Using a UPS as an inverter/poertable power

[cpvh]

Hi Guys (& Gals)

I was thinking the other week at the end of my camping holiday, that it would be good if I had an inverter so that I could recharge my razor and other low wattage rechargeable things (ok, mobile phones for which I don't have a car charger). And I wondered about getting an inverter, but it didn't seem worth the expense.

Then I thought, i've got an inverter! It's in the UPS which isn't used when we are away camping, I could take it with me and wire it up to a

12V supply in the car, then I could charge the kit up.

Then I though, why bother connecting it up, it's only a baby APC UPS, but it's probably got enough guts in the battery to run for half an hour with the razor attached, and a couple of hours with the phone charger.

What does the team think?

Would the battery hold it's charge for a week whilst the unit was disconnected from the mains (assuming it was turned off).

Would it have sufficient charge to meet the power requirement?

Would it need to be hooked up to the car battery? and if so would a simple parallel connection to the battery in the unit be sufficient?

What does the team think?

[Dave Liquorice]

Yes.

Yes, APC Smart UPS 700 will power the iPABX for a good 10hrs.

That depends, my UPS uses two 12v batteries in series ie a nominal 24v...

Some UPS's won't "cold start" either, mine will but APC don't recomend it. Much better to get a proper 300W or so 12V invertor they aren't expensive.

[Clint Sharp]

In message , [e-mail] writes

It'd be cheaper to buy a small inverter than replace the battery in your UPS when it dies (UPSs are hard on batteries, they use high charge rates so your UPS is ready for another outage quickly), also UPS might not work without seeing mains voltage first.

[Gordon Henderson]

I have one of these:

I'd recomend you get something similar than faffing about with taking a UPS to bits, or relying on it working for the duration. Sometimes you want to DIY, and sometimes you just want to plug & go :)

Gordon

[meow2222]

It may well work, but it might not. Theres really no definite answer. Why not try it at home and see if it works. If not, get an invertor or make a lead to charge your stuff from 12v.

NT