Praising the benefits of a UPS ...looong

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SuperDave

SuperDave

Member
Joined
Jun 15, 2007
Messages
682
Location
Sherwood, Oregon - 97140, USA.
About a month ago, we had our city workers and local power company arc a main line and wipe out power instantaneously to several neighborhoods. It hit so hard, you could feel the house shake.

I was in the middle of a CAD design session at the time. When it was all over, the only useful pieces I had left were the box, and monitor. The surge was so strong, it took out my surge suppressor.

We took money from savings to get back on-line. While making the necessary purchases, it was amazing how many people from town were buying components or full systems due to the stupidity of the wire pullers. If I had to guess, based on all the people buying parts or systems, a conservative estimate would be around $100K worth of personal damages. Many were considering a group action against the city and power company... good luck with that. These are the same nimrods that were grading and spreading gravel across town by our shop three days later, and the Dump Truck Driver drove off with his bed up and took out a power line, communication line, transformer and two poles, one of which was laying across his truck.

We chose to take our lumps. This time, I stepped up and bought a UPS. You will never guess what I found when I got home from work today... Flashing timers all over the house! Yup, not a week into a brand new system and the local yokels took out another line!!!

But, they didn't get me this time! Ha! I looked at my UPS and the green light was on. I turned the system back on and shaaazam!, Gaaaully Sergent!, I was back on-line like nothing ever happened! When the wife got home, I told her to look around and tell me what looked different. She noticed the flashing timers and all the color left her face "No. Not again!" Then I told her the UPS did its job. Her comment was "I will never say anything about the additional cost". "Go buy some more pen kits and tools, honey, you deserve it!" ... Well, maybe that last part wasn't quite how it went down...;)

If you don't have a UPS and you have a bunch of Neanderthals working in your city, get one fast! They are worth their weight in gold! Mine came with a $75,000 guarantee against property damage and data recovery.

... gotta go, I think I see one of the yokels coming....
 
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UPS systems are definitely worth their expense. Just be sure to get one that will handle ALL that is plugged into it, otherwise it may fail to adequately protect you.

Also, there is such a device as a line conditioner - very costly in the beginning - that will guarantee that your service delivers "exactly" 110 volts. That is also another life saving device when it comes to expensive and sensitive electrical components.

I have both on my house main circuits from the street and have never had the slightest problem with voltage surges, brown outs, lightening strikes, or the occasional fried crispy squirrel.

Buy name brand devices and check on their limits of insurance should they fail - you get what you pay for with this equipment. BTW, you will need all the receipts for anything you claim was ever damaged. I know about that hassle from a friend across the street that claimed well over $8,000 in electrical damages and only got about $3500 since he did not have all the paperwork for his claims.

I also believe that I would at least start a class action suit against those knuckleheads if to do nothing more than bring awareness to the entire area that you and all others that were damaged are not going to let them forget what they did to you.

Just imagine where you would be if YOU dug up the line and caused the problems........ Just for kicks, research what one of those metal traffic control devices cost that are found at many intersections. If you ever take one out in a wreck be prepared for a six, maybe even a seven digit bill. And they WILL bill you for the repair or replacement guaranteed! :eek::eek:
 
Fred,

Thanks for the reminder on the receipts. I will squirrel them away and hope I never need them!

My UPS has a conditioner built in that will handle a good portion of "normal" line fluctuations.

D
 
Your power company should have insurance to take care of things like this. Did you check to see if they would replace everything that blew?
 
We haven't looked into anything yet, still trying to get our bearings after a very trying three weeks putting everything back together and on-line.

Good point though, and I will check into it.

Thanks!

woodboys said:
Your power company should have insurance to take care of things like this. Did you check to see if they would replace everything that blew?
Click to expand...
 
OK, I have lost a hard drive in the past due to a power surge. I have my computers connected to a surge protector but also know that they are not the best way to protect them. By the way I had them connect to a serge protector when I lost the hard drive also.
I am assuming that UPS does not mean United Parcel Service, my next best guess is Unknown Power Source, but that is as close as I can get. Any help here?
 
I googled UPS and on page three way down at the bottom I finally found "Uninterrupted Power Source" Problem is i am now more confused than ever. There seems to be a lot of choices here.
Offline / standby, Line-interactive, Double-conversion / online,


Ferro-resonant, DC power, and Rotary.

They do show some schematics with the descriptions and I would only trust the type that have a transformer type physical break in the power lines. which from what I can tell is line interactive. any pointers on all this?
 
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