# UPS for my AV Equipment



## the_rookie

Hi,

Im in the northwest, and its that time of year again. During the fall and winter months we have wind storms. And as such we have power fluctuations, and outages. I am looking to upgrade my surge protectors to Cyber Power UPS'. However, I am not 100% sure which model I want, nor how much wattage output I need.

Will the AV equipment benefit from having a UPS attached? I was searching online and found the highest model, 1500 series, always came back as best bang for your buck. Smaller ones weren't much cheaper, and it came with highest insurance cap as well. Not that i will need 500k in protection, just nice that its there.

And for line, I wanted to know there is either simulated sine wave from the LCDAVR series, or Pure Sine Wave from the PFC series.


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## Sonnie

If you are looking for something to keep equipment powered up until you can shut it down, this might be fine. Obviously you won't get much time on battery power when you are running everything through them. 

I ordered these for my office: 

APC BACK-UPS RS BR1500 1500VA/865W UPS System

... and then I got the add-on module for longer uptime:

APC BR24BP BACK-UPS RS/XS 1500VA

That was several years ago, so the models may be updated now.

I tried a UPS on my system in our great room, but our power goes out frequently too, being in the country at the very end of the power line, and it just did not last very long. Not only did it not give very much uptime (literally minutes with everything connected, TV, Receiver and Satellite STB's), but it wore out within a couple of years.

I have whole house protection from our power company on our meter, and I use fairly inexpensive surge protectors without any filtering for my HT room, but when the power goes out, it just goes out. 30 minutes (if that much) of uptime doesn't do me much good, other than to shut stuff down gracefully.


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## hjones4841

A UPS is a great addition to a HT system. For things like a projector, DirecTV DVR, streaming device, etc. a computer grade one is fine. For my Denon AVR, I chose a Cyberpower full sine wave output model. Computer type UPSes output a simulated sine wave, which has the tops of the cycles chopped off due to the way the switching circuitry works. That can introduce harmonics in the output, which won't be a problem for most TVs, DVRs, etc. It may be OK for AVRs as well, but I wanted to be safer and chose the full sine wave model.

As Sonnie said, run time won't be long enough for much watching. The purpose of my UPSes is to keep the projector bulb cool until I can properly shut it down. For the DVRs, riding thru short outages keeps from cycling the hard drives off and back on as well as keeping the DVRs from shutting down (for DirecTV models, a restart takes several minutes.)

When selecting models, watch for watts output rather than VA; VA means that a power factor has been applied to the rating. A power factor is appropriate for a computer type power supply, but maybe not for AV equipment. So, I usually go for 800 or so watt rating, which usually means 1350 or 1500 VA.

Remember that the battery in a UPS will have to be replaced about every 3 years. That can be done by yourself, but the cost will be about $80 or so.

In summary, yes it is worth having your HT gear on a UPS if you have a lot of brown outs or short duration outages. Even if not, it is still worth it for those of us with projectors just to have that expensive bulb cooled down properly.


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## Sonnie

Excellent points Harry. :T


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## rab-byte

It's also a good idea to have your network setup on ups for the same reasons as your hd box and anything that pulls a dynamic IP. This will greatly reduce your reboot time! 

Down here in Louisiana and back when I lived in Kansas storms would wreak havoc on the power grid and could take upwards of 5-10 min for all the devices to reconnect to the system. 

On that note be sure you connect your coax and network through your power centers. You can get a surge though cable/phone just as easily as through your electrical. I can't tell you how many times I've has clients complain about their surge protectors not working, only to find the source of the surge was the cable line though the box to the tv and then through all the AV gear.


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## ButchP

Look into products from APC (American Power Conversion). They make power conditioners with battery backup specifically for HT systems. The S20BLK is the one I selected for my HT. I actually am running a pair of them as my power amp (Outlaw Model 7900) requires 2 separate circuits. I've had these for over 2 years and they perform flawlessly. I have a 65" Panasonic plasma with DirectTV. I can watch TV for about 3 hours during a power outage. The big rig will run for about 45 minutes.


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## Kal Rubinson

I have been using APS S-15 backups in both of my systems for years. In NYC, it makes no difference over other filter/conditioners because the power is so reliable. In CT, however, we have brown-outs and black-outs and, there, the S-15 has served us very well. There have been many times over the past years when we have been watching a movie in the darkened room and perceive that something has happened. In seconds or minutes when the power in the rest of the house returns, we realize that the A/V system has switched to/from battery power without a blip.

BTW, replacement of the battery module is expensive ($150-200) but can be rebuilt for half that with only a screw driver and no soldering by buying four of the individual cells needed. Time for me to do that now.....


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## ButchP

Kal,

When you replace your batteries, be sure to use the same APC branded ones that came with the S15. I tried some cheaper equivalent batteries in an S15 I have in my bedroom. The original APC batteries lasted over 3 years. The replacements lasted less than 2 years. We live in an older part of town where the electric grid is archaic so we, as you do, experience a lot of brown outs and short term black outs. I get a great big grin on my face every time I see the neighborhood go black while the music plays on!


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## Kal Rubinson

ButchP said:


> Kal,
> 
> When you replace your batteries, be sure to use the same APC branded ones that came with the S15. I tried some cheaper equivalent batteries in an S15 I have in my bedroom. The original APC batteries lasted over 3 years. The replacements lasted less than 2 years. We live in an older part of town where the electric grid is archaic so we, as you do, experience a lot of brown outs and short term black outs. I get a great big grin on my face every time I see the neighborhood go black while the music plays on!


Understood. My APC came with CSBs and that's what I use.


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