Small UPS for modem/phone backup?

trackhappy · 19th July 2012, 5:54 PM

Hey guys, I'm just curious about two things. What's a good, cheap UPS suitable for backing up a modem, a cordless phone base station and possibly a mobile phone charger or two? All low wattage devices, I don't expect more than a 40-50W draw combined.

And secondly, is there any way of telling how long these things would last on given battery for a prolonged period, e.g. during a lengthy blackout?

Thanks.

mittons · 19th July 2012, 6:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by trackhappy

Hey guys, I'm just curious about two things. What's a good, cheap UPS suitable for backing up a modem, a cordless phone base station and possibly a mobile phone charger or two? All low wattage devices, I don't expect more than a 40-50W draw combined.

And secondly, is there any way of telling how long these things would last on given battery for a prolonged period, e.g. during a lengthy blackout?

Thanks.

try this page

http://www.apc.com/tools/ups_selector/index.cfm

trackhappy · 19th July 2012, 7:33 PM

The home option assumes a computer will be connected to the UPS, which is not the case. The select by load option only gives 750VA+ at a price of $600 and up, which for backing up a modem, is insane.

I was hoping for actual recommendations/real world run time at 15-40W load.

HSV_Enigma · 19th July 2012, 7:36 PM

They are both low voltage items, could just get a SLA battery and charger setup for it and use a modified car charger for mobile phones.

Cpt.J.Sparrow · 19th July 2012, 7:57 PM

You could try one of those Belkin ones. However, they turn off after 30 minutes of blackout, but how often do you get a blackout that long?

trackhappy · 19th July 2012, 8:26 PM

I'm also wondering about this. But someone said they turn off after 5 minutes?

Hive · 19th July 2012, 8:49 PM

Every now and then on the FS forums theres cheap 300-750VA APC units going second hand for $20-40, definitly get one of those.

http://forums.overclockers.com.au/sh...&highlight=ups

dakiller · 19th July 2012, 8:58 PM

From my eperience, the EATON UPS's don't have set timers to cutout and monitor the batery level and From my experience, the EATON UPS's don't have set timers to cutout and monitor the battery level (why other UPS's would do otherwise just baffles me)

Runtime can be estimated by looking up the battery capacity and working it out from there.

The 400VA one has a 12V 4.5Ah battery = 54Wh. Taking your estimate of 40W and an efficiency of about 80% we get -

54Wh * 0.8 = 40W * hours

= ~1h runtime.

If you want better numbers than that you need to exactly measure your load, know the proper efficiency of the battery conversion and also the de-rating of the battery capacity for the discharge rate of it.

dr_deathy · 19th July 2012, 9:47 PM

its just to bad EATON UPS's are very hit and miss on batches, i see some lasting for 5+ years and some batches having trouble getting through warranty.

I personally prefer APC but use both regularly. On this level tho they will all be about the same and really as long as the devices PSU is up for the drop in power as it switches over to battery any will be fine.

I have only seen that issue pop up on shitty d-link switches.

http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?...ducts_id=17583

that would run for a long time on that sort of load.

2xCPU · 20th July 2012, 1:35 PM

One thing to consider is to de-beep the UPS.

I picked up a small APC UPS to run the cordless phone (because I didn't have a cabled phone).

The first time the power failed at 3AM I got up and hit the silence button.
The next morning I warmed the soldering iron and removed the beeper.

2.

19th July 2012, 5:54 PM	#1
trackhappy Member Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Shithole, 4510 Posts: 684	Small UPS for modem/phone backup? Hey guys, I'm just curious about two things. What's a good, cheap UPS suitable for backing up a modem, a cordless phone base station and possibly a mobile phone charger or two? All low wattage devices, I don't expect more than a 40-50W draw combined. And secondly, is there any way of telling how long these things would last on given battery for a prolonged period, e.g. during a lengthy blackout? Thanks. __________________ MAIN RIG: Core i5-750 @ ~~3.5~~ 2.6 GHz air \| Asus P7P55D LE \| 12GB RAM \| 8800GT, GT210 \| OCZ Vertex II 80GB SSD \| 6.5TB HDDs \| G15v2 \| G9x FILE SERVER: HP MicroServer N40L: 1.5GHz dual-core AMD \| 8TB HDDs \| Samsung Series 830 64GB SSD \| 6GB RAM My Weather Observations

