Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Technical Questions UPS

Here we go, full circle. I think this may have been the first question I ever asked...


Annnnyway... after this episode with the TiVo, I want to get a UPS for my stuff. I am not interested in discussions about sound quality. This is purely for surge/brownout/whatever protection.

My H/K 525 says it draws 250W at idle, 1040W at max, TiVo's 40 W, DVD Changers 25 W. I'm not even thinking about protecting the TV. So the question is, should I really worry about protecting anything but the TiVo? At 1040W, the H/K pushes the price/specs for the UPS into the stratosphere--TrippLite seems to recommend 2200VA units, which start around $800. If I wanted to spend $800, I would have just stopped screwing with the TiVo and bought a Series3.

So, any suggestions? Any electricians/electrical engineers out there?

Brick Wall get high marks.

Here's a recent thread which may be helpful.http://www.axiomaudio.com/boards/showflat.php?Cat=0&Board=HT&Number=146611&Searchpage=1&Main=146611&Words=belkin&topic=&Search=true#Post146611 My dad just got one of the cheap apc's (back-ups es 500 i think) for the tv,vcr,and dvd. We get lots of short (1-2 sec) outages here. If the set is on, you just cringe as the power flops off and on a few times. If the set is off, it goes stupid and comes on with static next time it's used. The little apc seems to be doing fine.

Thanks, Duckman... I forgot about that. And I didn't search!

Looks like this is a good choice, even though it's a simulated sine wave. I can't afford a unit that could protect everything with a sine wave, and it would also cost more to protect the receiver than to buy a new one. I'm not partial to the silver color or the blue light of dooooooom, but it's certainly a better price than the APC rackmount units.

Ken I have one of those Belkin units and I like it very much. Unfortunately, I am unable to tell you how well it performs during an outage. I have a lousy power company that has more frequent power outages than I'd like (usually just a few seconds, but sometimes considerably longer, including the one that wiped out a huge chunk of Eastern North America, for 12 hours +, a few years ago). However, since purchasing the UPS, there hasn't been a single one.

Apparently it doesn't really matter which UPS you get. Just get any one, and you'll never have another power outage again.

By the way, the Belkin UPS doesn't have a blue light. The Belkin Power conditioners do, but not the UPS.



The 4 unlit icons at the top of the display are only lit when:

Top left: The battery is supplying power to your equipment (you've had a power failure)
Top right: You have a wiring fault
Bottom left: You've overloaded the battery (the equipment connected to the UPS is drawing more power than the battery can supply)
Bottom right: You need to replace the battery

The unlit scale (bottom left of the display) is only lit when equipment plugged into the UPS is operating, and indicates the percentage of the available battery capacity the operating equipment will use in the event of a power failure (20%, 40%, 60%, 80%, 100%).

The lit scale (bottom right of the display) is always lit and indicates the percentage of available battery capacity (20%, 40%, 60%, 80%, 100%).

Post Script.

Stumbled across a slightly better price here, whcih may, or may not be superceeded when shipping is added. I've not dealt with this vendor, but several guys over at AVS have purchased this particular model there, and seem satisfied. Do your homework.

Second Post Script

Using an Alameda zip code to figure shipping, the Hi Def price comes out $5 less expesive. BUT! Page is in California = tax. Hi Def is in Pennsylvania = no tax, but longer shipping time. Depending on your tax rate, you could probably save $15 - $17 by purchasing from Hi Def.

So what plugs into what?? The conditioner into the UPS or vice versa?

I’ve got the Belkin power conditioner still sitting in a box for the HT and was wondering how I could integrate a UPS into the system for the projector. We have a couple brown outs just about ever month in addition to black outs throughout the year in my little town. At $150, that’s a pretty inexpensive alternative.

Ordered! Thanks, guys!

That's correct, Ken. The UPS acts as a surge protector so it provides protection as well as battery backup. I contacted Belkin and they advised against plugging one unit into the other.

I have only the equipment I feel needs battery backup for proper shutdown plugged into the UPS. The power center has a few features the UPS doesn't (for example, switched and delayed outlets), so I find them both useful.

OK. That makes sense. I believe I’m going to order one too. With our power outages around here, it can’t hurt. I’ll plug the satellite receiver and the projector into the UPS and everything else into the conditioner.

They're out of stock... Drat.

Figures. Ain't it always the case with the best prices?

That's often why they're the best prices...

OK...Don't be mad...really, forgive me but... I prefer FEDEX.

So Sorry

Heh... so do I. But their power supplies are crap.

I should have bought it yesterday. It's $229 this morning up from $149. The other store want's $96 to ship it to me....I give up.

Yeah, I think I may just wait for it to come back in stock.

Cancel that... I got fooled by the shiny again. Have a look at this. Now, I'd never use this in a server environment (way too small a battery for that) but for AV, it's pretty darn good. And it's about $50 cheaper than the shiny one, has more power, ships free, and is actually available. Novelty of novelties!

There ya go! That should do the job just fine.