UPS for my setup.

[Deleted member 205776]

Hi,
Yes it does also matter how much other stuff is using the same plug and same circuit
Wall outlet could also have loose wire connects there and down the line at where it comes to you from.
Still think you should have a professional look at the wiring if you still have issues.

If the UPS plugged directly into the wall doesn't fix it, I'll definitely contact an electrician.

 

[ThrashZone]

If the UPS plugged directly into the wall doesn't fix it, I'll definitely contact an electrician.

Hi,
I too had to run a new line for just computers so it's actually pretty normal in the USA plus overclocking lol

 

[Deleted member 205776]

Heck it, just contacted an electrician to come check my wall socket. Payment is included with my rent so no downsides to doing this at all.

 

[ThrashZone]

Heck it, just contacted an electrician to come check my wall socket. Payment is included with my rent so no downsides to doing this at all.

Hi,
Yep they'll give you the best options to leaving your desk
Possibly even making you a cord.

 

[Bill_Bright]

I haven't had a power outage or any electrical anomalies

Sure you have. You just haven't had any that were noticeable or that caused damage. Surges, spikes, dips and sags happen dozens, 100s of times every day. Most are harmless. The slightly more pronounced ones, however can beat on and wear down (age) the regulator circuits on our electronics. This is where the AVR portion of the UPS earns its keep.

Note that ATX power supplies must be able to maintain ("hold-up") full output for any outage (or deep sag) that lasts up to 17ms. But we humans can only detect such anomalies if they last ~30ms or longer. This means if you "see" a slight flicker in the lights, that sag in power lasted longer than needed to cause the computer power supply to drop output completely.

If the UPS plugged directly into the wall doesn't fix it, I'll definitely contact an electrician.

If they are going to check it out at no cost to you, then great. But for the future, every home and every computer user should have access to a AC Outlet Tester to ensure the wall outlet is properly wired and grounded to Earth ground. I recommend one with a GFCI (ground fault circuit interrupt) indicator as it can be used to test bathroom and kitchen outlets (outlets near water) too. These testers can be found for your type and voltage outlet, foreign or domestic, (like this one for the UK) at most home improvement stores, or even the electrical department at Wal-Mart. Use it to test all the outlets in the home and if a fault is shown, have it fixed by a qualified electrician.

 

[Deleted member 205776]

Wondering, do UPSes handle inrush current themselves or is PSU inrush current still a problem when turning on my PC? Not having any breaker tripping issues, just curious.

 

[Bill_Bright]

Since you size the UPS to support more than just the computer's PSU, it is not a worry. If you used a tiny UPS with a large PSU, it might be problem. If you find the UPS shuts down when you power on the PSU, you may need to kick the UPS over to battery (unplug it from the wall) before turning on the computer. That would be a paid, but the batteries could take the abuse with ease.

 

[AsRock]

I had a much older CyberPower CP1500EPFCLCD, 1500VA/900W, it lasted about 6 years the battery's did too but it was only used for safe shutdowns and run time though the years was 29m down to 20 minutes on a 300-400w usage.

Stunk like hell the plastic part of it though, really nasty smell which seems more common to day than back then but it does go away after a fair bit of time.

 

[Hankieroseman]

I go a little higher than PSU rating. My Corsair HX1200 got a APC BN1500. The batteries are easy to replace.

 

[Deleted member 205776]

Since you size the UPS to support more than just the computer's PSU, it is not a worry. If you used a tiny UPS with a large PSU, it might be problem. If you find the UPS shuts down when you power on the PSU, you may need to kick the UPS over to battery (unplug it from the wall) before turning on the computer. That would be a paid, but the batteries could take the abuse with ease.

I got a 1500VA/900W UPS with a 860W PSU, but it'll also have two monitors and one printer connected to it

I had a much older CyberPower CP1500EPFCLCD, 1500VA/900W, it lasted about 6 years the battery's did too but it was only used for safe shutdowns and run time though the years was 29m down to 20 minutes on a 300-400w usage.

