# APC Back-UPS



## WVZR1 (Jul 31, 2008)

or any brand. I've got a Mini to replace one of my Premiere units and I need to move some other equipment around and I'm trying to convince myself that replacing the Premiere with the Mini I won't require or even be able to justify the APC-UPS that's in that room. I need the UPS for a Weather Station server/appliance that isn't convenient to keep in that same room. 

I have a Premier XL 4 that I'll likely use with the Mini but I have a Roamio + that I've added the 3TB HD to that is still in the box and "life-timed". I'm trying to decide which to sell the 4XL "life-timed" or the Roamio +.

Do I need the UPS?


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## JoeKustra (Dec 7, 2012)

WVZR1 said:


> Do I need the UPS?


You always need a UPS. Until power is perfect at least. I have moved from APC to CyberPower not for the price but for the value. It's like driving a car without a spare.

If you don't care, don't use a UPS.


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## telemark (Nov 12, 2013)

Main things UPS provide-
a) availability/continuity when the power is out/flickering
b) additional power conditioning

Since a Mini is not recording, the only advantage to (a) is watching TV during a blackout, which would require the TV to also be on the UPS.

Power conditioning, you might factor the replacement cost $120 and the chance of a power event that the UPS would catch but not a cheaper surge suppressor, that would damage that device.

Unplugging electronics is among the best lighting protection you can buy.


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## JWhites (May 15, 2013)

Honestly I'd always recommend getting a UPS. The APC brand is the only brand I use, never lead me wrong ten years in. Several stores and online retailers have them on sale. In fact I just got another one today, an APC BE650G1. Really excited.


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## kettledrum (Nov 17, 2003)

telemark said:


> Unplugging electronics is among the best lighting protection you can buy.


I would also add for clarity that this should include unplugging everything, not just the power cord. A couple of years ago my TiVo got fried when a lightning strike came through the coax, fried the TiVo and then went out the ethernet port and HDMI of the TiVo and fried the HDMI port on my receiver and took out the corresponding port on my 4 port switch and also the corresponding port on my router. I feel lucky that it didn't do more damage than that.


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## dianebrat (Jul 6, 2002)

JWhites said:


> Honestly I'd always recommend getting a UPS. The APC brand is the only brand I use, never lead me wrong ten years in. Several stores and online retailers have them on sale. In fact I just got another one today, an APC BE650G1. Really excited.


For a mini? I wouldn't bother myself, a DVR, of course, yes, but a not a mini.


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## JoeKustra (Dec 7, 2012)

dianebrat said:


> For a mini? I wouldn't bother myself, a DVR, of course, yes, but a not a mini.


That would be true unless there is a TV next to the Mini. It's safer to use a small UPS for both.


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## dianebrat (Jul 6, 2002)

JoeKustra said:


> That would be true unless there is a TV next to the Mini. It's safer to use a small UPS for both.


I don't put TV's or monitors on a UPS, obviously YMMV.


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## JoeKustra (Dec 7, 2012)

dianebrat said:


> I don't put TV's or monitors on a UPS, obviously YMMV.


Good timing. I just got an EAS blast for a tornado warning. Going to get loud in a few minutes.


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## chiguy50 (Nov 9, 2009)

dianebrat said:


> I don't put TV's or monitors on a UPS, obviously YMMV.


I don't typically use battery-backup for TV's or monitors, but all of my computer and A/V electronics are powered via a UPS. (Most UPS's provide about an equal number of outlets for battery backup and for surge protection.)


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## JoeKustra (Dec 7, 2012)

chiguy50 said:


> I don't typically use battery-backup for TV's or monitors, but all of my computer and A/V electronics are powered via a UPS. (Most UPS's provide about an equal number of outlets for battery backup and for surge protection.)


You're obviously a smart person. Perhaps if I was OTA a TV alone would make me have an outlet strip. But I doubt it. Since every TV has a TiVo or Mini next to it, and the one with the Mini also powers my cable modem and router, a medium UPS is good. For the HT a 1500VA APC with battery pack is used. In the Kitchen, the small 250VA works with a TiVo, TV and wireless adapter. This PC, and my Laptop each have a CyberPower 1000VA UPS. When the power fails, the lights go out. For everything else I can walk around turning things off without any panic. It is so worth it.


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## tootal2 (Oct 14, 2005)

I like the apc 1500 ups. You can buy a backup batter for it and get twice the power


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## HazelW (Dec 6, 2007)

My son went away for two weeks and had the TiVo on a UPS. The battery in the UPS died and when he returned, no shows were recorded after it died. So there are disadvantages.


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## stevel (Aug 23, 2000)

The battery dying should only be an issue if the power went out.


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## JoeKustra (Dec 7, 2012)

HazelW said:


> My son went away for two weeks and had the TiVo on a UPS. The battery in the UPS died and when he returned, no shows were recorded after it died. So there are disadvantages.


What kind of UPS? I want to be sure to not buy one.


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## Jonathan_S (Oct 23, 2001)

stevel said:


> The battery dying should only be an issue if the power went out.


It may not have been the battery, or not just the battery.

