Brownouts - From a Business Perspective

[Howard]

2 hours ago, hk blues said:

Thanks - I misunderstood your original post.  Yes, I can tether to a wi-fi hotspot using my smartphone but the problem is the PC is upstairs and the signal there is very weak so I doubt it would be good enough for a Skype call.  When I try to connect to my modem using wi-fi with the PC the connection is very poor so it will be even worse with a smartphone.   I could move the PC downstairs when there is an issue but by the time I have done that the lesson will be too late to start. 

That’s a shame. Maybe you should change carriers? I actually get much better speeds on my phones LTE with a globe sim than with my WiFi but if I was to use it all the time it would be too expensive compared to the monthly WiFi bill. But it is a great backup and I can switch over to it in less than a minute.

[hk blues]

2 minutes ago, Howard said:

That’s a shame. Maybe you should change carriers? I actually get much better speeds on my phones LTE with a globe sim than with my WiFi but if I was to use it all the time it would be too expensive compared to the monthly WiFi bill. But it is a great backup and I can switch over to it in less than a minute.

No chance to change carrier - Globe (my provider) have the best signal in my area already and PLDT do not offer internet in my location.  On the rare occasions we have an issue, my smartphone provides a good enough signal to do lessons BUT a certain type of lesson does not allow smartphone use.  It is a little expensive to use but once in a while it's acceptable.

[roddavis]

4 hours ago, GeoffH said:

 

It is even simpler than that, you leave the UPS plugged into mains power all the time and the charger keeps the battery safely topped up by trickle charging it when needed. 

 

The router power plug is plugged into the UPS all the time (depending upon the socket on the router you buy you might need to use an adaptor but by preference you'd buy one with Japan/Philippines type sockets on it # ) and the  devices plugged into the router run all the time from the voltage generated by the battery and invertor (which is kept charged at the same time by the mains).  This is totally transparent to you, it's just like plugging the router into a power board as far as you''re concerned. 

 

Then when the mains voltage drops too low or stops all together the battery stops being charged but continues to supply power for the inverter and the devices plugged in. 

 

There is nothing you have to do except when the battery gets low it will start beeping and it's better to switch devices off then and push the off button on the UPS.  If it's a smart device like a computer and it's set up with power management properly enabled on the computer then it will even do the shutdown of the computer and UPS all by itself.

If worst case you're not at home and the power is out long enough for the battery to run low then the UPS will (after beeping for a while) shut down anyway long before the battery is low enough to be damaged.  That's just like switching the power off at the wall which is ok for most things.

 

You could use either the smaller one or the larger one for a router, it depends how long you want back up power for.

The smaller one should be ok for an hour or an hour and a half, the larger one two or three times that long.

If you want to run a desktop computer and monitor as well then assume 20 minutes for the small one and maybe an hour for the big one.

There are very large ones that would last a very long time available but they cost 'very large' amounts of money :)

 

NB don't hook a laser printer up, they use a LOT of power.

# The sockets on the UPS for the router I linked has a multi-socket on the back that will take a 2 pin Philippines plug (and an Australian plug and a couple of other types).

 

One other thing that is great with a UPS for PC/Monitor and router, because the UPS is always plugged in and trickle charging the batteries while running the PC/Monitor/router thru its inverter. Here I've noticed power surges in the lights. Sometimes lower voltage then back to normal 220V. These power fluctuations are not good for any appliance especially a PC. Causes premature deterioration of the appliance(PC, TV/Monitor etc). If plugged into a UPS, the built in invertor smooths out the fluctuations nicely. The output of the UPS using the built in invertor will always stay at a proper voltage!  

[GeoffH]

8 minutes ago, roddavis said:

The output of the UPS using the built in invertor will always stay at a proper voltage!  

Nicely picked up!  I should have mentioned that..

[jimeve]

3 hours ago, roddavis said:

One other thing that is great with a UPS for PC/Monitor and router, because the UPS is always plugged in and trickle charging the batteries while running the PC/Monitor/router thru its inverter. Here I've noticed power surges in the lights. Sometimes lower voltage then back to normal 220V. These power fluctuations are not good for any appliance especially a PC. Causes premature deterioration of the appliance(PC, TV/Monitor etc). If plugged into a UPS, the built in invertor smooths out the fluctuations nicely. The output of the UPS using the built in invertor will always stay at a proper voltage!  

Do they output sine wave?

[earthdome]

On 1/17/2020 at 5:54 AM, OnMyWay said:

Brownouts are expensive for business and the economy!

I guess the good part for him is that he probably gets some extra customers who come in to cool off and have a bite to eat!

When I lived in San Fernando, La Union they would have scheduled brownouts that would last all day. Since it was scheduled it became an impromptu holiday and many spent the day at the beach. I sure didn't want to spend the day in the tiny studio apartment I had there with no aircon.

[GeoffH]

14 hours ago, jimeve said:

Do they output sine wave?

 

Yes all but the cheapest (and rubbish) ones... some of those output a modified sine wave (avoid unbranded or not known brands).

 

The output from the average APC UPS is cleaner and better filtered than most mains output to be honest in fact it is (was?) policy in a number of large companies to use UPS boxes in combination with desktop PCs purely to reduce failure rates (and it worked too).

Edited January 20, 2020 by GeoffH