UPS - BlueWalker/PowerWalker, Cyberpower, APC?

[Jaster]

Hi Guys,

I'm looking to get an UPS for my tower. As I do use some VGA's there I'd need an output voltage of over 1000W. APC has some great solutions, but those are quite expensive. I found BlueWalker and CyberPower (and FSP) alternatives which are way more suited for my price range. Are these manufacturers supported by unraid?

Edited July 3, 2020 by Jaster

[trurl]

I have been using CyberPower for years. Currently using this one:

 

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/cyberpower-1000va-battery-back-up-system-black/3938835.p?skuId=3938835

 

Have also used this one:

 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00K8ZMT74/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[Jaster]

Do these provide suffient power to shut down the server? which could take a couple of minutes...

I'm looking into something like the "CyberPower Professional Tower Serie 1500VA" - is this oversized?

[Energen]

I've used CyberPower and APC backups..  CyberPower is a little bit easier on the wallet, especially for larger sized battery capacity.

 

I've had an CyberPower 1500 LCD UPS, just recently even before I upgraded my entire setup.. it was a very good UPS.  Had it running from 2011-late 2019 on the original set of batteries.  I recommend any CyberPower UPS that suits your needs, they are a solid product.

 

I wouldn't be too concerned with how many watts are needed to shut down your system, I'd get the largest that your budget affords you with the features you want.  More watts/VA is always better.

 

Specifically, I'd get a UPS with AVR, automatic voltage regulation.. like that CyberPower 1500 that was linked.  That protects your equipment from "brown outs" which are a temporary drop in voltage but not a full power outage.  It keeps the voltage regulated at a nice steady 120v --- think of thunderstorms and weather events when your lights dim for a second...

 

Don't be afraid to look at eBay for a used unit at a lower cost.  If the seller looks reputable and the item is in good condition it might be worth trying if you can get it for half price compared to retail.  It's easy and cheap enough to get a fresh set of batteries if needed while still saving money.

 

I sold my CyberPower UPS from 2011 for $75 with new batteries installed, it was definitely worth more (to me, anyways) compared to the new model for $175 retail.  The buyer got an excellent UPS at a massive savings just because I didn't need it anymore.

 

Actually I replaced that tower style 1500 with a rack mount 1500.. a CyberPower OR1500LCDRM1U, 1500w/900va..  and have it running my pc and my unraid server... my battery runtime is about 20 minutes at full load.  It's got _everything_ connected to it, cable modem, router, switch, etc...  so 1500va is a pretty solid number.

 

Edited July 2, 2020 by Energen

[DivideBy0]

CyberPower here.  Works perfect with the Unraid and replacement batteries are much cheaper.  I have 2 of these

[Jaster]

I'm looking into PowerWalker as they have a great range of VFI UPS - I found some evidence on the Forums, but I'd like to have another confirmation.

Otherwise I'll check Cyberpower.

[CS01-HS]

On 7/2/2020 at 1:20 PM, Energen said:

Specifically, I'd get a UPS with AVR, automatic voltage regulation [...]  It keeps the voltage regulated at a nice steady 120v

I have the Cyberpower 685AVRG and monitoring input volatage (grafana via NUT plugin) I've seen it dip as low as 110 without AVR kicking in, at least as far as I can tell. I have AVR set to high-sensitivity. Is that expected or maybe it's kicking in and I'm not detecting it?

 

For the OP: I'm happy so far with this unit which is a lower-capacity version of some of the linked models. My only complaint is the hoops I had to jump through to get automatic restart working. APC works out of the box from what I've read.

[Energen]

On 7/3/2020 at 3:47 AM, Jaster said:

I'm looking into PowerWalker as they have a great range of VFI UPS - I found some evidence on the Forums, but I'd like to have another confirmation.

Otherwise I'll check Cyberpower.

I'm not an expert on UPS brands but I've never heard of this one.  It looks like it's probably an outside-of-USA type of brand so if that's what you can get in your region then go for it, if you can't get any of the other "mainstream" brands.  I'd compare base cost with the features you want as well as long term battery replacement costs.

 

And as stated, make sure that it's compatible with Unraid's built in UPS utilities.

 

 

 

 

[Energen]

6 hours ago, CS01-HS said:

I have the Cyberpower 685AVRG and monitoring input volatage (grafana via NUT plugin) I've seen it dip as low as 110 without AVR kicking in, at least as far as I can tell. I have AVR set to high-sensitivity. Is that expected or maybe it's kicking in and I'm not detecting it?

 

To be perfectly honest, I have no idea.  I've never had to set the AVR sensitivity on any of my units... I just figured and assumed it was working as expected. 

