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Power Management

JeffMackwood said:
Haywood said:
This seems to be power management week. The matching UPS I had on my NAS croaked too, so I snagged a 1350va Cyber Power unit. I've had good luck with them. The two that just quit were at least 8 years old and I've got another one in the basement that I've had for three or four. The old unit was 875va, so the new one is substantially bigger. It provides some interesting diagnostics. Apparently, my 8-Bay NAS, i5 Intel NUC PC, Tablo DVR, Ooma VOIP appliance, printer, MOCA bridge, router and Ethernet switch only consume a whopping 162 watts with everything turned on. I'm sure that would go up if I printed something, but I am very impressed with how energy efficient the new gear is these days. I've got enough battery to keep the entire stack running for 30 minutes.
Is there any equipment that needs to be put through a controlled shutdown during that 30 minute period and does the new unit come with software to make it so?

My UPS units in my main HT serve two general functions: give me time to turn off my projector properly in case of a power failure in order to avoid bulb damage (the assumption that I'm obviously nearby when the power fails if the projector is on); and avoid much less critically, to ensure that my recorders etc. keep working during an outage if they are in the process of recording / dubbing / burning a disc at the time (which doesn't matter if I'm there or not since most of the time I'm not when that's happening.)

Now that I've gone from using a portable as my home office mainstay (with it's imperviousness to power failure, and ability to put itself to sleep when the battery gets low) to a desktop (with it's proclivity to react immediately to a loss of power) I think I need to procure a UPS (with auto-shutdown software) for the home office, just in case I'm partway through composing a Nobel-wining oeuvre when the lightning strikes.

Jeff

My UPS does support controlled shutdown via USB. I need to figure out how to make it work with my NAS, which I plan to start looking at tonight. My DVR is in my server cabinet and is connected to the new UPS. There is nothing in the main system with a hard drive in it anymore. All I have in there is a receiver, amplifier, television, Squeezebox, Roku 3 and Blu-Ray player. I figured at this point it would make more sense to dump the battery and get a good quality surge protector with a convenient form factor.
 
PaulyT said:
Haywood, which model exactly did you get? I'm actually looking for a new UPS as well, for my main desktop system. Reading over CyberPower's tech specs, it seems the CP1350PFCLCD ($167 on amazon) has pure sine wave battery power, vs. the BRG1350AVRLCD ($140) which is pcm (stepped). According to them, the pure sine wave is necessary to support Active Power Factor Correction (PFC) power supplies, which mine in fact is (CORSAIR Enthusiast Series TX650M). Granted, this is only applicable during outages when the system's running on battery power alone. But I'm wondering how important this is, really? Anyone know? Trying to decide if it's worth the extra $$.

This did not factor into my decision, as none of my attached equipment requires anything special. The unit I bought was $77 at Costco.
 
^ I do the same as you Paul.

When CyberPower entered the market back in the 1990's, they were the "knock off brand". At the time I was working at APC and we had their units in our R&D center. Their units performed well, but our evaluation showed, inferior components and poor overall PCB Assembly Layout. Thermal profiles were run and heat was a problem. This COULD lead to early failure rates.

Many years have past and it looks like they made it in the industry and have a product that is well liked.

APC is vertically integrated and owns all of their manufacturing facilities.

TrippLite subcontracts all of their manufacturing.

Not sure about CyberPower.

APC does have excellent customer service and stands behind their product.
 
All I can say about CyberPower is that I owned two of their Best Buy Geek Squad branded 875va units that lasted at least 8 years before finally quitting and I have another CyberPower unit in the downstairs system that's been around for at least five. I have also owned several APS units over the years and they did not fare any better.
 
The Monoprice 109290 8 Outlet Home Theatre Power Center arrived yesterday. I have not installed it yet, but I can say one thing: it is built like a tank. The overall fit and finish is very nice and the entire thing has an aura of solidity from the brushed aluminum front panel to the high quality outlets on the back. It is also fairly heavy, which is nice for dealing with the weight of all those power cords. This is exactly what I wanted and I am very pleased. If any of you ever needs a component style surge protector, it would be hard to go wrong with this one and it is a bargain in a market that is dominated with over-priced snake oil gear ($400 for a fancy power strip? Really?). I have no issue paying $110 for something this well put together. I expect it will last me quite a long time.
 
Well it certainly looks good and that review spoke highly of it. I think for $110.00 you sure could have gotten less from better known products.
 
Randy said:
Well it certainly looks good and that review spoke highly of it. I think for $110.00 you sure could have gotten less from better known products.

The Tripplite Isobar is at least as good a product and a bit less expensive, but the form factor of this device was a better fit for my needs and I could not be happier with the build quality. I definitely would have gotten less or spent quite a bit more with Monster Power, Panamax or the other usual suspects. Monoprice really nailed it with this product.
 
I was trying to find the circuitry/topology for that device?

Did I miss it or is it not available?
 
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