Having a UPS is almost needed anymore these days. Especially in a area that has frequent power surges. Scored all three out of four from a variety of thrift stores here in Tampa. The three I scored were the APC CS-500, RS-900 and XS-1500. The only one I bought brand new was the APC BE600M1 for my mom's media center PC.
Just wait until you see what I can do with a bench vise and an air compressor. Oh, wait. I've already talked about the air compressor: ua-cam.com/video/77SZDxOHWWQ/v-deo.html
the variation in age between components decreasing in newer electronics might be due to that adoption of just in time and other lean inventory measures. enjoyed the video as always
Interesting that the beep sounds the same for so many decades on APC UPS. :D We have a flat one at work, dunno the model number. It beeps exactly like this. We had a power outage some time ago and it beeped at me like hell. xP
Quite possibly yes, at least for the critical stuff. Amongst the largest units are a 2200 VA APC extended run unit with a battery box and a Tripp-Lite 2000 VA unit. (The latter has an external battery box connection, but I doubt its ability to run for a long period as it has no cooling fan.) There's also that huge NCR UPS and about two dozen smaller APC Smart-UPS 750 through 1500 VA units, including a Smart-UPS 1000 Extended Run model and two battery boxes for it.
uxwbill Wow someone won't be bored during a power outage lol. I seriously need to get a few UPS's for my gear some point, not that our power goes out often. But can't argue with the convenience. Also have a couple of video game systems that power failure at wrong moment would be VERY bad.
My Belkin UPS is of a similar, pain-in-the-arse construction when it comes to replacing the batteries, having to pretty much dismantle the whole unit just to change a couple of batteries that other manufacturers made really easy, and funnily enough, I did the same sparklies with the Belkin too... :P
You're absolutely right, and this makes for an amusing commentary: the AC waveform is supposed to be "good enough" for downstream devices needing to stay powered, but the UPS itself wouldn't tolerate such heavily distorted input. (As I've tried "daisy chaining" them just to see what would happen, I can say that true sine wave UPSes naturally don't cause this problem.) The UPS manufacturers sometimes indicate another problem that can take place: a device with MOVs in it could cause excessive loading. Why this I'm not sure, unless it is a byproduct of the "live neutral" configuration that all "modified sine wave" UPSes seem to utilize (+60V - 0V - -60V). Perhaps the MOVs enter a partially conductive state as a result? The person who commented about plugging a UPS output into its input was really getting at plugging a UPS into itself, not daisy chaining. Which I suppose makes them go "relay crazy" more than anything else, and would probably wear the relay out if not stopped. Supposedly some of APC's newer models detect this and shut down. I had a broken UPS with which I could have performed this experiment (charging circuit failure) but it is no longer around and I'm sure that someone elsewhere on UA-cam has probably tried it and captured video of the result.
I think the MOV issue may be similar as to why you cannot use some LED lights with a dimmer. The light dimmers use a triac to clip the voltage and cause fast rises and falls on the waves instead of the smooth sine. The fast rising and falling can stress the components and also cause overshoot and undershoot on the waves. Overshoot can sometimes exceed the normal voltage.
My Geeksquad UPS that I have was a PITA to get the battery installed. I had to remove the cover, and the bottom of the unit to remove said battery, disconnect the terminals while grounding myself to the UPS itself (safety first), install the new battery, and reverse the steps to put it back together. It does work though, even with an SLA Battery from RadioShack that closed down months ago due to Chapter 11 or 7 (I digress) bankruptcy. I might as well look for a higher capacity battery for the UPS itself, and maybe find a good used one on eBay or two, and batteries, of course. So that way I can have one for my networking equipment (pfSense laptop, network switch, router, my printers, and Linux server), one for my dad's CPAP machine (important in case the power goes out or electrical problems in my house), and one for my cable box so that the shows, movies, live sports, and so on that are recording don't get interrupted during a power outage or brownouts.
"Speak softly and carry a very *very* large screwdriver" ~UXWBill I love it. Also, is the project you bought those two 12v Pb acid cells for that really big 1800W(?) UPS?