Stunk like hell the plastic part of it though, really nasty smell which seems more common to day than back then but it does go away after a fair bit of time.

Lol that's the one I bought

 

[FireFox]

I live in Europe.

Any specific reason why you are buying an UPS?

 

[Deleted member 205776]

Any specific reason why you are buying an UPS?

Dirty power being fed to PC which may or may not be because of my power strip, haven't tried plugging the PSU in the wall before returning it. Hoping the UPS alleviates some of that, I also want more protection for my $2.7k system.

 

[Bill_Bright]

and one printer connected to it

It's typically not a good idea to connect printers to UPS. Printers are not "mission critical".

Remember, the purpose for using a good UPS with AVR is "NOT" so you can just continue on with your computing tasks. It is to protect your computer and thus your "data" from loss and corruption due to power anomalies. And in the event of a full outage, the idea is to give you enough time to finish typing your sentence, then "gracefully" exit and close your running programs, then to "gracefully" shutdown Windows and power off your computer before the batteries run out.

It is fine to connect an Inkjet printer to the surge protected side of the UPS. But you must NEVER connect a laser printer to the UPS. No doubt that is in your user guides too. Lasers have a heating element used to fuse the toner and so they simply demand way too much current. If you must have printer capability during an outage, I recommend a separate, high wattage capability UPS just for the printer.

"IF" your computing tasks, including printer support are mission critical and must be "up" 24/7, such as might be found in hospital operating rooms and critical care units to support essential life support devices.

Any specific reason why you are buying an UPS?

It is a mistake to assume just because one might live in Europe or another region that has a relatively new and stable grid that they don't need a good UPS. Remember, it is the AVR that is the primary feature and advantage for having a good UPS with AVR. Battery backup during a power outage is only a minor bonus features.

Also don't forget that destructive surges and spikes can originate from within the house - such as when a cheap high wattage device (like a poorly designed and built $15 1,500W hair dryer) develops a fault and sends destructive anomalies down the line.

Stunk like hell the plastic part of it though, really nasty smell which seems more common to day than back then

I have noticed that on some CyberPower UPS, and with other plastic devices too. Not sure which smell you are talking about but for sure, there's one type that, to me, smells like vomit. No better way to put it. And while the smell may fade over time, it never goes away complete.

 

[Deleted member 205776]

It's typically not a good idea to connect printers to UPS. Printers are not "mission critical".

Remember, the purpose for using a good UPS with AVR is "NOT" so you can just continue on with your computing tasks. It is to protect your computer and thus your "data" from loss and corruption due to power anomalies. And in the event of a full outage, the idea is to give you enough time to finish typing your sentence, then "gracefully" exit and close your running programs, then to "gracefully" shutdown Windows and power off your computer before the batteries run out.

It is fine to connect an Inkjet printer to the surge protected side of the UPS. But you must NEVER connect a laser printer to the UPS. No doubt that is in your user guides too. Lasers have a heating element used to fuse the toner and so they simply demand way too much current. If you must have printer capability during an outage, I recommend a separate, high wattage capability UPS just for the printer.

"IF" your computing tasks, including printer support are mission critical and must be "up" 24/7, such as might be found in hospital operating rooms and critical care units to support essential life support devices.

Got it, I have an inkjet printer, but I'll connect the tower only to the UPS and everything else to another power strip since I can't trust this one anymore. Having only the tower on the UPS should not pose any issues regarding inrush current.

I would connect the monitors to the UPS, but apparently my VG27AQ can draw upwards of 60W and my LG monitor draws about 20W, that's 80W on top of my 860W PSU. I could only connect my LG monitor so I have some display output when trying to shut down my PC safely during an outage.

Don't really care about the smell as I'm not going to be smellling an UPS that will be sitting under my desk 24/7. My 860W PSU smelled like burning plastic for the first few days then the smell went away.

 

[Bill_Bright]

But I'll connect the tower only to the UPS

I see no reason not to connect at least your primary monitor (so you can see what you are doing if you lose power) and your network gear to the battery side of the UPS too.

that's 80W on top of my 860W PSU.

