[ale] OT: question about replacing batteries in a APC UPS

[Jim Popovitch]

----- Original Message ----
> From: Mike Harrison <meuon at geeklabs.com>
> 
> APC's just remind me of Microsoft: They make a big deal out of that 
> warranty paperwork/insurance policy instead of how good their product is.

Sooo, is the root of the issue a hardware problem or a paperwork problem?  :-)

Mike, your earlier email about generator oscillation suggests (at least to me) that your APC UPS's may have suffered from your generator.  I've been to LOTS of datacenters where generator feeds nearly always runs through 3rd party filtering systems before hitting a UPS.   I can also see how an unmanaged offsite (or other room) UPS with flapping relays could have big problems especially if using default APC frequency shift settings which APC themselves would probably advise you to change if hooking the unit up to a generator feed.  

It seems to me that the cheaper UPS's are less sensitive to power line issues, and to me that seems like a BAD thing.  APCs, in my experience, are much more sensitive and that is a GOOD thing.  Not all electronics equipment can wait those few extra milliseconds for a less sensitive UPS to catch up.  Most modern PCs can, but there is much more equipment that I've seen APCs protect (environmental equip, etc, printers, lights).

I have an old Belkin UPS that I use to protect my T.V. and the light next to it.  The T.V. is not on battery backup, just protected power.  The lamp, which is on the battery backup, dims when the wind blows strong enough and that's usually before the UPS kicks in. ;-)

YMMV,

-Jim P.