Solved Advice Needed for UPS setup

[Lady Fitzgerald]

If I get a backup generator (a huge if since they are so expensive and paying for a motel room during an extended outage and replacing groceries afterwards costs a lot less even after several outages), it would be natural gas powered and would auto start after a minute or two.

 

[Ranger4]

Yes a generator is impossible in your case GokAy. Fortunately my generator is well away from the house so it's noise is not a problem.

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

I am living in an apartment by the way, they would probably kick me out if I start a generator in the house .

:roflmao: I can just see your apartment with a big, honkin' generator setting in the living room puffing fumes into the room. It could double as a dining room table and fumigator and drown out loud music from the neighbors.

 

[Ranger4]

No natural gas here Lady F, so it has to be petrol or a more expensive diesel one so I opted for the petrol. But as it not needed all that often it's petrol consumption is within acceptable limits, but I have to be sure I have sufficient petrol on hand. I live about 10 miles out of town & when there is a major power outage in the area the local petrol station pumps wont work either.

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

No natural gas here Lady F, so it has to be petrol or a more expensive diesel one so I opted for the petrol. But as it not needed all that often it's petrol consumption is within acceptable limits, but I have to be sure I have sufficient petrol on hand. I live about 10 miles out of town & when there is a major power outage in the area the local petrol station pumps wont work either.

I'm fortunate to have natural gas available where I live. I wouldn't want to have to deal with lugging petrol or diesel around (I'm old, handicapped, and lazy) plus one can store petrol and diesel for only a short while without adding a stabilizer without the fuel going bad, gumming up the works when one tries to use it. Even stabilizers can extend the life of fuel only so long.

 

[Ranger4]

I am not that young either, getting to 74 last birthday & I admit lifting 4 gallon drums activates the damned arthritis. But having the security of a back up generator is nice & I don't end up with rotten food in the fridge or freezer & can carry on very much as usual during a power failure.

We often have unexplained power outages & also suffer from storm interruptions as well, especially in the summer.

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

I'm only 66 (one more six and I would be in a real fix) and my back wouldn't appreciate me lifting even only a 5 U.S. gallon can (roughly the equivalent of 4 Imperial gallons) even though it's only roughly 45-50 lb. Old age sucks, doesn't it?

 

[Ranger4]

Yes it certainly does & there is no doubt in the old saying that youth is wasted on the young. Just imagine how wonderful it would be from old to young & would we paint the town red.

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

Yes it certainly does & there is no doubt in the old saying that youth is wasted on the young. Just imagine how wonderful it would be from old to young & would we paint the town red.

Paint it? More like drench it. And I wouldn't stop at red, either!

 

[Ranger4]

I agree.

:devil2:

 

[pbcopter]

The UPS manufacturers, that I am familiar with, warn against connecting a UPS to a surge protector.

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

The UPS manufacturers, that I am familiar with, warn against connecting a UPS to a surge protector.

The reason for that is many of the surge protectors aren't rated for the current draw a UPS may be capable of. For example, my 2.2KVAR UPS has to be plugged into a dedicated 20A 120v circuit (I had to install one; fortunately, it was a short, easy run from the breaker panel). I've yet to see a surge arrestor rated that high. Many, if not most, surge arrestors are rated for less than the full capacity of even 15A circuits. However, if one does have a heavy duty surge arrestor and the TOTAL load plugged into the arrestor, including the UPS and anything else plugged into the arrestor, is less than the rated capacity of the arrestor, then there is nothing wrong with plugging the UPS into the surge arrestor.

 

[pbcopter]

You are obviously free to connect your products how you choose. I only pointed out what some UPS manufacturers have stated.

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

You are obviously free to connect your products how you choose. I only pointed out what some UPS manufacturers have stated.

And I told you why.

 

[GokAy]

I turned off the living room breaker today while a normal load (left monitor on Standby, PS3 off). Both UPSs worked alright, no problems switching to battery and back, nothing got burned either

Thanks everyone for their precious comments and advise.

Note: Both surge protectors are 10A rated, so 2400W which I am not filling anyway. I will update if something funny happens during a real blackout, as power quality will fluctuate.

 

[ICIT2LOL]

Just came across this mate and my Cyber Power 850 comes with it's own surge protection - not much granted - 125 Joules but I then hook up my main surge boards to that.

It actually states on the device a current capability of 10 amps - not that I would go that far.