Invest in a battery UPS for peace of mind

[CLE_AA-5B_GrummanTiger 168]

All too often I read stories about PC's going kaput because of a surge or an unfortunate short circuit that cooks the PC's components or people suffering heart attacks when their PCs shut off immediately during a brown/blackout (Ok, not really, but it does cause the old heart to skip a beat or two, don't it?).

Fortunately, there's a solution: the battery UPS or, Uninterruptible Power Supply. It's exactly what it sounds like: in the event of a blackout, your PC will keep running off the UPS' battery seamlessly, as if nothing happened. This allows you to save whatever needs to be saved and shut down properly. It'll also obviously protect the PC from those errant surges, but for best peace of mind, you want something that won't glitch the PC at all.

Here's the key thing to remember, though: you will likely need to buy a UPS that uses PURE sine waves and not simulated! With the sophistication of today's power supply units (PSUs), they require pure sine waves if they're to be plugged into a UPS. They're more expensive, yes, but very reliable.

If nothing else, at the very least get yourself a decent surge protector. Do NOT just plug that PC into the wall!

Also, plug the monitor in the UPS as well so you can properly see what to do in the event of a blackout! 

[edpatino 1,968]

17 minutes ago, CLE_AA-5B_GrummanTiger said:

All too often I read stories about PC's going kaput because of a surge or an unfortunate short circuit that cooks the PC's components or people suffering heart attacks when their PCs shut off immediately during a brown/blackout (Ok, not really, but it does cause the old heart to skip a beat or two, don't it?).

Fortunately, there's a solution: the battery UPS or, Uninterruptible Power Supply. It's exactly what it sounds like: in the event of a blackout, your PC will keep running off the UPS' battery seamlessly, as if nothing happened. This allows you to save whatever needs to be saved and shut down properly. It'll also obviously protect the PC from those errant surges, but for best peace of mind, you want something that won't glitch the PC at all.

Here's the key thing to remember, though: you will likely need to buy a UPS that uses PURE sine waves and not simulated! With the sophistication of today's power supply units (PSUs), they require pure sine waves if they're to be plugged into a UPS. They're more expensive, yes, but very reliable.

If nothing else, at the very least get yourself a decent surge protector. Do NOT just plug that PC into the wall!

Also, plug the monitor in the UPS as well so you can properly see what to do in the event of a blackout! 

Fully agree. On my experience, and expressly noted in the UPS manuals, it's also recommended to directly plug the UPS to the power outlet, not using a surge protector in between the power outlet and the UPS. The good UPS already come with a very capable internal surge protector.

[fppilot 4,387]

33 minutes ago, CLE_AA-5B_GrummanTiger said:

Here's the key thing to remember, though: you will likely need to buy a UPS that uses PURE sine waves and not simulated! With the sophistication of today's power supply units (PSUs), they require pure sine waves if they're to be plugged into a UPS. They're more expensive, yes, but very reliable.

If nothing else, at the very least get yourself a decent surge protector. Do NOT just plug that PC into the wall!

Ed is correct.  The UPS should be plugged in at the wall, not through another surge protector.  I have used UPS for over 20 years and all of the models I have used have had built in surge protection.

I believe you have mixed up nice clean power from a power company with power that might be fed to your computer or to your UPS from a backup generator. You may instead have heard of surge arrestors. A surge arrestor and a surge protector/power strip are not the same.  I have a 6,500 watt backup generator wired in to my home's breaker box along with a surge arrestor.  When I experience a power outage the power from the generator flows just like it does from the power company.  From the breaker box, to the UPS, to the computer (and other devices).  And the key to getting a nice smooth frequency is rooted in the specs and capabilities of the backup generator or in the specs and capabilities of the UPS.  In my case it is both.

Edited October 1, 2021 by fppilot

[CLE_AA-5B_GrummanTiger 168]

I guess I worded it poorly. I meant that if one doesn’t buy a UPS, at least get a surge protector. Never meant to suggest plugging a UPS to a surge protector as UPS already has that feature. 

[martin-w 3,242]

I think it depends where you live. I've never had any need for one in the UK or where I'm located now. 

I do appreciate how some of you who live in a location with a dodgy mains supply might see the need. 

[martin-w 3,242]

12 hours ago, CLE_AA-5B_GrummanTiger said:

an unfortunate short circuit that cooks the PC's components

 

A short circuit within your PC isn't something a UPS protects you from. Worth remembering too that modern PSU's have many protection devices. OVP UVP SCP OCP OTP etc...