A UPS is pretty much required these days. I’m very lucky to have next to no power cuts annually, but it does help to have a battery backup. I recently picked up an Eaton 5s 550VA (330W) Line Interactive UPS to back my file server (used with new cell for around £47). Best decision I’ve made in a while, I’d say. I’ll be buying another unit later on to back my modem / WLAN access point and networking. TL;DR: Get a UPS for a desktop computer if you have one. Especially get one for a server.
SmartUPSes, I don't know about the beige ones, but most of those need all of their 22uF caps replaced, as you probably know. also, check your youtube PMs, I did send you a message a bit earlier today on an unrelated subject.
Bill i found a warehouse full of these from a gov office surplus $6 each the bigger ones, anyway i could make a solar charge wall running a bunch of these in series or parallel, leave them as a unit, or removing batteries, share a thought ?
I have an APC back ups 250 that I picked up at a flea market for 5$. It appears to be quite old. But the problem is, when I plug in the unit, it beeps, but it pulls no voltage when it dosent have a load, and does not respond when I unplug it, outputting no power. The battery's look new, so I just can't figure out the problem.
I'm not really sure what you mean by "pulls no voltage when it doesn't have a load". These things aren't terribly complex. Their "brain" is nothing more than simple logic circuits powered from a low voltage supply derived from a transformer, bridge rectifier, linear regulator (also charges the battery) and one diode to prevent backfeeding. Look around and you can find schematics online (hint: the 250-600 VA units are all pretty much the same inside). However, portions of the board do carry line voltage and that is very dangerous. Do NOT try to repair the unit if you don't have a good understanding of how to work on devices having direct connections to the AC power line. They are no place to experiment! I doubt the battery is any good. People usually only dump these things when the factory-installed battery has long since given up. There is usually a date code stamped into the battery case. If it's an APC battery, there will also be a model and serial number sticker. After the first two digits in the serial number, the next four are the date in year/week format. The youngest examples of these units are fast approaching 20 years of age.
I'd love to find one of these units and wire a car battery to it. I saw a video on here where someone did that and they ran a stereo off it. He did say that the battery charges so slowly. here's the clip. ua-cam.com/video/ViXHWTw0P7E/v-deo.html And @ 7:37 I was able to slow that part down. Yeah I love tinkering with audio files.
I've done exactly that, years ago: ua-cam.com/video/fmoQBw_VlHY/v-deo.html . However, if you want to run non-computer loads (or loads having line frequency power supplies), you will probably want a UPS with a true sine wave output. A lot of stuff is just fine, but audio equipment may hum and buzz (even if it's only the transformer making that noise), motors may labor or overheat and capacitive dropper supplies may burn up (though I think this is due to the "live neutral" arrangement that inexpensive UPSes and inverters use) when running on a modified sine wave input. You do have to be careful not to overload the inverter. Some of them just aren't made to stand running any longer than the stock battery would allow, even at lighter loads. I'm glad that you took it upon yourself to slow down the audio. :-) All too many times I've been very disappointed by the results of inserting something clever into a video (as an "Easter Egg") and nobody has even noticed.
uxwbill I would get a sine wave UPS anyway. I find that things like fans don't run as good on modified sine wave outputs such as the outputs from those 12 volt cigarette lighter inverters. and I love ripping up audio files. I do that a lot with game audio like a good song plays In a video game and I try to find it in the game files and extract it and convert it so I can listen to it.
Plugging a UPS into another UPS usually won't work. Most UPSes output a distorted AC waveform when running from battery, so any other UPSes downstream would sense heavy distortion on the line and switch to their own batteries. Obviously that's not true of a UPS having a true sine wave output, though again it'd be a pretty pointless thing to do.
Quick question- The voltage where I live is usually 132-136 VAC. Is that high enough to be a problem? I called the power company about it, and their response was "It's your responsibility to ensure that your equipment can run on whatever voltage we provide". Thanks.
Within the United States, the electrical utility is allowed ±10% of variation. If you consider 120 volts to be the "nominal" line voltage, 132 is still within specification. Even so, I wouldn't like to see it that high because it will place more stress on a lot of things: heating elements, incandescent light bulbs and equipment powered by unregulated transformer-type power supplies to name but a few things. 136 volts AC is out of specification and should definitely be adjusted downward. My suggestion would be to go as far as you have to go until you find someone who takes your concern seriously. Pole transformers can have their output voltage adjusted. If the utility company refuses, take your concern to whatever regulating body exists to oversee the electrical utility.