But I've definitely had a UPS fail in such a way that it wouldn't stay turned on, even when there was power.


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## chiguy50 (Nov 9, 2009)

Jonathan_S said:


> It may not have been the battery, or not just the battery.
> 
> But I've definitely had a UPS fail in such a way that it wouldn't stay turned on, even when there was power.


It can happen, just as any piece of electronic equipment can fail.

But it should be an exceedingly rare occurrence in a UPS so long as you stick to the reliable brands (e.g., APC, Belkin, CyberPower, Tripp-Lite) and don't abuse the unit.


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

kettledrum said:


> I would also add for clarity that this should include unplugging everything, not just the power cord. A couple of years ago my TiVo got fried when a lightning strike came through the coax, fried the TiVo and then went out the ethernet port and HDMI of the TiVo and fried the HDMI port on my receiver and took out the corresponding port on my 4 port switch and also the corresponding port on my router. I feel lucky that it didn't do more damage than that.


But it's not realistic to unplug everything every time there is a storm. During the Summer this could be almost every day depending on your location. And then many times you won't be home to unplug it anyway. So I just don't bother unlugging anything.


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

Jonathan_S said:


> It may not have been the battery, or not just the battery.
> 
> But I've definitely had a UPS fail in such a way that it wouldn't stay turned on, even when there was power.


It is something that is rare. But I've had a capacitor blow in an APC UPS before. Which took down the entire UPS. APC replaced it under warranty. But this was also back in the early 2000's. I had a TV and a DirecTV TiVo connected to the UPS. So once the capacitor blew, there was no power to either device.

I have yet to run across and issue like this with the new APC UPSs. I'm using around fifiteen of them right now giving me anywhere from two hours to 18 hours of runtime for my devices during a power outage.


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## Jonathan_S (Oct 23, 2001)

aaronwt said:


> It is something that is rare. But I've had a capacitor blow in an APC UPS before. Which took down the entire UPS. APC replaced it under warranty. But this was also back in the early 2000's. I had a TV and a DirecTV TiVo connected to the UPS. So once the capacitor blew, there was no power to either device.
> 
> I have yet to run across and issue like this with the new APC UPSs. I'm using around fifiteen of them right now giving me anywhere from two hours to 18 hours of runtime for my devices during a power outage.


The one that died like that was an APC Back-ups 900 (IIRC). It died about a year ago (outside of warranty).

As I recall you'd hit the button to turn it on, the LED would blink, and it'd turn off almost instantly. I think I tossed in in a closet thinking I'd get around to dealing with it later, and it's probably still there.

I'm down to just one UPS at the moment, the monster rackmount 3000 XL that's now down to just running my desktop, speakers, and a router. My power has been stable enough that I've procrastinated on replacing the UPS for the TiVo.


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## lessd (Jan 23, 2005)

Jonathan_S said:


> The one that died like that was an APC Back-ups 900 (IIRC). It died about a year ago (outside of warranty).
> 
> As I recall you'd hit the button to turn it on, the LED would blink, and it'd turn off almost instantly. I think I tossed in in a closet thinking I'd get around to dealing with it later, and it's probably still there.
> 
> I'm down to just one UPS at the moment, the monster rackmount 3000 XL that's now down to just running my desktop, speakers, and a router. My power has been stable enough that I've procrastinated on replacing the UPS for the TiVo.


When I used a Roamio Plus on a UPS and I get a short power outage that takes the cable with it, when the power comes back on, the Roamio tuner sometimes get screwed up from the cable going down than coming back and I have to re-boot my TiVo, without a UPS I never get the problem because the TiVo takes 5 min to boot up and by then the cable is working normally.


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## JoeKustra (Dec 7, 2012)

lessd said:


> When I used a Roamio Plus on a UPS and I get a short power outage that takes the cable with it, when the power comes back on, the Roamio tuner sometimes get screwed up from the cable going down than coming back and I have to re-boot my TiVo, without a UPS I never get the problem because the TiVo takes 5 min to boot up and by then the cable is working normally.


Before doing a reboot, put the Roamio into standby for a moment. This causes all the tuners to get reset when you go back to live TV. It's just a thing to test, not a fact. I found the tuner reset by accident. It doesn't reset the cable card, so that power cycle may still be needed.


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## kettledrum (Nov 17, 2003)

aaronwt said:


> But it's not realistic to unplug everything every time there is a storm. During the Summer this could be almost every day depending on your location. And then many times you won't be home to unplug it anyway. So I just don't bother unlugging anything.


Oh I agree, it's surely a pain in the ass to unplug everything, and not realistic to do for most people. It's a risk/reward decision that each person has to weigh individually. But it is the most foolproof method to avoiding lightning damage.


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## lessd (Jan 23, 2005)

JoeKustra said:


> Before doing a reboot, put the Roamio into standby for a moment. This causes all the tuners to get reset when you go back to live TV. It's just a thing to test, not a fact. I found the tuner reset by accident. It doesn't reset the cable card, so that power cycle may still be needed.


The problem is that if I am not home I don't record anything or using a UPS I did not record anything. Now a quick power outage is no problem, and one that lasts for more than 16 sec., my whole home generator takes over.


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