Quiet UPS?

[JANA]

On all of these UPS's, the inverter is going to make some type of noise. The better ones that are able to put out more than about 400 Watts will have a fan. Some allow you to disable the alarm. If not, you can wire a switch in series with the alarm that is inside, if it is easily accessible, but this will void the warranty.

What we do in the sound and production studios, is that we locate the UPS's in another room with the computers. The computers all have fans in them, and are also noisy. We have the monitors, keyboards, and mouse's extended with Cybex boxes, or the equivalent. If you want the computers in the same room, you can always have the UPS's in another room, and run AC extensions through the walls.

[Tom S]

If anyone knows of more relevant newsgroups to post this to, we'd appreciate the info.

We're trying to find an uninterruptible power supply (~1000VA or more) for a quiet environment (residential living room). Which means the unit must not have any fans, buzzing noises etc while it's operating, and above all else, must have an option to disable any audible alarms it might have.

We've been searching for a month and haven't found anything so far.

Any help greatly appreciated,

Tom

[Kalman Rubinson]

I have a pair of APC S-15s which are dead silent on standby and on battery. The alarm is defeatable but the fan does operate very briefly at switch on and change-over to battery as part of the diagnostic operations. Other than that, silent and cool-running.

Kal

[CL (dnoyeB) Gilbert]

I use Cyberpower's OP850. its got boost and buck, windows and linux software. Simulated sinewave. They have larger models and probably different lines that have true sinewave if you need that, but since computers run on DC it shouldnt be an issue. Alarms can be disabled through software, and can be tested through software. The 1500 has a hardware test button.

Its dead silent when running on a/c, i havent tested it when running on battery. You probably want the OP1250. check

or Got mine from

[Doug]

"Tom S" wrote in news:grhNe.7204$Wi6.5234 @newsread2.news.pas.earthlink.net:

Do you mean no noise while it's on battery? If so, that's asking a lot. Just how bad is your power that it's going to matter? I've never seen one that's silent on battery and if one does exist it's probably going to be extremely expensive. Low end units buzz, high end units have fans.

The ability to disbable the audible alarm should be easy to find in any configurable UPS. Something like the APC SmartUPS or BackUPS series. Probably not the super cheap ones you see around so much. The BackUPS RS is available in 1000 and 1500VA models. The SmartUPS are a little better since they have sine wave output.

Putting the UPS in a closet or something would be your best bet if it must be silent at all times.

Doug

[Charles Krug]

I have three UPSes in that size range and none of them have fans and are essentially silent when the power is on.

How often does power go out? If you truly find the beep objectionable, simply cut its wire.

As for the converter noise when it's running on battery, it pretty much "Is what it is." Why are you worried about it?

[HotRod]

Check out APC they carry all kinds of stuff.

[CL (dnoyeB) Gilbert]

A little research on the forums like

shows apc falling off a bit. Perhaps their high end is still good, but they are skimping on the medium range. The new models lack features the old models had.

Thats why I went with cyberpower. But im sure APC is stil a solid product.

[CWatters]

The problem is that step-up converters are quite inefficient because of the high currents involved. This means you tend to need a fan to keep the thing cool.

[Travis Jordan]

Put it in the garage and run a separate circuit to the L/R.

[Eric]

Well, that sounds simple but you usually cant "just cut a a wire" because more often than not the damn things have a buzzer soldered right on the board. I have a triplite that would beep-beep-beep all the time the thing was on battery - drove me nuts! I eventually took it apart and de-soldered the stupid buzzer. Why dont they get it? I dont give a rats ass if the power is out - i just want this thing to do as much as it can to keep me going. I mean, ok, so it notified me (woke me up at 2 am) Now what does it expect me to do, start my bicycle generator? How dumb is that? for me i want a quiet upc that also provides clean power when AC is on. I also want some working Linux software (which triplite does not have btw. oh sure there is downloadable stuff on their website for linux but its junk, the files are in dos format! and it most obviously hasnt been tested) My advice: avoid triplite, its not worth the money. Eric

[Jeff]

If the warning beeper is what you dont like why not open the unit up and disable the little speaker that makes all the noise, suggested ways are crush with pliars, remove from board, stuff hole with cotton and glue or plug hole with screw. Would leave you with the little light that flashes when in battery mode.

[maarten]

I was told APC doesn't do decent repairs (only some exchange scheme) and will not give out any service information. A definite no-no.

[CL (dnoyeB) Gilbert]

to be fair, 10 years ago when i had a low end apc, even that one you could disable the beeping on.

[Vidar Løkken]

CL (dnoyeB) Gilbert wrote this in :

This is not true on low-end APC today. Please avoid cheap APC. Expensive APC is really nice, but then again, it is expensive.

[~^Johnny^~]

[StewB]

Tom,

Have a look at Power Inspired,. They have specifically developed a UPS aimed at such an environment.

Let me know how you get on.

Stewart

[Ed Pawlowski]

I saw the subject and I thought the UPS driver was waking him up when he makes a delivery.

[philoÂÂ]

um, is that a 64bit UPS driver?