Thank you for replying. I thought that's a bit high. I'll see if I can get the voltage turned down. Dealing with MLGW is never fun, but this needs to be resolved. I even had one CFL light bulb melt and almost start a fire, but I'm not sure if that was related to the high voltage, or if it's because it's a cheap POS from the dollar store.
The reasons why he doesn't upload videos in HD are as follows: His MacBook that he uses for video editing via iMovie '06 doesn't have a display ATM, he doesn't have time to merge clips into one video, and, if memory serves me right it'll take days to upload the video to UA-cam. Sorry about the long explanation, +uxwbill. Heck, I don't have the time to upload videos in HD unless it's separate video clips due to issues with video editors, like Windows Movie Mauler. I have a Sony HandyCam DCR-TRV260 that I use regularly for video taping, like road trips, computer stuff, and so on, and my only computer that has FireWire is my Linux PC on an AMD Athlon 64 3000+ on a PCChips motherboard (Socket 754), 1GB RAM, and a failing OS partition.
I have recently acquired a IBM ThinkCentre from a school it has a Intel pentium 4 Hyper Threded processor @ 3.00ghz the ram is i think ddr sdram i not sure ware i can find the ram at as i would like to upgrade it.
Im quite supprised that the transformer thats soldered into the top pcb didnt cause a cracked pcb, with all the bumps that unit has endured in transit im very supprised. That looooooong screwdriver is for people that are frightened of screws, i was going to say "keep at arms length." but screwdrivers length sounds safer lol :-D. For magnitized items that annoy me, i have a tool called "Han-D-Mag" a 220v black hand held unit with a red beak, from the good old U.s.a, 20 years old and still works bill :-).
Have a APC Smart-UPS 1500 for a couple of years from ebay to protect my new used desktop Dell OptiPlex 1070 I-5-3470 @ 3.2 GHz 8MB DDR3 @ 1600MHz (will max out soon to 16 MB RAM) 2T HDD... Waiting on a video card. tjl
The primary hazard in a low voltage application like this is not one of shock, but rather of burning yourself. Shrapnel from exploding parts is also a possibility.
When you throw around phrases on other UA-camrs' video comments like "I'm sick of watching uxwbill and bbishop" ... would you not expect that some hostility might be the result? It's merely an observation, do with it what you might.
Depends upon the computer you have. For a Macintosh, iMovie '06 works very well. On a PC with Windows, WinDV works fine. Your video editor may also be able to do the trick, but some are much better at it than others. Finally, if you're on Linux, I believe it was Red Green who said it best when he built a mid-engine car, and I paraphrase: "If you're doing all of this in Linux, best of luck to you!" Note the sarcasm.
Having a UPS is almost needed anymore these days. Especially in a area that has frequent power surges. Scored all three out of four from a variety of thrift stores here in Tampa. The three I scored were the APC CS-500, RS-900 and XS-1500. The only one I bought brand new was the APC BE600M1 for my mom's media center PC.
I always laugh at any of your videos, I'm glad I always tune in to your channel whenever you upload uxwbill!
In this uxwbill video, Bill turns a simple pair of pliers into a welder!
Just wait until you see what I can do with a bench vise and an air compressor.
Oh, wait. I've already talked about the air compressor: ua-cam.com/video/77SZDxOHWWQ/v-deo.html
That's crazy...so crazy it just might work!
BAHAHAHAHA!!!
the variation in age between components decreasing in newer electronics might be due to that adoption of just in time and other lean inventory measures. enjoyed the video as always
I could be wrong, but I'm going to hazard a guess that your incoming AC power being "clipped" at times is due to a transformer with a saturated core.
