APC UPS

[Bill Davidsen]

Dave Ihnat wrote:
> Mind, I'm not defending APC _per se_, but some of your issues appear to
> me to be non-issues.  Just some observations on APC, and UPS units in
> general.
> 
> On Thu, Jan 01, 2009 at 02:26:45PM -0500, Robert L Cochran wrote:
>> The APC unit serving my network support devices failed suddenly after
>> a very short lifespan of about a year. I think it developed an internal
>> short in it that fried my web server machine.
> 
> According to the APC website:
> 
>   The APC Equipment Protection Policy pledges up to $25,000.00 USD to
>   repair or replace your APC-protected electronics should they ever
>   become damaged by a power surge (United States and Canada only ...)
> 
> I'd argue with them that was what happened to your server.
> 
>> The one serving my personal machine failed quickly as well and the
>> combined cost for both these devices was well over USD $300.
> 
> You do know you can get those units replaced under warranty.
> 
>> The larger-rated APC units of 800 VA or more are physically very large
>> and heavy and accordingly difficult to move around.
> 
> Goes with the turf--lead-acid batteries are going to be heavy.
> 
>> I'm aware that I can recycle UPS batteries but in my location this is
>> inconvenient to do, ...
> 
> When you buy batteries, almost all of them come with a return mailer for
> the used batteries.
> 
>> ...and the right batteries are hard to find, ...
> 
> Just buy on-line; I can't remember ever buying a replacement battery
> locally.  They're cheaper than buying from the vendor, too.  Use a
> shopping service such as shopper.cnet.com or www.pricegrabber.com.
> 
>> ...and when a UPS unit fails I must decide whether to spend the
>> money to replace the entire unit or not.
> 
> At least APC units usually take the replacement battery.  I've had
> horrible luck with TrippLite UPS units--new batteries often still don't
> revive the UPS.
> 
>> I've made the decision not to buy APC brand units any longer.
> 
> I don't really have anything good to say about any consumer-grade UPS
> units I've worked with, especially the little workstation ones.
> 
>> I'm using a "Geek Squad" unit from Best Buy for my network devices
>> which is higher capacity, cheaper to buy, not so darn heavy, physically
>> smaller in size and appears to be better built.
> 
> After they charged a client of mine (well, she became a client after this)
> a couple of hundred dollars to clean viruses off a system--and "upgraded"
> her to Windows XP--it was still infested with the same viruses.  And when
> she came to me, I found the XP was using a known stolen activation key
> (it came up on a google).  I won't have anything to do with Geek Squad
> or anything branded by them.
> 
> You do know that "not so darn heavy" probably means it's either not a
> lead-acid battery--and depending on the type, that brings its own
> problems--or it's an undersized battery.
> 
> As I said, I've had bad results with TrippLite (pity, too--they're a
> local Chicago company, so I'd like to support them) and virtually
> all consumer-grade APC units.  The commercial APC units have been OK,
> if not great; battery life for any UPS is about three years, and they
> seem to survive that long.  They're too expensive for any significant
> run time, however; all you're getting for an affordable price is about
> 10-15 minutes of run-time on a full power outage, making them essentially
> surge/brownout protection and clean shutdown units.
> 
I see several companies having breakthroughs in the ultracapacitor field, I 
think that's the future of UPS. They charge fast, have vastly longer service 
life, and are lighter than lead-acid. Last month EEstor got a patent on a new 
unit they hope will be a power unit for an electric car, but the patent makes it 
clear it can be downsized to UPS sizes. And in cases where power comes and goes 
fast charge time is a bonus.

Also, both plug power and MTI are making small fuel cells for the military, room 
for a new technology there when cost comes down.

I agree that current UPS provides time for a short operation followed by a clean 
shutdown, but that's not a bad thing compared to falling over hard.

-- 
Bill Davidsen <davidsen at tmr.com>
   "We have more to fear from the bungling of the incompetent than from
the machinations of the wicked."  - from Slashdot