UPS just bit the dust.

By joining our community you will have the ability to post topics and access other forums reserved for members. Registration is quick, simple and absolutely free. Join our community today by clicking here.

Posted: Fri Oct 12, 2007 6:04 am

It's dead. Had to plug directly into the wall. Dang! At least i'm still up and running. It's been quite a week.

Posted: Fri Oct 12, 2007 8:06 am

Is it a budget home UPS?
is the PC shut down at night?
How old is it

Alot of the smaller UPS's are only good if they are good if the the load is taken off to allow recharging the batteries. If left loaded 24/7 the batteries will slowly discharge and eventually the UPS will shut down.

Depending on you symptom of "DEAD"
If all the smoke came out - then it may well be dead.
If it just shut down - it could be the batteries are low or they may be dead.
they are easily replaced normally.
Or it could be just plain ol dead.

It's like every thing in this world there are UPS's and there are UPS's.

Posted: Fri Oct 12, 2007 12:14 pm

@JoeTam

Thank you for starting a thread to inform us.

Btw, I checked the tire pressure on my car today. It was a little low, so I put some air in.

Posted: Fri Oct 12, 2007 1:34 pm

I've seen a couple of small APC units that have failed, and they just beeped and flashed a red light, and obviously had no output. What actually happened with yours JoeTam?

harrya wrote:

Alot of the smaller UPS's are only good if they are good if the the load is taken off to allow recharging the batteries. If left loaded 24/7 the batteries will slowly discharge and eventually the UPS will shut down.

Really? That sounds like poor (or cheap) design to me. At home I've got a 700VA offline UPS and a 1.5kVA double conversion UPS, and I've never had any trouble like that. Do you know of any particular brands/models that have that problem?

I work for a company that manufactures industrial UPSs (30kVA - 1200kVA) and that type of 'performance' would be totally unacceptable for us!

Posted: Fri Oct 12, 2007 3:07 pm

Well, mine runs of of slightly less than 1kw of photovoltaic panels, with a micro wind turbine, going to an 800 amp hour battery (@12vdc). My computer is hooked through a hardwired car adapter, so its all DC (no conversion inefficiencies), though my satellite internet, Hughes, is run off of an inverter.

Um, my point was that my laptop (g4, 17 inch, brushed aluminum, about 5 years old, purchased refurbished) has an internal battery, so in the unlikely event of a power failure, the computer has about 4-5 hours of run time (a lot less with a movie in the DVD slot).

A laptop with a good surge suppressor would give you many of the same things you are looking for in terms of protection and back up power.

419Eater Admin Joined: 30 Sep 2003 Posts: 7469

Damn! Here's me hoping you were talking about the courier company. Ah well, I can dream I suppose. Those b**t*rds!

*** BANNED *** Joined: 02 Jan 2006 Posts: 2021

^^^ Funny you should mention those twats Shiv,s...... Only this week they left my Ebay stuff in the corridor of the block i live in, the parcel lasted about 5 minutes before it got lifted by some sticky fingered low life Evil or Very Mad

419Eater Admin Joined: 30 Sep 2003 Posts: 7469

Did you get my PM btw Bombardier?

UPS cost me about �1,800 a couple of years ago because of their fairytale insurance system. Too long to go into here, but basically UPS (Manchester Piccadilly) are a bunch of lying, sneaky, swindlers. There, I said it!

*** BANNED *** Joined: 02 Jan 2006 Posts: 2021

Never got the PM mate, my box was at 106% full but its got a bit of space in now.

When i phoned their hotline to kick off they told me i had to sort it out with the sender, as it happens the guy i bought the stuff off has replaced the nicked stuff and has gone after UPS....top bloke Thumbs up

Posted: Fri Oct 12, 2007 8:05 pm

It just quit working. Maybe it was all the sarcasm that killed it. I'll try putting some air in it, might be low.

Posted: Sat Oct 13, 2007 12:55 am

Quote:

Really? That sounds like poor (or cheap) design to me. At home I've got a 700VA offline UPS and a 1.5kVA double conversion UPS, and I've never had any trouble like that. Do you know of any particular brands/models that have that problem?

Yup cheap design. The cheap ones made for the domestic market where the ones that did it. At home you generally don't leave your PC running 24/7 so it shouldn't be an issue. I've worked with larger units as well. I've the smoke come out of them too Smile

Posted: Sat Oct 13, 2007 1:57 am

Joe T,

If adding air doesn't help, a good dunk in a bucket of water always works for me. Shocked

Then I know the item is down for the count! Laughing

J/K 'lectricity and tap, salt, anything short of Pure, water don't mix well.

@ Shiver, "See what Brown can do for you." Their slogan in the Colonys.
Never mark a box shipped through them "Fragile". I used to work in a lighting store and several drivers told me that.

EDIT To correct scientific accuracy and linky \/ \/ \/ Wink

Posted: Sat Oct 13, 2007 2:46 am

^^^actually water is a non conductor so doesn't really care about electricity. Salt water is a different story, and since skin has salt on it....

So salt water and electricity don't mix.