Question 1

I know I need to purchase a UPS power supply with AVR functionality for my home office.  How do I determine the size to purchase?

Accepted Answer

I simply determine the amount of power I will have on the power supply (in watts), then determine the amount of time I want it to stay on in the event of a power failure.

You should match the power rating for what you are putting on the UPS. The power rating is important, because this unit has AVR, which will correct minor voltage fluctuations. But the hardware used to make those corrections is only designed to handle 390 Watts. If you put a 1000W desktop computer on it, it will likely result in premature failure.

I use this power supply to protect some network equipment, in a machine shop, from power fluctuations, so there isn't much draw. But there is dust, significant statically charged scum, and I haven't touched the thing since I installed it and I have never had a problem with it in the 2 years I have owned it.

The next factor to think about is how long it will keep your devices on. This one is rated for 50 Watts for 59 minutes. So if you had the following pull on the UPS it would last roughly this long (assuming the internal battery hasn't aged).
100W - 30 min
200W - 15 min
390W - 7 min

I personally use a larger CyberPower UPS for all my computers, with the same success rate. But if you are using this to protect and provide some backup power for small devices like routers, switches, well anything under 390W... I highly recommend it. Like I said, flawless operation, in less than perfect operating conditions, for 2 years now.

Question 2

Can the audible alarms be muted ?   I cannot have this beeping, ever, in my environment.

Accepted Answer

I don't think you can mute the alarm. I have two of these units and I have no complaints with their performance, but I have not seen the option to disable the beeping. I'm not sure how you would know that there is a problem with the unit, or how much battery time you have left during the outage, without the beeping (unless you have it connected to a PC using USB).

Question 3

Works great when the power is off but beeps constantly.  How to turn it off?  I will take this thing apart and disable the speaker if I have to.

Accepted Answer

Sounds like you are overloading it, sometimes happens to me when playing intensive video games. Try to unplug everything but the computer from the "battery" labeled sockets to lessen the power consumption. If all else fails, what I did was actually clock down my CPU a tiny bit and it was just enough to make it not beep any more. Not much of a solution but it works for me and does not really affect game performance.

Question 4

ARE THESE UL APPROVED?

Accepted Answer

Just checked my box - UL approved.  The other nice thing is AVR.

Question 5

Is the included software compatible with Win98?

Accepted Answer

unknown

Questions & Answers