APC 1500VA UPS $130 Lightning Deal @ Amazon

[flips]

Nice UPS, great reviews.  Only about 1.5 hours left though...

APC BR1500G BACK-UPS Pro 1500 10-Outlet 1500VA/865W UPS System

 

flips

[zugman]

The UPS doesn't work correctly with active PFC power supplies, correct?

[bubbaQ]

"The built-in battery provides up to 13 minutes of runtime at half load or 3 minutes at full load."

 

I'll pass.  A traditional APC Smart-UPS refurbished with real batteries (and thus real runtime) is a better deal IMHO.

 

http://www.pcliquidations.com/c300---ups-backups

[jumperalex]

Not sure what you're getting at Bubba?  Aren't more UPS rated at about the same load vs. time? 

 

The question of course becomes what IS that load and what will your system demand?  In my case the load is about 130 watts with all drives spinning and cpu pegged.  About 40 or 50 at idle (haven't checked new cpu to be fair). 

 

So this UPS at least would provide plenty of power.  In fact so would anything else rated at 1500VA/865 watts.

[garycase]

The UPS doesn't work correctly with active PFC power supplies, correct?

 

It works just fine with active PFC units.  I've got two of these UPS units and ALL of my systems have high-quality PSU's with active PFC.

 

[bubbaQ]

Not sure what you're getting at Bubba?  Aren't more UPS rated at about the same load vs. time? 

 

Nope.

 

Wattage  is simply a measure of instantaneous power capacity.  This UPS will provide enough power to run a 865 Watt device until the battery dies.... How long the battery lasts depends on an additional piece of information.

 

Watt-Hours is a measure of both power and time.  So this UPS can run a full load (865 Watts) for 3 minutes.  That means you get 44 Watt-Hours of capacity running a full load.    A half load gets you more, since the batteries won't be hit so hard (you lose efficiency draining a gel cell so quickly).  It takes battery pack APCRBC124 which is 24 Volts at 9 Amp-Hour.

 

The 1500 APC SmartUPS has a 24v at 18 Amp-Hour battery pack.  You do the math.

 

Of course, the battery pack is 4 times the size of the small battery in the BR1500G.

 

A rule of thumb.  Between 2 UPSes running the same load, runtime is proportional to physical size of the battery.  Twice the runtime means you need a battery twice the volume of space.

 

I recommend:

 

http://www.apc.com/products/resource/include/techspec_index.cfm?base_sku=SUA1000XL

 

As a bonus, you get a true sine wave and smart signaling options.  Compared to the one in the OP:

 

http://www.apc.com/products/resource/include/techspec_index.cfm?base_sku=BR1500G&xtmc=BR1500G

 

[jumperalex]

I do get all that, I assure you.

 

My point is ... most UPSs I know of rated for a given run time at "half load" and "full load" regardless of the battery's capacity.  So saying "well 13 minutes isn't a real runtime" means nothing since all UPS's will last 13 minutes given an appropriate load.  So the question of "real run time" is a matter of the load you put on it.

 

Are you powering a 4 disk Atom unraid?  Then this UPS is probably plenty.

Are you running a fully loaded BackBlaze server?  Well then yeah the run time you get might be less than sufficient ;-)

 

And yes I know there are then questions of efficiency of the conversion, and quality of the power, but that was not what you were talking about at first.  You only mentioned "real runtime".    You want better, you'll pay more, and that is fine.  I agree completely, I just have a hard time believing the APC1500 is some POS.

 

Anyway I'm not looking to measure e-peen I swear.  But it IS a decent UPS at the sale price (not so much at full price I agree) and will provide plenty of "real runtime" for an appropriately sized system.

[bubbaQ]

I don't disagree it is a "decent" price.... but for the same price, you can get twice the runtime and sine wave.  I agree, if the lesser unit is "enough" for your needs, and it is cheaper, then it is obviously a good choice.  My radar was raised by the "deal" nomenclature, when I didn't consider it a deal due to a better unit being available at the same price.

[jumperalex]

I guess I'm just not seeing a $139 option at PCL that is so much better.  There is the SUA1000 for $119 but it is the same run time, and I'm not seeing an SUA1000XL for a cheap price.

 

Seriously, I'm actually in the market for a new unraid UPS; mine is failing.  That is why I'm engaging.  Do you actually know a source for the 1000XL that is on the order of $139??

[bubbaQ]

PCL is where I usually go... or UPS-For-Less.  Must be sold out all around.

 

[WeeboTech]

I've purchased a few SU1400 Smart UPS from eBay, then purchased the batteries from http://www.refurbups.com/

[jumperalex]

Well for my price range and load something like the SUA750 seems more appropriate. 

 

So I found this: http://www.ebay.com/itm/APC-SUA750-SMART-UPS-750VA-500W-USB-120V-TOWER-POWER-BATTERY-BACKUP-UPS/290983571758?_trksid=p2047675.m2109&_trkparms=aid%3D555003%26algo%3DPW.CAT%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D142%26meid%3D3326790306854832694%26pid%3D100010%26prg%3D1076%26rk%3D3%26rkt%3D15%26sd%3D271344498855%26

 

And I think these same guys, from Maryland, are selling these on Amazon for $119.  And if not the same, then they are just both in Maryland.  I'm almost tempted to go the ebay route and do a local pickup

 

[00b5]

How do I figure out which of these units would interface with my unraid server, and automatically shut down the server (I think there is a UPS plugin?)

 

Looks like most of them have usb ports, and some even have a spot for an interface (network) connection?

 

I do NEED to get a UPS, and this refurb route looks like the way to go, espically some of these smaller ones in that $85 range.

[jumperalex]

Any APC will work.  And frankly my cyberpowers have all worked as well though I think there is some feature they don't support for which I've never had a need.  I think it had to do with actually powering down the UPS after unraid shuts down but I don't want that anyway because the UPS also supports my FiOS and Wifi routers which I want to stay up even during a power outage.

 

That said I now have the above APC UPS arriving today because even Cyberpower couldn't beat the deal I got on a runtime/$ basis.

[jumperalex]

BubbaQ and Weebo, thanks for clueing me in about how to get a little more UPS for a little less money.  My ebay sourced $103 SUA750 arrived last night and it is working great.  Cheers

[zugman]

 

http://www.pcliquidations.com/c300---ups-backups

 

BubbaQ, thanks for the tip on PC Liquidations. I ordered a refurbed SUA1000 the other day. It came out to ~150 with shipping. Seems like a great deal.

[dirtysanchez]

How do I figure out which of these units would interface with my unraid server, and automatically shut down the server (I think there is a UPS plugin?)

 

Looks like most of them have usb ports, and some even have a spot for an interface (network) connection?

 

I do NEED to get a UPS, and this refurb route looks like the way to go, espically some of these smaller ones in that $85 range.

 

The USB port is for interfacing to the server. Run the APCUPSD plugin for configuring power down options. It works with a number of UPS's but as jumperalex said, any APC UPS with a USB port will work.

 

Most business class UPS's contain an Ethernet port that is used for monitoring the UPS itself.