UPS

[PaulB]

Dear Members

I recently had an electrician to our house in the Philippines to fit some lights and he suggested we install UPS (Uninterrupted Power Supply) for our TV's and other sensitive devices as it will protect them when there is a brown out and the power comes back on.

I am about to have a generator installed and some solar panels but he still says this is a wise choice.

Any info or experience from you fonts of all knowledge would be appreciated.

Paul

[bastonjock]

3 hours ago, PaulB said:

Dear Members

I recently had an electrician to our house in the Philippines to fit some lights and he suggested we install UPS (Uninterrupted Power Supply) for our TV's and other sensitive devices as it will protect them when there is a brown out and the power comes back on.

I am about to have a generator installed and some solar panels but he still says this is a wise choice.

Any info or experience from you fonts of all knowledge would be appreciated.

Paul

All of the big institution have ups systems ,banks especially ,I've been I rooms with battery banks that fill the room as part of the ups 

Yes they will do the trick ,they are basically batteries with inverters and a bunch of fancy electronic 

So your having a generator installed ,you will need the appropriate switchgear to handle auto change over ,that's assuming that the Genny has auto start etc , the ups will hold the supply untill the Genny kicks in 

Make sure that you have a set of contactors with mechanical interlocking for your mains / Genny supply ,the power will be supplied via the ups to the various items 

[JJReyes]

I believe ups also acts as a surge protector when the power returns after a brown out.

[Huggybearman]

Depending on what you intend to run from your ups be sure that any ups you buy will have the appropriate sinewave output. Most, if not all, of the cheaper ones have a modified (or quazi) output which may not be suitable. A pure sinewave output will be suitable for any type of equipment you may care to run. The other consideration is the power output of your ups. It should be of adequate output to cater for all the equipment you intend to run PLUS any start-up power spikes, which can be quite significant.

Ken

[roddavis]

50 minutes ago, JJReyes said:

I believe ups also acts as a surge protector when the power returns after a brown out.

The cheapest UPS (battery backup) can be had at most large computer store or home improvement store. I bought one a couple years ago, cost about P3000, that powers my desktop PC and 50 inch display for about 20-30 minutes when there is a brownout. Plenty of time to shutdown apps without harming windows. Battery also acts as surge suppressor. I can tell cuz doing some welding on fence, lights would dim but PC/TV no glitches. Power comes in to charge the battery, but output comes thru battery and inverter, thus protected from voltage fluctuations. I suspect it will also protect from lightning strikes during storm. Computer and LCD TV were protected from a lightning strike last year, but did lose TV's in other rooms not protected by UPS.

[OnMyWay]

I don't know the answer to this question.  Will an AVR provide the same surge protection (when power comes back on, etc.) that a UPS will, without the battery?

I thought a UPS was more appropriate for computer equipment that needs to be powered down properly when power goes out, and AVR for other things like the TV and home theater equipment.  That being said, a lot of devices like TV have a computer in them these days, but I don't know if they are sensitive to sudden shutdown.

I had a small UPS for my desktop computer, but when I switched to a laptop, it was not really needed anymore.  The battery in that UPS lasted about 3 years.  The battery was replaceable, but replacements were no where to be found.  I only found a few stores that sell the low end UPS in our area.  I don't know where you can get a better one.

[Tukaram (Tim)]

I have an AVR on the TV and her laptop.  I upgraded my PC from an AVR to a UPS, with built in AVR.  I really like it because on a short brown out I do not lose the PC.  On a longer brownout (what we would call a blackout) I have time to shut it down properly (My UPS in the US would shut down automatically, this one is not smart enough).  Before I got the AVR I had a power supply burn up on my PC from a brownout (actual brownout, not what they call brownout).  The electronics have more  problems with the low voltage of a brownout than voltage spikes. The low voltage will burn out boards quickly. 

[OnMyWay]

On 6/15/2018 at 8:58 AM, OnMyWay said:

AVR for other things like the TV and home theater equipment. 

We lost power 3 times in the past few days.  Unusual for us but we have had 9 solid days of rain.  2 times were less than a minute and 1 time maybe 15 minutes.

I was reminded that my Akari AVR has an extra safety feature that should help protect equipment from surges.  When the power comes back on, it has a 1 or 2 minute delay before it returns power to it's outlets.  My last AVR, a Panther, did not have that.

[JJReyes]

Brown Out or Black Out?

It's been sometime since I experienced one and I am no longer certain about the terminology. My recollection is Brown Out is a scheduled power interruption whereas Black Out is sudden and unexpected. Is this correct?

[Huggybearman]

1 hour ago, JJReyes said:

Brown Out or Black Out?

It's been sometime since I experienced one and I am no longer certain about the terminology. My recollection is Brown Out is a scheduled power interruption whereas Black Out is sudden and unexpected. Is this correct?

Thats my understanding as well