Which uninteruptable power supply?

[swag72]

I'm annoyed with the small power cuts that I appear to get during the night sometimes. They are not regular, but often enough now for me to consider getting an uninterupible power supply. 

So what do I need to get? The one power supply will be doing everything.... so a maximum of the following

1x NUC

2x CCD cameras

2x Lakesides

1x Mount

1x USB hub

2x remote IP switches

I don't run dew heaters at all. So can anyone recommend what size UPS I'd be looking at? There's a whole host of different VA's (whatever they are!)

[ChrisLX200]

Well the big question would be - how long do the cuts last?  These things are not so much used for keeping things running for extended periods but rather cover for 'brown-outs' and also to allow everything to be shut down in a controlled way rather than just crashing. Most aim to supply current for 10-20minutes so if your power cut last a couple of hours you're going to struggle to find one large enough to keep everything going. The only alternative I can think of to cover for extended periods would be a UPA plus petrol generator, the latter being triggered to start automatically in the event of a cut.

ChrisH

[swag72]

The power outs are literally a minute max and I know this as my bedroom clock stays running and anything more than a minutes outage and it flashes until the time is reset. I don't want it to power stuff down, I just want it to keep everything running until the power comes back on.

[Xplode]

For that short power outs it doesn't really matter which ups you go for unless you want other features in the UPS like cleaning the power too?

Most cheaper UPS'es doesn't clean the power and for that you need an online UPS, i choose to go for the BlueWalker PowerWalker VFI 1000 LCD as it's one of the cheapest online UPS'es. It will probably run your gear for 1 hour or more.

Since it cleans the power it's active all the time so there's a noisy fan running, i choose to change the fan to a quieter one. It won't ever run at maximum capacity so a slower fant isn't a problem.

[ChrisLX200]

In that case even a small-ish unit would do the job. The biggest current draw would likely be the cooler on the 383 camera, followed by the mount, then the NUC. If you could tot up the number of amps everything draws (@12V) it would be an easy calculation, but something like 500VA will be enough.

ChrisH

[RayD]

I feel your pain as we have had our finca for 15 years or so, and have chosen to stay off grid for this very reason.

I agree with Chris.  Even at full load I would estimate all that to be in the region of about 250w on the AC side, which means a decent 500VA will run for about 6 minutes or thereabouts, which should be plenty if as you say they are very short outages.

You need to make sure there are enough maintained outlets as mentioned above by Xplode.  You should look to make sure it is also managed, so you can set the point at which it starts shutting down.  This is important if you only have short outages as you don't want it automatically starting a shut down sequence.

Finally, I always make sure I can change the batteries when I get one as they don't last forever, and it's much cheaper to replace them than the whole unit.

I think they are all fairly reasonable now, but with your expensive gear I would go with a known brand like APC or Eaton (there are many other good ones also).

Edit.  Make sure with your gear you get a true sinewave one.  Some of the cheaper models use modified sinewave, which is probably not ideal.

Good luck.

[r3i]

I've been using a couple of APC units like these for a good while: http://www.apc.com/shop/uk/en/products/APC-Back-UPS-400-230V-BS1363/P-BE400-UK

I've got one in the house to protect the PC & peripherals and another in the observatory for all the gear in there.  We get occasional power dips which the UPS smooths over and also longer power outs where the UPS gives sufficient time to gracefully shut everything down.  They typically give around 10 minutes of backup (but obviously that depends on what you've got connected to them), this may not sound a lot but is more than sufficient to get everything shut down.

 

Edit: My units have GB style mains sockets, but there are versions for the European market e.g.: https://www.senetic.co.uk/product/BE400-SP

[swag72]

Every body keeps mentioning shutting down ............ I don't want to shut down and just want to maintain the power...... can I do that with these?

Any more recommendations would be welcomed as i really have no idea what I'm looking at

How about this company?

[RayD]

Yes something like that is fine.  A 500VA unit should be perfect for what you are running, and will keep it all running without it shutting down for about 6-8 minutes (ish).

We mention shutting down as that is what you want them to do when and if the batteries get to a critical level.  You can choose what that point is, but if you don't have it set and the power outage lasts longer than the batteries provide for, then you will power fail your equipment off, which for your PC is not ideal.  The purpose of a UPS over just a battery is that it uses software to monitor the batteries and then carry out a controlled shut down if needed.  If you only lose power for short periods you should never reach this stage.

[swag72]

Right gotcha Ray!! Thanks! I've ordered a 1100VA one and should have it tomorrow..... lets hope it solves my issues

[RayD]

Wow 1100 VA will be perfect Sara.  When you get it and load the software you'll see it's pretty straight forward.  Below is an image of my Eaton one connected to my PC here, and you can see it's actually quite intuitive.