[stans 703]

Where I live, power interruptions do not happen every day, but often enough.  During thunder storms, the lights often flicker or blink off for a few seconds.  Someone driving too fast, misses a curve and takes out a utility pole, lights flicker or may be off for a while.  Power company replacing transformers and there may be surges and drops in power.  Yes, I feel a bit more secure having my desktop computer, monitor and printer plugged into a UPS.

[edpatino 1,968]

6 hours ago, martin-w said:

I do appreciate how some of you who live in a location with a dodgy mains supply might see the need. 

Weather changes, a big issue here at KTMB.

[edpatino 1,968]

11 hours ago, CLE_AA-5B_GrummanTiger said:

I guess I worded it poorly. I meant that if one doesn’t buy a UPS, at least get a surge protector. Never meant to suggest plugging a UPS to a surge protector as UPS already has that feature. 

Noted. I wasn't necessarily referring to your post.

A friend of mine had a big issue once, because he used to add a surge protector between the power outlet and the UPS, that's why I made the observation for everybody in general.

What you say is right, most UPS come with an internal surge protection already.

 

[fppilot 4,387]

55 minutes ago, edpatino said:

KTMB.

Ed. Sometimes search engines can return links worthy of chuckles:  https://www.ktmb.org/

[Gary A 8]

I ran my poor brain through the gambit of whether a UPS or surge protection was necessary years ago. I decided that for my main (expensive PC) that I would invest in a good quality Sine wave UPS.  Later (and in addition to) I decided to install point-of-power surge arrestors pretty much at any outlet in the house where I had electronic equipment plugged in including my secondary PC's.  Then a second cheap UPS was added to my VOIP router.  Then I added a whole home surge protector in conjunction with the other protection mentioned. Little will protect you from a direct lightning strike barring maybe a lightning arrestor. 

My decision tree:

1. Brownouts can be more frequent than blackouts and potentially more damaging. 

2. Friend hit by surge wiped out every single electronic device in his house including fridge and stove

3. Friend working at Best-Buy warning number of LED TV failures due to surge

4. Transient voltage surge due to electric motor operation, i.e. home AC unit

5. Surge has an accumulative effect on electronics

6. VOIP phone requires phone and internet to be powered to work

7. Intense critical gaming where power loss was unacceptable

8. Fear

On a side note if it wasn't for the near $10k price tag I would have installed, lightning rods. This after a neighbor's house burnt almost to the ground after a lightening strike, and this was in the city, not a suburban or farm land.

It's like buying insurance.  Nobody likes to invest in something that no tangible benefit presents. I rather put the money in CPU or GPU; I get it. It took me a long time to get to where I am.

Edited October 3, 2021 by Gary A

[martin-w 3,242]

On 10/2/2021 at 4:08 AM, CLE_AA-5B_GrummanTiger said:

at least get a surge protector

 

Yep, very good advice. Ive always used a quality surge protector. 

[Noel 4,509]

I have a whole house surge protector and a good quality local one for all electronics. I had a UPS at one point until the lead-acid battery died in about 3.5y but decided it was overkill, heavy, so ultimately not particularly necessary. Never had any issues with all my microelectronics and have quite a lot w/ digital music workstations and several PCs over many years.

[martin-w 3,242]

7 hours ago, Noel said:

I have a whole house surge protector

 

Do you mean in the fuse board? 

Modern UK Consumer Units (fuse boards) have surge protection built into them now too. Also protection from arching is an option. In addition to RCBO's on each circuit of course. That's only the latest Consumer Units, there are a multitude of really old ones in most homes of course with just a couple of RCD's for the two ring circuits and then just MCB's.

We have ring final circuits  for most sockets, usually a ring upstairs and one downstairs. And radial circuits, like you guys have in the US, for immersion heaters, central heating, showers and lighting and other fixed appliances.  

There's nothing stopping an electrician from wiring a house in radial circuits though as long as the regs are followed but its never been widely adopted. Ring circuits a a throwback to just after the war when they were implemented in order to save copper.

[Noel 4,509]

4 hours ago, martin-w said:

Do you mean in the fuse board?

It's a separate device which takes the incoming mains and protects all circuits under them, the one I have is mounted adjacent to what we call 'Service Panels' or 'Breaker Boxes', etc.  They're good for big ticket surges but you still need 'local' surge protection for your various microelectronics.