Uninterruptable Power Supply Line-Interactive

Dave2 · Post by **Dave2** » Sun Mar 18, 2007 2:07 pm

I need to spec a UPS for a client who wants QUIET. It needs to be line-interactive because his area has frequent brown-outs. Price range under $175 or so. Maybe 650VA or better. But it's only for one computer/printer setup, 20" LCD. So he can flex on everything but price and noise.

I found a couple of useful links.
pcstats dot com/articleview.cfm?articleid=941&page=2
keysolutions dot com/blogs/kenyee.nsf/d6plinks/KKYE-6N6KLF

Suggestion, SPCR might do a review of these units. I find lots of data on tower PC power supplies but not much on UPS noise.

Thank you SPCR. Great site.

pelago · Post by **pelago** » Mon Mar 19, 2007 4:09 am

Yes, it might be nice for SPCR to review UPSes. But one question - why did you spam-protect those links?!

EsaT · Post by **EsaT** » Mon Mar 19, 2007 10:33 am

Online/double conversion UPSes operate inverter all the time and keep buzzing sound so why did you even posted that second link if you're searching for quiet UPS?

APC Back-UPS RS seems to be their only cheaper line-interactive UPS serie. MGE has one cheaper line-interactive serie and there's also some others.
Telling country would help because some manufacturers sell only in certain areas.

Also remember that VAs doesn't really mean how much power UPS can output, it's watt rating which decides that.
If it's quiet PC then it won't need so much and LCDs don'tconsume as much as CRTs but remember that laser printers can't be connected to battery backup connections of UPSes.

Dave2 · Post by **Dave2** » Mon Mar 19, 2007 1:30 pm

Links - I thought they were helpful - spam-protect to bypass filters - legit because they are informative not selling

Me - I'm an EE so I don't need help with VA specs just data on where to find quiet stuff. Location USA.

Inverters - Fans are louder. Inverters are secondary but yes, depends on design. Inverters do not have to be inherently loud but more important, inverter does not need to be "on" unless/until the batteries are necessary.

Normal operation is just conditioning the 120VAC wall power, no batteries required. Maybe I have used the "line interactive" term wrongly but I'm trying to track what UPS industry calls things. Feel free to correct me on that. In any case - the client does need brown-out help, not mere power-cutoff help.

EsaT · Post by **EsaT** » Tue Mar 20, 2007 7:40 am

Other bigger makers in US beside APC seem to be Tripp Lite and OptiUPS.

Dave2 wrote:Inverters are secondary but yes, depends on design. Inverters do not have to be inherently loud

Have you ever found UPS which doesn't buzz during battery operation?
(under load, not idling... and low power UPSes don't even have fan)

Dave2 · Post by **Dave2** » Tue Mar 20, 2007 4:47 pm

...as I understand the terms. An "online" UPS runs the batteries all the time. It would make noise.

The kind I want is (I think) called "line interactive" which means batteries/inverter only switch on in case of brown/black-out. During normal operation the line power is clean enough not to need the extra help.

In case of full blackout the thing I want a UPS to do is give time for a clean system shutdown. So it doesn't need like 60 minutes of battery power.

In case of brown-out (power dip) I want it to condition the line power properly. That is just a momentary need in most cases. It might buzz a little when that happens but better that than a computer crash.

The problem with most UPS units is their trigger design is only for full blackout. They don't condition brown-out problems. But that doesn't need a full online unit (which is more $ anyway).

Poodle · Post by **Poodle** » Tue Mar 20, 2007 10:50 pm

Nothing beats APC. American engineering at it's best. Mine is dead quiet, and I mean DEAD quiet. No his or electric buzz or anything

http://apc.com/resource/include/techspe ... sku=BR1500

He'll know where his money went.

Plissken · Post by **Plissken** » Tue Mar 20, 2007 11:25 pm

Poodle wrote:Nothing beats APC. American engineering at it's best. Mine is dead quiet, and I mean DEAD quiet. No his or electric buzz or anything

My new line-interactive APC RS1200 does make some noise. It's kind of weird, usually it's dead quiet, but sometimes theres a very faint "bzzzz...ploink" on 5 second intervals. I think it's topping off the battery. It happens for a few hours every 3 or 4 days. Not a show-stopper, but not dead silent, somewhat annoying. It could be that my battery is a year or more old, even though the unit was purchased new. No wonder I got such a good deal on it, around $150. My old Tripplite OmniSmart 675 had it's battery die after 10 years of outstanding service, and it never made noise, but I couldn't replace the battery in that one.

Dave2 · Post by **Dave2** » Wed Mar 21, 2007 12:49 pm

APC looks good. The user guide is just a cartoon. It shows installing software before starting the unit. My question is whether APC functions without the OEM software.

The PC is Ubuntu. I'd rather no software interaction requirements. I don't mind something Linux-compatible but if there is a Windows/Mac software requirement, that is a problem. Really I view these things as appliances like a wall socket, there's no need for any interface more complex than a few LEDs and maybe an alarm bell.

The noise spec is
"Audible noise at 1 meter from surface of unit 45 dBA"

Plissken · Post by **Plissken** » Wed Mar 21, 2007 1:22 pm

My question is whether APC functions without the OEM software.

If you don't want auto-shutdown, it works great without any software

Trekmeister · Post by **Trekmeister** » Wed Mar 21, 2007 1:25 pm

I myself have an MGE Ellipse connected to a couple of car batteries supporting a pair of my computers. It is quiet with the occasional click-sound, probably periodically testing the batteries. However I am not sure it is line interactive, I think it is a cheap'o offline model so...

