UPS Life?

[Flick]

Does a surge suppressor or UPS "wear out"? I have an APC Back-UPS Office 500 VA. Do surges/brownouts weaken the parts to the point that they are no longer effective? I realize that metal oxide varistors (MOV's) are designed to wear out over time, but how much time? I have used my current UPS during the past 2 years and I live in Florida. Lighting storms are almost a daily event. I was thinking that whenever the battery on this UPS will need to be replaced, I would be better off just buying a new UPS. Any insight would be appreciated. Thank you.

[kayofcircles]

Good question..but geez, I hope not! I have the same UPS you do, and we live in an area with daily brownouts..but we turn off our UPS backups after turning off puters, so hopefully the backups "sleep" through most of our brownouts. Will be watching this thread..thanks for question.

[david eaton]

Flick, You are right about MOVs "wearing out".unfortunately you only find out when they fail! The life of a UPS should be indefinite, barring component failure, if you have the type where mains voltage is transformed to 12v, and reconverted with the battery "floated" across the 12V. Battery life should be several years under these conditions. If you have to replace it, there is no reason why a LARGE auto battery could not be connected instead, and left under the bench I have done that with a UPS, and it's still working AFAIK. Provide good ventilation to the battery tho'; charging it can evolve hydrogen and oxygen. Add a spark, and you'll probably need a new bench :D

David

[kayofcircles]

Thanks, David , think I will "hope" for indefinite then! Also, after giving it a few moments of thought..think will pass on the car battery idea. Have this "fried cat" image in my head now..lol. I was puting happily along one day when the cat strolled casually over the UPS, and "poof" no puter! Took me a few seconds to figure out "why" I was staring at a black monitor all of a sudden...lol.

[Fruss Tray Ted]

Have this "fried cat" image in my head now..lol.
Me too. Tastes like chicken... :D

Delivery person at the door, "Did anyone order Chinese"?!?

(Just kidding and no offense intended to anyone.)

[Flick]

Originally posted by david eaton
Flick, You are right about MOVs "wearing out".unfortunately you only find out when they fail!

The aforementioned UPS I use works very well. All the power lines and phone lines going to my computer go through the UPS and I have the computer hooked into the UPS via a serial port in order to use the "PowerChute plus" automatic shutdown routine. In my experience it has worked very well and I NEVER shut down my computer (it runs 24/7). Also, the UPS has a little warning light that is labeled "Replace Battery". So, I assume, that when the battery can no longer hold a proper charge the light will come on to advise me that it's time to replace the battery. Just out of curiosity, I checked some prices to replace the battery in my UPS and found that for just a few more dollars I could buy the same brand new UPS. My theory is that since MOV's do "wear" it would be "cheap insurance" just to replace the UPS rather than its battery.

[Anubis]

David, as a side note to the big car batteries for UPS/Back up we have exactly that for our OC-48. They been in the switch room since we had our OC-3 and have been migrated to the 12 and now to the 48. Luckily they have never been actually used.

[kayofcircles]

Flick : I think you're right, considering the 24/7 part. My husband thinks that when we need new batteries, we'll be able to get them from Radio Shack cheaper than APC, but we haven't yet put that theory to the test. And since we do shut ours down, we should be okay for awhile longer.

[ranchdog]

Question....

Does/did that incident give a cat

a frizzie hair-do?


:eek:


RD.

[kayofcircles]

ranchdog : Guess you didn't see "Christmas Vacation" with Chevy Chase and Beverly D'Angelo? There was definitely a "fried cat" in that movie, although I think they just "FLUFFED" the cat big time..lol. If our cat is going to go back where he is not supposed to be, better to stick with a UPS than an "open" battery effect! :D

[Fruss Tray Ted]

(I Don't Care!) You're NOT getting my trolling battery. GET YOUR OQWN!!!! :eek:

[Ice Czar]

http://www.dansdata.com/sbs9.htm

"The plain surge/spike filter powerboards you can buy at various electronics, electrical and hardware stores are, arguably, worse than nothing. This is because they give you the impression you’re protected, when you probably aren’t - well, not for long, anyway.

The chief surge-clamping component in a basic filter-board is a Metal-Oxide Varistor (MOV). MOVs pass current only when the voltage across them is above a set value, and they react very quickly (in a matter of microseconds, against the tens of milliseconds a circuit breaker takes). That’s the good news. The bad news is that MOVs wear out - they’re only good for a few uses, and the bigger the spike, the more damage is done."..............ECT Read the whole thing ;)

And add Dan's Data (http://www.dansdata.com/altindex.html) to your favorites, and be the first to find out the real important breakthroughs, like Why Black Computers are Faster (http://www.dansdata.com/black.htm) :p jk