Solved Need a new UPS

[magnetite]

I've had my current UPS since 2004. It's an APC XS 1200VA UPS. I'm running my current Sandy Bridge system off of it, as well as my old Yorkfield system. Battery light has gone red off and on recently, however, with the two systems both using 750 and 850W power supplies, I'm not sure if this UPS can support that. Any ideas on the best solution to this problem?

 

[brady]

UPS should only perform a graceful shutdown when power is lost. So unless you're running generated power, mininum power requirements apply. You should meet the 1600W / 2200 VA required by your current systems and not rely on the current APC to determine which is more important

I like APC personally: I might look into something like this: APC Smart-UPS 2200VA RM 3U 120V/230V In 120V Out

 

[pparks1]

A 750W power supply does not draw 750 watts of power from the wall, thus it doesn't mean you need a 750VA UPS.

You could use this guide to help estimate what a single machine would need;
UPS Selector Sizing Applications

And you don't need a 2200VA APC UPS for your 2 workstations. I use one of those to power en entire telecom rack at my office. And they are nearly $2k.

With any UPS, you typically have to replace the batteries every 3-5 years. I'm sure your batteries have just reached the end of their useful life.

I'd say this would happily power both of your systems for 5-10 minutes...which provides plenty of time to shutdown in an outage;
APC Smart-UPS 1000VA LCD 120V
http://www.apc.com/products/resource/include/techspec_index.cfm?base_sku=smt1000

It's a $400 unit.

 

[magnetite]

Think I found the issue. It appears the battery is fine, but according to that UPS sizing tool that you linked, it says don't put laser printers on the backup plugs. It was when I got this new printer that it started happening. I also found my APC software disk, which says the amount of battery power is 100%.

 

[pparks1]

Oh yeah, never put a laser printer on a UPS. They draw insane amounts of power when they start up.