While it is important to take into consideration the maximum demand a PSU could pose, it is really the total demand of the components connected to the PSU that matter here.

That is, if the computer (motherboard, CPU, GPU, RAM, drives, USB devices, fans) all demand 300W, the PSU is going to deliver 300W regardless if the PSU is a 400W PSU or a 1000W PSU. And that PSU is going to pull from the wall just 375W (375 x .8 = 300), again regardless if 400W or 1000W PSU. And that would be even less from the wall if the PSU was more than 80% efficient (which I bet yours is).

Yes, inrush current matters but that is only when the PSU initially powers on. And it is what happens at the exact same point in time that really matters. Your monitors and anything else connected to the UPS are not going to be demanding maximum power at the exact same point in time as the computer PSU. The inrush current demand, for example, will be long past before the monitors start sucking down their maximum demands for power.

If this were me, I would connect my computer, both monitors and all my network gear to the battery side of the UPS. Then I would fire up my browser and open a bunch of pages. Then I would yank (well, gently pull) the UPS power cord from the wall and see what happens. The UPS should kick over to battery, and start yelling at you. Plug it back in and it should transfer back to line-in power.

Then power off your computer as you normally would - or if like me, let your computer and monitors go to sleep. Boot/wake your computer as you normally would. I bet it boots/wakes just fine.

Power off or let it go to sleep as you normally would, then yank the UPS power cord from the wall again. Plug it back in and start booting your computer. I suspect it will boot normally.

If you were talking about a much smaller UPS, I would have the same concerns as you are having. But with a decent 1500VA UPS, it should not be a problem.

 

[Deleted member 205776]

So by the PSU "initially powering on" you mean switching it on from its own power button or pressing the power button on my PC case? Because if it's the first one, I usually only do it when both monitors are off or in standby, after I get done with maintenance/part swapping.

My router is too far away and connected to some wall plugs I can't really relocate. But I don't need networking with a power outage, only to shut down my PC safely.

Does this mean I can just connect both my monitors, tower, and inkjet printer to my UPS, and not have any issues?

 

[ThrashZone]

Hi,
I connect everything to my ups especially internet router seeing it takes the longest to come back up.
Printer I turn on if i need it otherwise if power is off for longer than a couple minutes I shut down.

 

[Bill_Bright]

Does this mean I can just connect both my monitors, tower, and inkjet printer to my UPS, and not have any issues?

Again, I would not connect the printer. Or if you do, power it off when not in use.

I am not going to say you won't have issues. That's why I said to try it and see what happens.

What I will say is UPS makers who make UPS for computer systems know what inrush current is.

 

[Deleted member 205776]

I don't feel like having a power strip just for a standard inkjet printer, but alright. It's always powered off when not in use.

Can you at least tell me if by "initially starting up" you meant the PSU itself being switched on from its own button?

 

[ThrashZone]

Hi,
I'd think that term is when you start up the computer.

 

[Bill_Bright]

I don't feel like having a power strip just for a standard inkjet printer, but alright. It's always powered off when not in use.

I didn't say power strip. I said a dedicated UPS. Big difference.

I'd think that term is when you start up the computer.

Right. Start up. Boot. Initialize. Turn on. Take your pick.

 

[Deleted member 205776]

Right. Start up. Boot. Initialize. Turn on. Take your pick.

Okay then I'll test with the monitors plugged into the UPS and hopefully nothing will explode

didn't say power strip. I said a dedicated UPS. Big difference.

Yes, you said not to plug it into an UPS which would make me have to have a power strip just for the printer. Why would I buy a high wattage dedicated UPS for a regular inkjet printer?

Also there is no 'battery side' to my UPS, all plugs are seemingly labelled battery.

 

[ThrashZone]

Hi,
It would be weird to not have serge protection only plugs on a battery back up.

 

[Deleted member 205776]

 

[ThrashZone]

Hi,
EU yeah plugs are so big there isn't any more room left.
Mine I believe have 6 battery + serge but also have 4 serge only