell and had a headache and finally realised that there was a distinct kind of chemical odor in the air. I do usually have the door closed since I have a humidifier running most of the time in our very cold winters as the air is very dry from the furnace. I aired out the office completely and it went away but now I sense still a bit of a "chemical smell" and I'm getting a headache again. I brought in my sensing air purifier and it is whirring away and rated the air quality as "very poor" which it never did before. Other parts of the house are fine. Do you think this is temporary or is there anything I can do besides air it out periodically and keep the air purifier going? It's been less than 2 weeks since setting it up
 
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Demeter12

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It's an APC and it was expensive. I'll turn it off for now and call them tomorrow and see if they have any suggestions. They were very helpful in helping me set it up
 
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SamirD

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Demeter12 said:
It's an APC and it was expensive. I'll turn it off for now and call them tomorrow and see if they have any suggestions. They were very helpful in helping me set it up
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I would definitely call them. APC stuff is top of the line when it's new. I don't know where you are in the world, but if it was some sort of shady refurb with garbage batteries, that is how something like this can happen so watch out.
 
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Demeter12

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I ordered it from Amazon and it is the newer model and came neatly packaged and looked brand new when unpacked. Nothing showed any signs of having been used before. I took it out of the room and opened the window and the smell is disappearing.
 
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Demeter12

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Turns out that there was a chemical smell while the battery was charging but I put it away for a while and have it set up now with no problems. My neighbours were refinishing their floors at the same time and I believe that the fumes were coming into my home through attached walls also. It seems to be improving but I'll continue to monitor it. I blamed it all on the UPS but I think it was only to blame in a small part. The unit is quiet, compact and operates efficiently. I have yet to test it but we usually have power outages throughout the summer so I'm glad that I got it.

Thanks very much for your advice Samir. It's wonderful having a forum like this to get help
 
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