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Thread: To UPS or not to UPS?

  1. #11

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    Quote Originally Posted by DJ Jules View Post
    Yup... That's why I'm not thinking about running the whole disco off a UPS, just enough so that the battery dmx lights stay on and when the power comes back on, I'm not waiting for controllers to reboot and having to reset software.

    Julian
    But are you already running the haze off its own socket?

    I stopped using haze - mainly because of the risk to setting off fire alarms, but also because it was the one item that would trip electrics. Have you tried not using it and seeing if that fixes the problem?

  2. #12

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    I've had issues with power for a variety of reasons : sound limiters, fire alarms that are wired to cut the power to entertainment, catering equipment tripping supplies and, in Friday's case, a socket that has taken some abuse and has a poor connection to whatever is plugged into it.

    I rarely use haze. Where I do, it's usually positioned off to side or at the back of the room to fire the haze towards the lights and that usually means it's on its own plug anyway (and controlled via wireless DMX). The actual power requirement for my haze machine isn't that much (600w), but it is an inductive load as it's essentially just a compressor and has no heating elements. I'd never put the haze machine on a UPS though, it's just not an essential part of the show.

    I'm leaning towards adding a 12v Liion pack to my flight case instead of the power supply I have at the moment. The challenge seems to be finding one where the specs are reliable and I can trust the power ratings for the outputs... I also don't seem to be able to get a straight answer from anyone about whether the wall wart could be swapped out for a 3rd party supply or if its actually part of the constant current/charging system and I run the risk of overcharging the batteries if I switch it for another.

    Julian
    http://www.bristoldiscohire.co.uk - Quality Disco and Equipment hire for Bristol & Bath
    Weddings, Birthday Parties, Kids Parties, School Disco's and more
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  3. #13

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    Quote Originally Posted by DJ Jules View Post
    I've had issues with power for a variety of reasons : sound limiters, fire alarms that are wired to cut the power to entertainment, catering equipment tripping supplies and, in Friday's case, a socket that has taken some abuse and has a poor connection to whatever is plugged into it.

    I rarely use haze. Where I do, it's usually positioned off to side or at the back of the room to fire the haze towards the lights and that usually means it's on its own plug anyway (and controlled via wireless DMX). The actual power requirement for my haze machine isn't that much (600w), but it is an inductive load as it's essentially just a compressor and has no heating elements. I'd never put the haze machine on a UPS though, it's just not an essential part of the show.

    I'm leaning towards adding a 12v Liion pack to my flight case instead of the power supply I have at the moment. The challenge seems to be finding one where the specs are reliable and I can trust the power ratings for the outputs... I also don't seem to be able to get a straight answer from anyone about whether the wall wart could be swapped out for a 3rd party supply or if its actually part of the constant current/charging system and I run the risk of overcharging the batteries if I switch it for another.

    Julian
    My guess would be that charging control will be dealt with by electronics inside the pack. Companies don't tend to design their own power supplies these days - it's much easier just to buy something in that's already tested to whatever standards & approvals.

    But that's just an educated guess. The reality could very well be different & I sympathise with your doubt

  4. #14

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    Quote Originally Posted by Nakatomi View Post
    My guess would be that charging control will be dealt with by electronics inside the pack. Companies don't tend to design their own power supplies these days - it's much easier just to buy something in that's already tested to whatever standards & approvals.

    But that's just an educated guess. The reality could very well be different & I sympathise with your doubt
    I'm struggling to see how the wall wart could discern between power going to charge vs power running the connected devices so it'd be impossible to manage the charging process (pretty important with liion cells).

    But then the wall wart is 12.6v which is oddly specific...

    I might just buy it and see. If there's a charging indicator on the wall wart then I might have a problem.

    An interesting side effect of this project is that I'd have a limited show that I could run without mains (Maui5 Go, battery pars and freedom sticks with wireless mics, controller and wireless DMX) and with just a single cable from the Denon to the Maui5... The weakest link would appear to be the laptop battery!

    Julian
    http://www.bristoldiscohire.co.uk - Quality Disco and Equipment hire for Bristol & Bath
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  5. #15

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    Quote Originally Posted by DJ Jules View Post
    Yup... That's why I'm not thinking about running the whole disco off a UPS, just enough so that the battery dmx lights stay on and when the power comes back on, I'm not waiting for controllers to reboot and having to reset software.

    Julian
    My DMX runs off my laptop - I run Freestyler DMX

    On the odd occasion where I have lost power (usually due to sound limiters), when the power restores, everything springs back to life immediately and carries on as if nothing had happened.

    But if you are intending to run just low power stuff through the UPS (essentially, everything except the actual lights and the speakers), then you won't have any issues, especially as most outages are considerably less than a minute.

  6. #16

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    Quote Originally Posted by rth_discos View Post
    My DMX runs off my laptop - I run Freestyler DMX

    On the odd occasion where I have lost power (usually due to sound limiters), when the power restores, everything springs back to life immediately and carries on as if nothing had happened.

    But if you are intending to run just low power stuff through the UPS (essentially, everything except the actual lights and the speakers), then you won't have any issues, especially as most outages are considerably less than a minute.
    All of my USB devices run from a powered USB hub and the Denon runs off its own adaptor so, as soon as I lose power, everything disconnects and the Denon resets so it takes a little bit of time and a few button presses to get back up and running.

    Powering just the Denon and the hub from a 12v UPS would keep things running while the power is off.

    Julian
    http://www.bristoldiscohire.co.uk - Quality Disco and Equipment hire for Bristol & Bath
    Weddings, Birthday Parties, Kids Parties, School Disco's and more
    https://julianburr.co.uk - Wedding, Family, Portrait and Product Photography

  7. #17

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    This came up on my Amazon recently, and looks ideal for what you need to achieve:

    https://amzn.to/3HXu0p8

  8. #18

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    Quote Originally Posted by rth_discos View Post
    This came up on my Amazon recently, and looks ideal for what you need to achieve:

    https://amzn.to/3HXu0p8
    That is the one I use and does the job. Avoid cheaper / lower powered ones
    Semi-Retired Multi Award Winning DJ

    www.ultimateweddingdj.co.uk

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