If I recall correctly I think the interactive type uses the battery to boost the line up to acceptable levels during brownouts, while offline UPS:es simply cut the line power and use the batteries. Interacive UPS:es therefore stress the batteries less in areas prone to brownouts, while it should make no real difference during an outage.

Anyway, the reason I posted was to hint about Network UPS Tools http://www.networkupstools.org/ which is a set of utilities to monitor the UPS from *ix systems. I have been using it with my UPS in both FreeBSD and OpenBSD and it works just fine for me so far. It should probably support most UPS models.[/url]

jaganath · Post by **jaganath** » Wed Mar 21, 2007 1:28 pm

The noise spec is
"Audible noise at 1 meter from surface of unit 45 dBA"

By SPCR standards that unit is "loud as hell!". Normally for a product to be considered "quiet" has to be less than 30dBA at 1m.

merlin · Post by **merlin** » Wed Mar 21, 2007 1:40 pm

Plissken wrote:
Poodle wrote:Nothing beats APC. American engineering at it's best. Mine is dead quiet, and I mean DEAD quiet. No his or electric buzz or anything
My new line-interactive APC RS1200 does make some noise. It's kind of weird, usually it's dead quiet, but sometimes theres a very faint "bzzzz...ploink" on 5 second intervals. I think it's topping off the battery. It happens for a few hours every 3 or 4 days. Not a show-stopper, but not dead silent, somewhat annoying. It could be that my battery is a year or more old, even though the unit was purchased new. No wonder I got such a good deal on it, around $150. My old Tripplite OmniSmart 675 had it's battery die after 10 years of outstanding service, and it never made noise, but I couldn't replace the battery in that one.

That exactly sounds like the battery self test...except it should only happen once. Usually an APC UPS will do a quick 5 second battery test in regular weekly intervals or so. I have to say that I absolutely love the APC RS series. Much better than a cheap non-line interactive UPS. Anything under the RS1500 is basically silent due to the lack of a fan and I cannot detect any buzz from my RS900. Also the software lets me see a good estimate of the total power my system is using and it controls whether you hear beeps during power outages. (I obviously have the beeps off!) I'm sure there's other good line interactive devices from TrippLite/Liebert/Cyberpower/etc...just not something I've had any experience with.

Update: there is some minor buzz I can find sometimes with the RS900, but it gets stronger or weaker depending on the line it seems..and it's completely unnoticeable unless everything else is silent.

merlin · Post by **merlin** » Wed Mar 21, 2007 1:46 pm

Dave2 wrote:I need to spec a UPS for a client who wants QUIET. It needs to be line-interactive because his area has frequent brown-outs. Price range under $175 or so. Maybe 650VA or better. But it's only for one computer/printer setup, 20" LCD. So he can flex on everything but price and noise.

I found a couple of useful links.
pcstats dot com/articleview.cfm?articleid=941&page=2
keysolutions dot com/blogs/kenyee.nsf/d6plinks/KKYE-6N6KLF

Suggestion, SPCR might do a review of these units. I find lots of data on tower PC power supplies but not much on UPS noise.

Thank you SPCR. Great site.

I'd personally say the RS900 would be perfect. It's a 900VA that should cost about $120-130 in retail.

Poodle · Post by **Poodle** » Sun Mar 25, 2007 10:30 am

My unit don't do regular self tests other when starting it up the first time it gets pluged in. Other than that it's 0dB.

Mav-VRX · Post by **Mav-VRX** » Wed May 02, 2007 12:53 am

Poodle, I am about to buy one of the APC RS UPS. My question to you is for the APC RS BR1500i, does the fan only kick in when there is a blackout?

The current one I have bought two days ago (another brand) has it's fan on 24/7, and I am pissed off as I have a relatively quiet PC setup.

Also, how many output cables does it come with?

el-tel · Post by **el-tel** » Wed May 02, 2007 4:59 am

As an alternative to the APC, I have a Liebert PowerSure Line Interactive 2 1000VA 2U UPS that's silent during normal operation.

It does however produce a *lot* of fan noise whilst running on batteries (during brown-outs and total power loss) and whilst charging. It performs a battery test once a week causing the fan to spin up for a couple of minutes.

I have the UK 50Hz version, Leibert also have an equivalent 60Hz US version. It was quite reasonably priced here, not sure what they retail at in the US though.

I also posted some information about its fan and power efficiency here:
http://www.silentpcreview.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=275155#275155

speedlever · Post by **speedlever** » Wed May 02, 2007 10:48 am

I recently picked up one of those APC RS1500VA on closeout for about $100 to use on another PC. Haven't unboxed it yet. I use a TrippLite 750SLT on my main PC (C2D).

It's very quiet. But if the power kicks off and the unit goes to battery, you'll hear the fan.

One reason I got the 750SLT was to have 4 battery/surge protected outlets and 4 surge only protected outlets.

The RS1500VA unit has 6 battery/surge protected outlets and 2 surge only.

I figure in a temporary power emergency, I only need my monitor, CPU, router and cable modem powered.

jimmyzaas · Post by **jimmyzaas** » Wed May 02, 2007 5:39 pm

an alternative to this is to buy one used with new batteries. you can probably find a bunch at ebay. this actually gets you more for less

ex. 3000VA for 299 usd 1400VA for 129 usd and they aren't back-ups.. but smart-ups.. network grade baby!

but if you can get a RS1500 for 100.. then that is a really great deal. Also remember, the higher the VA the higher the battery replacement costs.. and i'd assume your client will replace his every 2 years because he experiences alot of brownouts

Uninterruptable Power Supply Line-Interactive

Uninterruptable Power Supply Line-Interactive

(Background)

Re: (Background)

Line-interactive doesn't have to mean online

Software Required for APC models?

Re: Uninterruptable Power Supply Line-Interactive