19th July 2012, 7:33 PM	#3
trackhappy Member Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Shithole, 4510 Posts: 684	The home option assumes a computer will be connected to the UPS, which is not the case. The select by load option only gives 750VA+ at a price of $600 and up, which for backing up a modem, is insane. I was hoping for actual recommendations/real world run time at 15-40W load. __________________ MAIN RIG: Core i5-750 @ ~~3.5~~ 2.6 GHz air \| Asus P7P55D LE \| 12GB RAM \| 8800GT, GT210 \| OCZ Vertex II 80GB SSD \| 6.5TB HDDs \| G15v2 \| G9x FILE SERVER: HP MicroServer N40L: 1.5GHz dual-core AMD \| 8TB HDDs \| Samsung Series 830 64GB SSD \| 6GB RAM My Weather Observations

19th July 2012, 7:57 PM	#5
Cpt.J.Sparrow Member Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Glen Waverley, VIC Posts: 445	You could try one of those Belkin ones. However, they turn off after 30 minutes of blackout, but how often do you get a blackout that long? __________________ Gadgets Galaxy Player 5.8 \| Nexus 4 \| iPad 4 \| PowerShot SX1 IS Game Console Xbox 360 Gaming PC (Sold; waiting for Haswell) \| 30" WQXGA IPS Home PC i3 2105 (HD3000) \| P8H67-I Deluxe \| 1333MHz 4GB \| M4 64GB \| Green 500GB \| DVD-Multi \| X-400 Fanless \| PC-Q11 \| Winows 7 HP 32-bit \| 27" Full HD TN LED NAS TurboNAS TS-119P+

19th July 2012, 8:26 PM	#6
trackhappy Member Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Shithole, 4510 Posts: 684	I'm also wondering about this. But someone said they turn off after 5 minutes? __________________ MAIN RIG: Core i5-750 @ ~~3.5~~ 2.6 GHz air \| Asus P7P55D LE \| 12GB RAM \| 8800GT, GT210 \| OCZ Vertex II 80GB SSD \| 6.5TB HDDs \| G15v2 \| G9x FILE SERVER: HP MicroServer N40L: 1.5GHz dual-core AMD \| 8TB HDDs \| Samsung Series 830 64GB SSD \| 6GB RAM My Weather Observations

19th July 2012, 8:58 PM	#8
dakiller (Oscillating & Impeding) Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: SE Melb Posts: 6,154	From my eperience, the EATON UPS's don't have set timers to cutout and monitor the batery level and From my experience, the EATON UPS's don't have set timers to cutout and monitor the battery level (why other UPS's would do otherwise just baffles me) Runtime can be estimated by looking up the battery capacity and working it out from there. The 400VA one has a 12V 4.5Ah battery = 54Wh. Taking your estimate of 40W and an efficiency of about 80% we get - 54Wh * 0.8 = 40W * hours = ~1h runtime. If you want better numbers than that you need to exactly measure your load, know the proper efficiency of the battery conversion and also the de-rating of the battery capacity for the discharge rate of it. __________________ In memory of Cheers Z

19th July 2012, 9:47 PM	#9
dr_deathy Member Join Date: Apr 2007 Posts: 1,287	its just to bad EATON UPS's are very hit and miss on batches, i see some lasting for 5+ years and some batches having trouble getting through warranty. I personally prefer APC but use both regularly. On this level tho they will all be about the same and really as long as the devices PSU is up for the drop in power as it switches over to battery any will be fine. I have only seen that issue pop up on shitty d-link switches. http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?...ducts_id=17583 that would run for a long time on that sort of load.

20th July 2012, 1:35 PM	#10
2xCPU Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: melb Posts: 2,395	One thing to consider is to de-beep the UPS. I picked up a small APC UPS to run the cordless phone (because I didn't have a cabled phone). The first time the power failed at 3AM I got up and hit the silence button. The next morning I warmed the soldering iron and removed the beeper. 2. __________________ If "building a computer" doesn't involve powertools, you're just assembling spare parts. ---- The universe is made up of atoms and empty space, the rest is mere opinion. Democritus, 400 BC.