UPS

[Joe Bleasdale]

I am looking to invest in a UPS, preferably rack mounted. It would specifically provide backup power for Lighting control FOH, Console, screens, Laptop/computer, any processors FOH etc.

 

I am not really sure about price range because I don't have a clue how much UPS's generally cost. Could anyone recommend some models and prices? I would prefer a reputable UK supplier too please.

 

Thanks.

[MrJay]

eBuyer do a nice selection to look at.....

 

http://www.ebuyer.com/store/Peripherals/ca...UPS---RackMount

[bruce]

How long is a piece of string....

 

 

You need to measure (ideally not guess) your total load. You then need to decide how long you want the UPS to last when the power goes off. And why(*).

 

Once you've got that data, we can advise.

 

I've got various UPSs at work. The smallest is about the size of a child's shoe box. The biggest weighs several tons, and required the floor to be specially reinforced.

 

(*) why do you want the UPS? What's the point in putting a laptop on it, when a typical laptop has a battery that will last several hours.

What are you trying to protect yourself from? What's the likelihood of your FoH setup losing power, but your dimmers and amps staying on?

[KevinE]

Decent rack UPS's from APC (one of the biggest ups makers, made in ireland) can be ordered from most places, try Misco.co.uk, discuss prices with trade sales.

 

APC have an online sizing calculator where it asks you for load type, size and duration of use ('autonomy'). Many of the rack UPS's can have extended-life battery packs added later if you want. Don't skimp!

 

Buying a UPS is a bit like buying a hifi from Argos. The ratings of wattage/VA etc are often vastly overstated on the cheaper brands (the brands that market all sorts of computer accessories) whereas APC at least are honest.

 

APC are a subsidiary of french company Schneider (Telemecanique, Square D, etc)

 

apc homepage

[Joe Bleasdale]

Well the whole lot generally runs off one 16A feed. Reason I want one is so the console doesn't die, I don't like the power just being plugged on it, I like to turn it off correctly. Good point about the laptop, but sometimes it is a laptop, sometimes it is a computer so it is needed for the computer for the same reason as the console really. I have had FOH power go about 3 times on separate shows, I have never lost much data, but I still don't like it happening.

 

I will work on getting an exact total load. Thanks for the suggestions so far.

[peternewman]

Also remember the UPS becomes another single point of failure, it's probably more likely to go wrong than a bit of 16A cable, particularly if its being fed by a non latching IEC of some kind, which can be knocked out. It strikes me that any decent lighting console, even the newer ones built on a computer OS, ought to be fairly robust to power failing, as its likely to be a fact of life of the industry surely, either by accident or just by crew powering it up and down in that way. Equally presumably your desk doesn't take as long to boot as your movers take to initialise, if all power goes on the gig.

 

You probably want to distribute clearly labelled maintained and non maintained feeds at FOH if you do go down this route, to prolong the amount of time you've got power for; no point powering multiple external screens on a console, the aforementioned laptops, lots of desk lights, kettles, phone chargers etc if you don't need to and obviously not doing so gives you a longer run without power.

[chelgrian]

It strikes me that any decent lighting console, even the newer ones built on a computer OS, ought to be fairly robust to power failing, as its likely to be a fact of life of the industry surely, either by accident or just by crew powering it up and down in that way. Equally presumably your desk doesn't take as long to boot as your movers take to initialise, if all power goes on the gig.

 

The biggest reason to have the lx console on a UPS is to protect against brownouts. The rig will likely survive a brownout which may cause the the console to reboot. Most of the Windows based consoles take an absolute eternity too boot. Now usually the dimmers will just carry on at whatever the last DMX they received was but Murphy will generally intervene and arrange that the brownout happens during a blackout...

[GridGirl]

It strikes me that any decent lighting console, even the newer ones built on a computer OS, ought to be fairly robust to power failing, as its likely to be a fact of life of the industry surely, either by accident or just by crew powering it up and down in that way. Equally presumably your desk doesn't take as long to boot as your movers take to initialise, if all power goes on the gig.

 

The biggest reason to have the lx console on a UPS is to protect against brownouts. The rig will likely survive a brownout which may cause the the console to reboot. Most of the Windows based consoles take an absolute eternity too boot. Now usually the dimmers will just carry on at whatever the last DMX they received was but Murphy will generally intervene and arrange that the brownout happens during a blackout...

 

Bingo. We had a brownout a few months back; I only registered it as a big flicker but all the UPSes started beeping madly - the dimmers came back to life instantly but the movers lost power for long enough for the lamp to go out, although not long enough to cause the units to reset. The UPS stopped the console rebooting, meaning that we could carry on with the show (and hope and pray that the movers cooled quickly enough to re-strike before we needed them - which, with one exception, they did!) but no UPS would probably have been a show-stopper as the ION takes longer to boot than we had before the next lighting change...

[tom_the_LD]

We have two APC rack mount UPS's at work in the server room, which are soon to be replaced by one, much bigger, UPS. The good thing about ours at school (and I believe is standard with a lot of the bigger ones) is that they will e-mail you with any issues. Ours e-mail if they start protecting against over current, e-mail if the power goes, e-mail when power is restored etc.

 

However, one thing that hasn't been mentioned so far - you say that you want it to be rack mounted. Is the rack space available to you unlimited or does it have to be no more than "X" U. No point in us recommending loads of great UPS's if they're just too big!

[Joe Bleasdale]

Burnouts. Exactly.

 

As for booting time, I have the record set at 50 seconds to full boot. But the RT processors that process and output the DMX/Art-Net/VCs etc will boot and output in half that.

 

Rack mounting can be anything as I can have a case made for it. But something about 10U or less would be good.

 

Thanks.

[MrJay]

10U? Are you trying to keep the lights running as well? ** laughs out loud **  :)

[Andrew C]

10U? You'd need a forklift to move that! I use an old APC from our IT dept to keep a rack of VCRs running. It is 2U and d@mned heavy!

 

You WILL need back rails in the case.

[MrJay]

You should follow Bruce's advice and work out the total load and how long you want it to run for then decide, I can't see you need anything more than a 2U unit.

[Joe Bleasdale]

Sorry, the case it will go in will be 10U and it will have back rails yes!

 

Thanks.

[adam2]

A UPS can certainly be useful, but as others post try to keep the load to a minimum or you will need something of vast expense, weight and bulk.

A rack mount UPS normally needs to go at the bottom as they are heavy and heat kills the batteries.

 

RS sell a good range, but are not allways the cheapest.

 

I have been very glad of the UPS I put in my office/workshop, rated at 2,000 watts/2,800 VA, with an external battery. Run time is about an hour at full load, or most of the day in practice as the load averages 300 watts.

PC, router, modem, desk lamp, desk fan, cellphone charger, radio charger, printer, all on the UPS.

Chargers for cordless tools could be used.