Interesting that the beep sounds the same for so many decades on APC UPS. :D We have a flat one at work, dunno the model number. It beeps exactly like this. We had a power outage some time ago and it beeped at me like hell. xP
'Wonders if UXWBill has enough UPS's to run his house yet' lol
Quite possibly yes, at least for the critical stuff. Amongst the largest units are a 2200 VA APC extended run unit with a battery box and a Tripp-Lite 2000 VA unit. (The latter has an external battery box connection, but I doubt its ability to run for a long period as it has no cooling fan.) There's also that huge NCR UPS and about two dozen smaller APC Smart-UPS 750 through 1500 VA units, including a Smart-UPS 1000 Extended Run model and two battery boxes for it.
uxwbill Wow someone won't be bored during a power outage lol. I seriously need to get a few UPS's for my gear some point, not that our power goes out often. But can't argue with the convenience. Also have a couple of video game systems that power failure at wrong moment would be VERY bad.
My Belkin UPS is of a similar, pain-in-the-arse construction when it comes to replacing the batteries, having to pretty much dismantle the whole unit just to change a couple of batteries that other manufacturers made really easy, and funnily enough, I did the same sparklies with the Belkin too... :P
I've not had luck with daisy chaining UPSes. I find many flip out if they don't see a pure sine wave coming in and go into relay-crazy mode.
You're absolutely right, and this makes for an amusing commentary: the AC waveform is supposed to be "good enough" for downstream devices needing to stay powered, but the UPS itself wouldn't tolerate such heavily distorted input. (As I've tried "daisy chaining" them just to see what would happen, I can say that true sine wave UPSes naturally don't cause this problem.)
The UPS manufacturers sometimes indicate another problem that can take place: a device with MOVs in it could cause excessive loading. Why this I'm not sure, unless it is a byproduct of the "live neutral" configuration that all "modified sine wave" UPSes seem to utilize (+60V - 0V - -60V). Perhaps the MOVs enter a partially conductive state as a result?
The person who commented about plugging a UPS output into its input was really getting at plugging a UPS into itself, not daisy chaining. Which I suppose makes them go "relay crazy" more than anything else, and would probably wear the relay out if not stopped. Supposedly some of APC's newer models detect this and shut down. I had a broken UPS with which I could have performed this experiment (charging circuit failure) but it is no longer around and I'm sure that someone elsewhere on UA-cam has probably tried it and captured video of the result.
I think the MOV issue may be similar as to why you cannot use some LED lights with a dimmer. The light dimmers use a triac to clip the voltage and cause fast rises and falls on the waves instead of the smooth sine. The fast rising and falling can stress the components and also cause overshoot and undershoot on the waves. Overshoot can sometimes exceed the normal voltage.
My Geeksquad UPS that I have was a PITA to get the battery installed. I had to remove the cover, and the bottom of the unit to remove said battery, disconnect the terminals while grounding myself to the UPS itself (safety first), install the new battery, and reverse the steps to put it back together. It does work though, even with an SLA Battery from RadioShack that closed down months ago due to Chapter 11 or 7 (I digress) bankruptcy. I might as well look for a higher capacity battery for the UPS itself, and maybe find a good used one on eBay or two, and batteries, of course. So that way I can have one for my networking equipment (pfSense laptop, network switch, router, my printers, and Linux server), one for my dad's CPAP machine (important in case the power goes out or electrical problems in my house), and one for my cable box so that the shows, movies, live sports, and so on that are recording don't get interrupted during a power outage or brownouts.
"Speak softly and carry a very *very* large screwdriver"
~UXWBill
I love it.
Also, is the project you bought those two 12v Pb acid cells for that really big 1800W(?) UPS?
AIO inc. UXWBill the project slayer.
John Smith True
Those batteries are part of another project (not UPS related) that I'm working on. In time there may be a video.
***** Ah okay. Can't wait to see it if and or when it comes out!
That "dust" may be paint splatter...I've had old computer cases with paint spatter on them.
That screw driver is awesome!
A UPS is pretty much required these days. I’m very lucky to have next to no power cuts annually, but it does help to have a battery backup.
I recently picked up an Eaton 5s 550VA (330W) Line Interactive UPS to back my file server (used with new cell for around £47). Best decision I’ve made in a while, I’d say. I’ll be buying another unit later on to back my modem / WLAN access point and networking.
TL;DR: Get a UPS for a desktop computer if you have one. Especially get one for a server.
