kensplace 0 Posted November 27, 2006 Decided to get a UPS, I used to have a little belkin unit, that worked great, but dropped it a few inches a couple of years ago. Wouldnt think a drop of a few inches would do much harm, but it cracked a couple of large power transistors or whatever they are in half and it went bang. So, I went of to ebay, and purchased a second hand apc unit from a seller that I have dealt with many times before in the past. Guess what, it didnt work... Well it did work, just didnt work at all in backup mode, ie removal of mains power failed to kick the batteries in. It self tested fine, just cut off when mains was lost. I emailed the seller, and they refunded me in full, *and* told me where to buy replacement batteries from. So I took a chance and bought a replacement battery (for less than the cost of the refunded money). Whilst waiting for the battery to arrive I opened up the unit and pushed all the connectors firmly into place in case any were loose. New battery brought the system to life, but runtime does not seem right yet, still trying to get the thing calibrated properly, waiting for it to charge fully so I can do another calibration. Made up my own lead (well, soldered the pc end, and just stuck the cat 5 cable direct into the serial port on the apc) for the smart-comms, which works, but is slow. I thought apc was a good make, until I tried one, for a so called "smart" ups its as dumb as a plank of wood. Slow comms, inability to tell a good battery from a bad battery, cutting off completely when mains lost, despite self test stating all is fine. Not to mention the fact that they use a non standard serial cable, and if you try a standard one it CUTS power to the outlets. Anyways, Im rambling, my question is - are there any pitfalls to watch out for, other than sinewave/square wave when using a ups for cctv? The only one I can think of, which would apply to UPS in general is if someone unplugs the mains supply lead to the UPS, then the UPS would be supplying mains still, but none of the supplied equipment would have a mains earth. Not sure how to handle that one, or even if its a problem... Im trying to think of things that could cause problems, but cant think of any yet, just wondering if anyone out there that uses UPS's for cctv on a regular basis has already came across problems and could point them out before I experience them the hard way Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rory 0 Posted November 27, 2006 Only tip I can give you is to buy a new one .. i dont have any problems with these 600VA ones we have ... they work right out of the box .. after connecting the red lead ofcourse. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kensplace 0 Posted November 27, 2006 They may work right out of the box, but what about years down the line, when the batteries are failing? Will they accurately report failure, or give false positives? Google searches indicate many 'dead' apc units brought back to life with new batteries. But they should not be 'dead' they should fail properly, not give random faults, or say all is fine, when its not....... Maybe the one I got is faulty, dont know for sure yet..... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rory 0 Posted November 27, 2006 these i have here, which have AVR built in .. well only cost $140 in the Bahamas, so much cheaper in the US .. dont know about the UK .. but for that price they can be replaced easily .. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kensplace 0 Posted November 27, 2006 UK prices are normally more than US prices, and we normally dont ever see any of those 'rebate' offers the US seems to have. We dont even get the ability to send the batteries back to APC for recycling like in the US. Second hand UPS prices are dirt cheap though, compared to new - just take a chance with the state of the batteries..... Course if it was for business use to sell to a end user, would have to be a new unit, but just for me, I prefer saving the money Looking into getting either a nice big 3000va unit, or a few smaller units (think I prefer a few smaller ones, less chance of a big failure) to get more backed up. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rory 0 Posted November 27, 2006 Yeah we dont get those rebates also .. when the product dies here it just gets chucked and we buy a new one ... unless its under warranty and cost alot .. Yep I dont have a UPS myself .. ive had the same Triplite Voltage Regulator from 1996 .. now that thing rocks! Dont know about the UPSs though ... but 10 years for a Voltage Regulator is greeaat PS. that $140 here is $40 in the US ... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kensplace 0 Posted November 27, 2006 Not sure what the exact prices are for ups in the uk, but second hand ones with new batts seem to be about the price you would pay for a new one, if not more... 40 dollars for a ups in the US? Does that include battery? I know prices are cheap in the US, but wow thats cheap.... Or is that 40 dollars for a regulator, not ups? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rory 0 Posted November 28, 2006 $40-80 .. the 1000va UPS W AVR Triplites can be had for around $80 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jisaac 0 Posted December 2, 2006 here is another piece of advice dont get your equipment of off ebay and then measure its effectivenessl. not a fair judgement for the actual manufacturer. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rory 0 Posted December 2, 2006 BTW Ken since i last posted here set up 2 APC UPS' and they worked great, shut down properly and started up again with no issues.. Hibernates BTW .. anyway, they say the battery is good for approx 3 years. Its definately essentiual to use the included software and cable to get the most out of the UPS. If it doesnt have them, then it probably is an old unit. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lloyd 0 Posted December 2, 2006 Its definately essentiual to use the included software and cable to get the most out of the UPS. If it doesnt have them, then it probably is an old unit. Not all new APC backups are created equal! I thought I was getting a good deal when I bought a APC Back-UPS ES 650 from Dell. Not so good of deal .... The sticker on the bottom says it's a DL 650T. It not only did not include software and comm cable, ... but it also has no jack for the comm cable to plug into! Later I purchased another APC 650 ES. ( not from Dell ) The sticker says it is a BE 650R. Came with cable and software ..... and cable jack! Bottom line .... know your model numbers before you buy ... not all APC Back-UPS ES650 units are created equal. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
