battery back up

horsemen_ · Post by **horsemen_** » Mon Dec 29, 2014 7:37 pm

ok i am a truck driver and my truck has a 1300watt power inverter.

i looking at a 2 diff battery back up for my tv,ps3,direct tv box.
the reason i want a back up is when i use the microwave it makes the inveter convert all power for a sec to 1 plug making the tv and sat box reboot.

i dont know much about battery back ups and was looking at 2.

APC Back-UPS Pro BR1000G 1000VA 600W 8 Outlets Power-saving Back-UPS

or

CyberPower Intelligent LCD Series CP1500AVRLCD 1500VA 900W

thanks for any input you may have.

Humboldt · Post by **Humboldt** » Mon Dec 29, 2014 7:47 pm

I see good and bad reviews for both, but have always been happy with anything APC.

horsemen_ · Post by **horsemen_** » Mon Dec 29, 2014 9:04 pm

ya i saw the good and bad reviews all so thats why i fig ill ask.
i take some of the bad reviews as user error and like anything ,may have had a bad part inside it happens.

ya i fig i only really need 300-400 watts for a few sec while the microwave kicked in.

thanks for your input

Humboldt · Post by **Humboldt** » Mon Dec 29, 2014 9:45 pm

horsemen_ wrote:ya i saw the good and bad reviews all so thats why i fig ill ask.
i take some of the bad reviews as user error and like anything ,may have had a bad part inside it happens.

ya i fig i only really need 300-400 watts for a few sec while the microwave kicked in.

thanks for your input

Not a huge difference in price despite the wattage difference. Makes me think that either APC are a lot better, or they're still able to go off their name brand recognition after having the market cornered for a long time, like Linksys.

Maybe this will help: https://www.google.com/search?q=apc+or+ ... 8&oe=utf-8

Along with reliability I'd also look at ease/cost of battery replacement.

Post by **YeOldeStonecat** » Tue Dec 30, 2014 6:26 am

We only sell APC for our servers........they've been a local US based company (45 minutes from me over in Rhode Island)...their support is good, their UPS's are good (and server cabinets). Not long ago they were bought up by Schneider Electric, but I still consider them local.

We've thrown out a lot of that cyberpower stuff and replaced it with APC.

Post by **Philip** » Tue Dec 30, 2014 1:17 pm

I've had some APC ones go bad, especially newer/lighter ones. I've also had CyberPower older ones go bad.

I can strongly recommend the CyberPower pure sinewave (PFC series) ones however, they're great for half the price of APC.

You must keep in mind that all those UPSes take a few milliseconds to kick in after they see a voltage drop, but they shouldn't let your TV reboot. You can adjust both APC and CyberPower ones using a PC if you'd like to modify how sensitive they are to voltage drops and when exactly they kick in.

Mark · Post by **Mark** » Tue Dec 30, 2014 5:30 pm

i have only used APC brand, i have 2 older ones that i even got new batteries for and they still work great, i did have one of the newer style ones go up in flames once, thank god i was there when it happened, i shudder to think if it would have burnt my house down

horsemen_ · Post by **horsemen_** » Tue Dec 30, 2014 7:51 pm

thanks for all the input

Humboldt · Post by **Humboldt** » Wed Dec 31, 2014 12:43 am

Let us know what you go with and how it works for you

Ken · Post by **Ken** » Mon Feb 16, 2015 6:42 pm

Recently I had 7 APC units (1000 was the smallest) go bad on me at 2 years. Too many to be a coincidence. Cyberpower & Tripplite bought during the same era are still going and have correct power output when unplugged and checked with a meter.

After taking the APC's apart to test/replace batteries, it seems to be the regulators are going bad as the batteries themselves were still good... All were putting out ~94v. I quit taking them apart and testing after the first 4 had the same results...

It is a good practice on mission critical stuff, to pull the power and check the volts with a meter a couple of times a year.

I won't be buying anymore APC's in the foreseeable future. A shame as that has always been my brand of choice, until I decided to sample some other brands 2 years ago, I am glad that I did... YMMV...

Easto · Post by **Easto** » Tue Feb 17, 2015 8:59 am

I was never responsible for keeping track of the UPS at work but we seemed to have several fail (or start to randomly shut down) long before I thought that they should have (2 - 3 years) and like Ken, we were told it wasn't the batter and that it was the unit itself.

Post by **Philip** » Tue Feb 17, 2015 2:19 pm

Seems the older APC units had longer lifespan (better heavier capacitors & overall components) - I had a XS 1000VA that lasted for almost 10 years with a couple of battery changes before I had to replace it. The newer units are much lighter and seems to me they've started cutting corners.

It wasn't that long ago when you could pretty accurately measure the quality of audio equipment (amp/receiver) and UPS by its weight

..

Ken · Post by **Ken** » Wed Feb 18, 2015 7:42 am

I would use caution with modified or simulated sine waves as many electronics will not play nice with them. Also, I have no idea which microwave you will be using, however your estimated load of '300-400 watts for a few sec' seems a bit low...

Perhaps something like this as an example:
http://www.amazon.com/CyberPower-CP1500PFCLCD-Sinewave-Compatible-Mini-Tower/dp/B00429N19W

Ken · Post by **Ken** » Mon Jul 06, 2015 2:42 pm

Update-
2 Tripplite's have now failed at ~2.5 years...

You need to test them about every 6 months, ...under a load. Just putting a meter to a battery with no load proves nothing. I pull the UPS cord from the outlet

and then check with a meter, that is if the computer stays up. If it dies,...scan disk to repair the bad sectors!

LOL

I just bought a true online UPS for my main server http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009AC ... ge_o02_s04
($980+) it runs constantly on the batteries, the supply power only charges the batteries... It is a monster Cyber-Power with a 3 year warranty. So far all of my Cyber-Powers are still going strong after 2.5 years. I don't mind changing the batteries at 3 years, however I can't see buying "disposable" units every 3 years... 3 years is what I would consider reasonable battery life...YMMV...

Post by **Philip** » Mon Jul 06, 2015 3:23 pm

Sorry to hear about those Tripplites... Daumn, that CyberPower UPS is a monster.

I have replaced a couple of failed APCs with CyberPower (Pure Sinewave PFC series), and they've been ticking along without a hitch, I hope they last.