SmartUPSes, I don't know about the beige ones, but most of those need all of their 22uF caps replaced, as you probably know.
also, check your youtube PMs, I did send you a message a bit earlier today on an unrelated subject.
Bill i found a warehouse full of these from a gov office surplus $6 each the bigger ones, anyway i could make a solar charge wall running a bunch of these in series or parallel, leave them as a unit, or removing batteries, share a thought ?
According to the display on my apc smart ups 1500 display it shows the line voltage was 124vac
If one took a drink as often as uxwbill says "this unit" in the video,
they'd end up in a hospital with alcohol poisoning, heh.
And that's why drinking alcohol is bad, kids.
(While I don't drink alcohol, the above sentence is brought to you in a very sarcastic voice.)
An APC Smart-UPS from 1990! Does it have a serial port on the back?
No.
uxwbill Ok
I have an APC back ups 250 that I picked up at a flea market for 5$. It appears to be quite old. But the problem is, when I plug in the unit, it beeps, but it pulls no voltage when it dosent have a load, and does not respond when I unplug it, outputting no power. The battery's look new, so I just can't figure out the problem.
I'm not really sure what you mean by "pulls no voltage when it doesn't have a load".
These things aren't terribly complex. Their "brain" is nothing more than simple logic circuits powered from a low voltage supply derived from a transformer, bridge rectifier, linear regulator (also charges the battery) and one diode to prevent backfeeding. Look around and you can find schematics online (hint: the 250-600 VA units are all pretty much the same inside). However, portions of the board do carry line voltage and that is very dangerous. Do NOT try to repair the unit if you don't have a good understanding of how to work on devices having direct connections to the AC power line. They are no place to experiment!
I doubt the battery is any good. People usually only dump these things when the factory-installed battery has long since given up. There is usually a date code stamped into the battery case. If it's an APC battery, there will also be a model and serial number sticker. After the first two digits in the serial number, the next four are the date in year/week format. The youngest examples of these units are fast approaching 20 years of age.
I'd love to find one of these units and wire a car battery to it. I saw a video on here where someone did that and they ran a stereo off it. He did say that the battery charges so slowly. here's the clip.
ua-cam.com/video/ViXHWTw0P7E/v-deo.html
And @ 7:37 I was able to slow that part down. Yeah I love tinkering with audio files.
I've done exactly that, years ago: ua-cam.com/video/fmoQBw_VlHY/v-deo.html . However, if you want to run non-computer loads (or loads having line frequency power supplies), you will probably want a UPS with a true sine wave output. A lot of stuff is just fine, but audio equipment may hum and buzz (even if it's only the transformer making that noise), motors may labor or overheat and capacitive dropper supplies may burn up (though I think this is due to the "live neutral" arrangement that inexpensive UPSes and inverters use) when running on a modified sine wave input.
You do have to be careful not to overload the inverter. Some of them just aren't made to stand running any longer than the stock battery would allow, even at lighter loads.
I'm glad that you took it upon yourself to slow down the audio. :-) All too many times I've been very disappointed by the results of inserting something clever into a video (as an "Easter Egg") and nobody has even noticed.
uxwbill I would get a sine wave UPS anyway. I find that things like fans don't run as good on modified sine wave outputs such as the outputs from those 12 volt cigarette lighter inverters. and I love ripping up audio files. I do that a lot with game audio like a good song plays In a video game and I try to find it in the game files and extract it and convert it so I can listen to it.
again you said something made me think hummm, plug each UFS into a UPS and so on and so on, what do you think of the Bill ?
Plugging a UPS into another UPS usually won't work. Most UPSes output a distorted AC waveform when running from battery, so any other UPSes downstream would sense heavy distortion on the line and switch to their own batteries.
Obviously that's not true of a UPS having a true sine wave output, though again it'd be a pretty pointless thing to do.
Quick question- The voltage where I live is usually 132-136 VAC. Is that high enough to be a problem? I called the power company about it, and their response was "It's your responsibility to ensure that your equipment can run on whatever voltage we provide". Thanks.
