Budget Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) recommendations wanted

I usually buy second hand UPS’s with dead batteries cheap.
I replace battery’s and use it.
Mike

You sort of have to read between the lines.

Up top, it says "$54.95 & FREE Shipping."

It is missing "& FREE Returns"

Also, if you read the customer reviews, many point out that if you get a dud, you're stuck with it.

EDIT:

Amazon is very sneaky when they do not accept returns.

They don't usually just spell it out for you.

Normally, when you see “& Free Returns” this means you can return an item for no reason. If it doesn’t say “& Free Returns” you can still return it, but only if it’s defective.

But I do see the reviews mentioning that Amazon is refusing to accept returns on this particular item. That is shady.

You're right.

Yet if I were to buy a UPS from Amazon anywhere, I would want free returns.

I bought my CyberPower UPS at BestBuy. They accept returns.

One of the UPS I received had the power button slightly damaged from shipping. I online chatted with an Amazon rep and it was arranged to have a new one sent to me. For some reason they do not want to have this item shipped as a return.

Please don’t purchase this depending on my return circumstances, I can not guaranty it will be the same for you. If you contact the supplier you will get a better answer.

I am not recommending this UPS or Amazon just sharing my experience.

If you have more questions feel free to PM me.

Interesting, thanks for the heads-up, I wasn’t aware of that.

It’s the shipping on these things that kills you.
That’s also why some places don’t want a cheap one returned. The shipping costs more than their replacement cost.

Cyber Power is known for their poor packaging on their 1200kv and larger sizes.
I usually don’t see the Pure-Sine Cyber Power versions at the local stores.

For the smaller home versions, Best Buy, Staples, and Office Depot.
With Staples (and?) you can get the larger sizes shipped to the store.
If you don’t like it or it is a brick. No return shipping.
All the Best,
Jeff

Thanks Jeff51, that’s helpful.

the ones to look for are the old apc and best power units with STEEL cases.
plastic=trash.
they use cheap transformers and no heatsinks in the new plastic junk.
and to top it off they have a timer in the firmware.
near the end of runtime with a stock battery its ready to melt down.
old and steel are what you look for in a ups to mod.
even some of the good ones can use a bit of help.
like charging regulators that could use a heatink.
or a hole cut in the floor where the battery once was to install a fan tied into the logic so it runs in inverter mode.
i have a connext(apc) on this system where the annoying beeper is clipped and the led fan shows its running from battery.
its on an 8d gel.
about 250ah.

Necrobump!

I just did more research, and ordered the CyberPower ST625U.

Now Amazon offers free returns on this item, in case I get a dud (so I feel safer ordering this.)

One of the main things you should look for is how easily replacable/gettable are the replacement batteries. In many of the units the batteries are actually generic sealed cells that you can purchase from 3rd parties if you don’t mind a little extra work (sometimes you have to take the originals apart a bit, pull spade lugs apart a bit if there’s 2 cells, etc), from companies like battery technologies international (something like that, BTI) and others, for 1/2 the cost of the actual APC brand.

We have several small (to me, 1000VA to 3000VA is “small”) at my work, and that’s what we do. Our 5000VA up to 15000VA-48000VA we have serviced.

Amazon likes us Prime Members :smiley:

We go through a lot of these at the office, generally have stuck with APC but have had Cyberpower and Belkin and one old Tripplite that was actually a hunk of junk. With APC and Cyber honestly I've not seen much difference in quality on the inside although the newer units are not made quite as well as previous generations were. With APC almost all of their small station units like this can use generic batteries (which are just fine!) so you aren't locked in to an overpriced battery from them. They do have a couple that you must buy theirs, however. In your OP that BE-XXX line has been good for us so far (a few years) but we had very random luck with the previous models. I like the outlet arrangement better on the one you first posted than I do the Cyberpower just because it looks like you're limited to just one transformer plug on backup unless others happen to have a sideways arrangement. So a second monitor, speakers, etc, may have to go on surge-only (not so good for an office...fine for most people).

Deep cycle batteries are indeed not recommended, and yes, heat is the reason. I could never get a straight answer about why exactly these shouldn't be plugged into a (decent) surge strip since the rated wattage of these small UPS units is the same or smaller than most surges are...may be a good reason though (actual surges and clamp time or something?). We have people plugging laser printers into both surges and UPS units all the time when we aren't looking...don't do that. :) Or worse, space heaters.

We got to delve into "line conditioning" while chasing a gremlin and that was a learning experience. Basically these units (and surge strips no matter what they say) don't do squat for that. To get any real smoothing and steadiness you're looking at least $800 for starters. Tripplite even sells some sort of "conditioner" unit that is legitimately no more than a surge strip...sad, they used to be a highly respected company but they've really cheaped out and turned to "common marketing."

You can’t go wrong with a CyberPower. I bought two of them, one for my HP Microserver and Router at home, one for my girlfriend’s AIO (business computer). My own one is many years old, still works well. Absolutely silent on standby. Was activated probably 20 times since I have it.

Do you have a Costco nearby?

Yes, but I'm not a member, and $100 is over my budget.

Most of UPS have Surge Protection built in —Usually all of the outlets are protected and half are battery backed up

That's not the issue.

There's not enough outlets in the UPS for all of my devices, and there are not enough wall outlets for a UPS and my surge protector.

With a battery backup if you get any kind of power issue Outage —Brown Out— ETC —The battery will keep everything on for a certain amount of time —one real benefit is to be able to save your work —for instance you just typed up a long review/reply on BLF and right before you hit save — the power dips —all is lost with no UPC —- Before I knew better I’ve lost Excel worksheets with bids —NO Fun