Anyone use a UPS?

[housequake]

Just wondering if any of you have a UPS (Uninterruptable Power Source) amongst your gear and use one? Basically it's a high-ampage battery which will cut in and run your gear (or at least give you time to shut it down gently) in the event of a power failure. They are normally found attached to PC's and Servers.

Any of you who have played at a venue with a sound limiter will know exactly what I am talking about. Having the power killed suddenly is NOT good for your gear, even though the people running the venue seem to think it's OK.

I play guitar in a band and my Valve amp cost £2500. I'm seriously considering gettin one - even if just for my valve amp. Has anyone used one with any success?

Scott.

[jamesh]

Yes - i have a couple of them. They do come in handy - especially with working in marquees, with generators and in venues with sound limiters.

[housequake]

Which ones do you use James, if you don't mind me asking?

[Larry B Entertainment]

Dont use one live but use one in the studio. It keeps the computer running for 15 minutes which is enough time to save any work and shut it down properly.

[Dragonfly]

how much are these things ive seen alot of threads about them and just how much gear can you run off one and for how long??

[jamesh]

You can pick them up from the likes of CPC for around £20 - £30... They won't keep you systems running all night if there is a powercut or anything BUT they will keep your systems up and running if having to run through a sound limiter and it cuts the power for a second or 2... If you do have a powercut it should have enough power in them to allow you to shut the machines down safly etc.. Also handy for when running through a generator as it can help to smooth the power supply a little....

Would really recommend one if you are using a harddrive based product to play out music.

Can't seem to find the ones that i have on their site now but i picked them up last christmas when they were on special.... But pop along to CPC site and seach UPS and it will bring them up...

http://cpc.farnell.com/jsp/search/browse.jsp?N=411+1000249&Ns=PRICE_PLS_002_PRICE1%7c0&Ntk=gensearch_003&Ntt=ups&Ntx=

[DMX Will]

and in venues with sound limiters.

lol, thats one way round the problem! :p

[PropellerHeadCase]

Hmmm, yeah, I want a UPS, too.

[Dragonfly]

so what could i run off one ?? 2 mackies a mixer and laptop seems alot to run off a battery? or am i vastly underestimating these things?

[A1DL]

A UPS is designed to provide short term power to either

(a) enable safe shutdown of equipment (typically IT equipment)
(b) allow a standby generator to be started up, either manually or automatically using automatic mains failure circuitry.

With most sound and lighting equipment, from an equipment preservation stance the issue is usually not the sudden loss of power, rather the power suddenly being restored. An RCD offers the best protection for this scenario, allowing you to reset and power up equipment in the desired order.

A UPS won't run amplifiers, powered speakers and certainly not LX for anything more than a few minutes.

We have a reasonable sized (2200va) UPS in our comms room, and that is usually left half drained after the four to five minutes it takes to close two servers and a few routers down in the event of an outage.

[Dragonfly]

thanks for clearing that up ... so it just a safe shut down thing cool.

[jamesh]

Yeah the cheap ones will only give you enough time to safely shut down your system or harddive playout device.... Not run them all night.... i have one of mine plugged into my first gig box (mixer, dac 3, backup mixer, CD Decks) and then the other for my other gig box (2x computers, wireless mics)... And it will happily keep those going for a while on a short power outage.. Means if a sound limiter or generator cuts the power for any reason as soon as it's restored i can carry on without delay or waiting for CDs to spin back up or the computers to reboot etc....

I would have thought running lighting and amps or things like that would sap the power within a minute or so...unless you spend some serious money on a UPS...

you can get bigger ones designed to run bigger kit but both the weight and cost of the would make them impractical for mobile DJ use.

[TONYTIGER]

how much are these things ive seen alot of threads about them and just how much gear can you run off one and for how long??

Maplins sell the Trust brand i use one that gives me 75min just gives me time to see what idiot has pulled the plug or check out the generator ,i only connect the computer and hardware controller just saves restarting and crashes.