UPS (Uninterrupted Power Supply), bad weather and power cuts...

[Clair]

The weather in our area has been quite bad over the last few weeks, with thunderstorms, hailstones and particularly high winds, which inevitably bring power cuts in their wake.

I had the candles and torches out 3 times last week alone, once over a 10-hour stretch (candle-lit dinner!), only to see a 2-hour repeat the following day...[:@]

The TV/sat boxes/DVD player/other devices are all plugged into a surge protector, as is the Neufbox, and we didn't suffer any loss but Mr Clair was worried about his latest gadget (and missing the Giro) and the damage the repeated stuttering/flickering, which usually precede the actual power cut, could cause.

So we have invested in 2 UPS units, delivered very quickly (thank you Amazon!) at a cost of 150€ and, I kid you not, this has been a superb deterrent!

There hasn't been a single power cut since we installed them, and the sun has been shining for that last 3 days! [;-)]

Highly recommended (if slightly expensive!) [:P]

PS: I'm so happy I had my Kindle and iPad fully charged and I was able to read quietly during the power cut! It's slightly disturbing to realise how much I rely on my internet connection... [blink]

PPS: appropriate thread icon added... [Www]

[AnOther]

Been using one almost since we got here, you can of course plug your router into it to maintain your connection and make the wait for the lights to come back on more bearable [;-)]

[Clair]

One of the units has 8 sockets (TV + Humax + Vu+ + DVD + soundbar + wireless headphones + TNT + Roku NowTV and ethernet cable) and the other is smaller and enough to protect the Neufbox + printer + phone, but as I posted earlier, the purchase itself has been enough of a deterrent and I haven't been in a position to check how they actually work (and I hope I don't have to find out too soon!)

The surge protectors we were using before are now used for the laptops and iPads/mobile phones when they're on charge... just in case... [;-)]

[crakpot]

Hi

So far in 10 years have got through 3, 2 blown-up by lightning even with a surge jobby ,one where the battery burnt out, 2 of them where not fast enough and the puter always rebooted

If you are lucky you get 3 minutes running a modem, puter and screen just enough to shut down and the bleeping during a night storm/power cut wakes the grave

I am on the forth cobling a battery from one with electronics of another

[Clair]

You don't sound too happy with your setup, crakpot...

TBH, the powercuts are relatively rare. The long one last week was caused by a fallen tree in a nearby village.

We're more concerned with the flickering (drop in voltage?) which occurs just before the power goes off. Both units should help to even out the variation...

[AnOther]

How long a UPS holds up for is directly related to it's capacity which in turn is determined by the AH capacity of it's battery and  in that regard bigger will always be better

[Pierre ZFP]

I was running sensitive things through a UPS until the battery died in it.  Asked, and received advice on this forum on how to revive the battery and eventually went with one of the first suggestions which was to bin it!

So, a local Brico shed was doing a special on car batteries and I got a 45Amp job for €35

This will power a PC including peripherals for over an hour (had no need to try longer) Or a modest sizeTV and Sat box for about the same.

I got mine for 10 quid off ebay and it lasted for 4 years or so before the original battery gave out

[vette]

With reference to surge protectors, the one I have has a warning that they do not last forever. There is an indication lamp to let you know when it has had it.

I presume that they can only take so many hits and then they give up the ghost. Not cheap, but better than the alternative of having equipment wrecked.

[Quillan]

This is probably asking for trouble i.e. it will probably happen after writing this. For 12 years we have never had any form of surge protection on anything and even once having the house struck by lightning we have never had a problem.

[say42]

Don't forget to put a surge protector on the telephone line as well. I've lost a Livebox because I forgot to.

[Clair]

Regarding the Neufbox (or whichever box you're using), the best decision we ever made was to buy a spare box a few years ago.

It has allowed us to carry on surfing when the box we rent from SFR goes on the blink, and it also allows us to determine immediately if the fault is with the line or with the box.

Looking at the list I keep of the passwords I have to enter into all our internet-connected devices when we get a replacement box, I can see that we've had 6 replacement boxes since 2011, one killed by lightning, one recently killed as a result of the flickering/power cut, some lasting only a couple of months before becoming unreliable and one being unusable from the moment it was plugged in.

Every time it happens, all I do is swap the faulty box with my spare one and if the spare one works, I call SFR for a replacement. This usually takes up to a week to arrive, sometimes longer if there's a bank holiday or a weekend, but at least with the spare box, we still have an internet connection and a landline until  the rented box arrives.

[Clair]

Just had a short powercut and the two UPS units worked exactly as expected: the lights were flickering on and off just before the power went off, but the TV/sat boxes and SFR box all remained connected for the duration. No loss of power and no flickering.

Money well spent! [8-|]