 

Is there anything in grafana or the NUT plugin that would specifically indicate that AVR was activated?   I've never used grafana or the NUT plugin, only what's already included in unraid and that doesn't indicate anything obvious about AVR.

[CS01-HS]

2 hours ago, Energen said:

Is there anything in grafana or the NUT plugin that would specifically indicate that AVR was activated?

I believe it should return status "'OL BOOST" when AVR kicks in. I wrote a script to log statuses but so far no OL BOOST (tough one to simulate.)

[Energen]

1 hour ago, CS01-HS said:

I believe it should return status "'OL BOOST" when AVR kicks in. I wrote a script to log statuses but so far no OL BOOST (tough one to simulate.)

Were you able to set the values for AVR voltage?  I did some researching and playing around with the NUT plugin and the default value for input.transfer.low is 90w, which is the level I believe it needs to drop to in order for AVR to kick in.  That is quite the drop from standard USA electric power levels. 

 

I haven't been able to figure out how to get that value to change.  I'm not sure which custom configuration file it should go in and the command line to change the value doesn't seem to do anything (upsrw -s input.transfer.low=100 -u admin -p adminpass ups) as far as updating any change to that level on the status page in unraid.

 

This topic however is getting off course from the OP's question... it may be worth starting a new thread to some discussion on custom settings for NUT and/or apcupsd.

 

Edited July 8, 2020 by Energen

[CS01-HS]

15 hours ago, Energen said:

This topic however is getting off course from the OP's question... it may be worth starting a new thread to some discussion on custom settings for NUT and/or apcupsd.

Good idea. New thread: https://forums.unraid.net/topic/94470-cyberpower-avr-questions/

[Jaster]

Update here: Bluewalker/Powerwalker works.

[Energen]

7 hours ago, Jaster said:

Update here: Bluewalker/Powerwalker works.

Good to hear.  Hows the quality of the UPS feel? Build quality and stuff like that.. going by the pictures they look somewhat generic compared to an APC or CyberPower.. but I guess it's not always about looks

[Jaster]

I'm using a TBG 3000 VFI model and it looks pretty well. All metal, good LCD, no dangling, etc. Great connectivity, but it'll take time till I can really tell. For now I can't tell a difference between this, an apc or cyberpower - but having spent as little as $450 for 2700 watts battery for a VFI standard with the possibility to attach external batteries feels damn right.

[haabilo]

Hey @Jaster, how's the UPS working for you? I'm also considering a Bluewalker on-line VFI 2000T, but the price-point is a bit on the low side. (Which is the reason I'm even considering it 😅).

 

Just curious if you've had any problems/altercations with yours.

[Jaster]

Works like a charm, no issues. Had several power downs and my server just kept running - switch without any trouble. Unraid integration works just fine. Maybe I'll get an extra batteries to go to 5400watt as it would cover 99% of the outages on the Powergrid here. Right now the server will shut down in 50% of the cases... I'm wondering if it could boot up once power is restored

[haabilo]

Thanks! I'll be trying it out then. Forgot to ask in the first post, but how's the noise when on standby?

[Jaster]

It's loud, but that goes for every UPS of that size. Don't even think of putting it anywhere close to the livingroom.

[ohj]

On 7/16/2020 at 8:17 AM, Jaster said:

Update here: Bluewalker/Powerwalker works.

Can I ask how you got the Bluewalker UPS to work with Unraid?  I've got a BlueWalker PW VI 2000 UPS that I've been unable to establish connection to Unraid with so far.

[Jaster]

what version of unraid are you running? I'm on 6.9.x. I just plugged it into an USB port (2.0!) and could detect it via the USP settings.

I'll be testing LAN soon...

[ohj]

10 hours ago, Jaster said:

what version of unraid are you running? I'm on 6.9.x. I just plugged it into an USB port (2.0!) and could detect it via the USP settings.

I'll be testing LAN soon...

I'm running latest version of Unraid?  But which interface are you using?  Native UPS support in Unraid or NUT addon?  Could you take a screenshot of the settings?

[Jaster]

Using the native USB driver - I did not setup anything special.

[Lolight]

Hello there.

 

I see that Bluewalker/Powerwalker UPS' come bundled with ViewPower UPS software.

And according to what has been reported in this thread, Powerwalker UPS' should work just fine in Unraid on the built-in UPS driver.

Would it be safe to assume that other no-name UPS units bundled with ViewPower from the factory will also be recognized by Unraid?

e.g. CleanLine UPS (by PowerMatic).

 

Thanks

Edited May 10, 2021 by Lolight

[trurl]

12 hours ago, Lolight said:

safe to assume

I see no reason to assume that. How does ViewPower work? Unraid uses the linux variant of apcupsd. There is also the NUT plugin which some use. You should research whether the UPS will work with apcupsd or with NUT.