Within the United States, the electrical utility is allowed ±10% of variation. If you consider 120 volts to be the "nominal" line voltage, 132 is still within specification. Even so, I wouldn't like to see it that high because it will place more stress on a lot of things: heating elements, incandescent light bulbs and equipment powered by unregulated transformer-type power supplies to name but a few things. 136 volts AC is out of specification and should definitely be adjusted downward.
My suggestion would be to go as far as you have to go until you find someone who takes your concern seriously. Pole transformers can have their output voltage adjusted. If the utility company refuses, take your concern to whatever regulating body exists to oversee the electrical utility.
Thank you for replying. I thought that's a bit high. I'll see if I can get the voltage turned down. Dealing with MLGW is never fun, but this needs to be resolved. I even had one CFL light bulb melt and almost start a fire, but I'm not sure if that was related to the high voltage, or if it's because it's a cheap POS from the dollar store.
thank you Bill that was great as usal now i am pretty sure i could do that thank you also im a lefty to
I've tried to use my computer mouse with my left hand. (without changing the clicking options) and it just didn't work for me at all
+uxwbill why are your videos in 1080?
Is this sarcasm or a typo?
(Some of my videos have been shot in high definition.)
***** its nether
The reasons why he doesn't upload videos in HD are as follows: His MacBook that he uses for video editing via iMovie '06 doesn't have a display ATM, he doesn't have time to merge clips into one video, and, if memory serves me right it'll take days to upload the video to UA-cam. Sorry about the long explanation, +uxwbill. Heck, I don't have the time to upload videos in HD unless it's separate video clips due to issues with video editors, like Windows Movie Mauler. I have a Sony HandyCam DCR-TRV260 that I use regularly for video taping, like road trips, computer stuff, and so on, and my only computer that has FireWire is my Linux PC on an AMD Athlon 64 3000+ on a PCChips motherboard (Socket 754), 1GB RAM, and a failing OS partition.
***** and you know this how?
It's not exactly a secret. I've mentioned it in numerous videos, comments and messages.
I have recently acquired a IBM ThinkCentre from a school it has a Intel pentium 4 Hyper Threded processor @ 3.00ghz
the ram is i think ddr sdram i not sure ware i can find the ram at as i would like to upgrade it.
And I thought my little residential-grade unit's battery was difficult to replace.
Your left handed?!!! Unsubscribe.
Kidding. Great video.
Im quite supprised that the transformer thats soldered into the top pcb didnt cause a cracked pcb, with all the bumps that unit has endured in transit im very supprised.
That looooooong screwdriver is for people that are frightened of screws, i was going to say "keep at arms length." but screwdrivers length sounds safer lol :-D.
For magnitized items that annoy me, i have a tool called "Han-D-Mag" a 220v black hand held unit with a red beak, from the good old U.s.a, 20 years old and still works bill :-).
SPARK TEST! :D
you said you alternate your hands as you work, one on the mouse, one on, oh never mind lol
Nice thanks was great
Have a APC Smart-UPS 1500 for a couple of years from ebay to protect my new used desktop Dell OptiPlex 1070 I-5-3470 @ 3.2 GHz 8MB DDR3 @ 1600MHz (will max out soon to 16 MB RAM) 2T HDD... Waiting on a video card. tjl
I could interrupt the power!
Hey uxw bill next time be careful that could of really shocked you
6V won't shock you.
themaritimeman I know it's safe you won't get hurt
The primary hazard in a low voltage application like this is not one of shock, but rather of burning yourself. Shrapnel from exploding parts is also a possibility.
well your certainly a lot nicer than bbishop. bbishop hates me
When you throw around phrases on other UA-camrs' video comments like "I'm sick of watching uxwbill and bbishop" ... would you not expect that some hostility might be the result?
It's merely an observation, do with it what you might.
I like to have choices of people I like to watch. but I also like your videos too!
what program should I use to transfer my old mini dv tapes to my mac?
Depends upon the computer you have. For a Macintosh, iMovie '06 works very well. On a PC with Windows, WinDV works fine. Your video editor may also be able to do the trick, but some are much better at it than others.
Finally, if you're on Linux, I believe it was Red Green who said it best when he built a mid-engine car, and I paraphrase: "If you're doing all of this in Linux, best of luck to you!" Note the sarcasm.
hey uxwbill
JDM batteries