How much power???

[solomr2]

I currently have HT system going through my PureAV power console, which works great. But FPL seems to give lousy power and we get a bunch of very short split-second brown-outs every week or so, which trips my PureAV and shuts it down until I reset it. During the downtime any schedule recordings don't fire, and the darn Comcast DVR takes about 30 mins to download everything again before you get any TV guide information.

So to solve this I bought the CyberPower CP1000AVR (1000-VA 540-Watts) battery backup from Newegg for $62 delivered. I bought two, one for my computer, one for my HT.

Unfortunatley, my Samsung Plasma overloads the darn battery and sets off a very annoying overload alarm on the battery.

How much darn power does a 50" plasma take? I've looked at the 1500-VA 1000-watt units, but those are very expensive ($400-$600).

Does anyone know what amount of power I might need?

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

UPS is not what should be looking for, but surge protector & power conditioner.
check out this post:
http://forums.audioholics.com/forums/showthread.php?t=64581

 

[TLS Guy]

UPS is not what should be looking for, but surge protector & power conditioner.
check out this post:
http://forums.audioholics.com/forums/showthread.php?t=64581

Wrong answer!

Power conditioners are largely bogus.

A UPS is exactly what he does need for his situation.

We have just been through all this, and go through it often. Please read this thread, it has all the correct info in my posts, for your situation.

As far as power, a UPS must meet the VA rating, which covers the apparent power the device uses because electronic devices are inductive loads, and the actual power consumed by the device in watts.

These specifications should be in your manual, or on the tag on the device.

If only the power consumption in watts is given, then a rough rule of thumb is that the VA rating needs to be about 30% higher than the continuous watts rating.

 

[Rickster71]

If I may add to Mark’s excellent post.
Notify FP&L about the problem, it’s possible the transformer feeding your house is going bad.
If it happens on windy days, it could be tree limbs contacting nearby wires.
There’s a lot going on down in the lighting capitol of the USA. Either way, a UPS is the way to go.

 

[TLS Guy]

If I may add to Mark’s excellent post.
Notify FP&L about the problem, it’s possible the transformer feeding your house is going bad.
If it happens on windy days, it could be tree limbs contacting nearby wires.
There’s a lot going on down in the lighting capitol of the USA. Either way, a UPS is the way to go.

Good point Rick. I had a bad pole transformer causing trouble the winter before last. Changing it improved things a lot, but the supply is a long way from perfect.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

Wrong answer!

Power conditioners are largely bogus.

A UPS is exactly what he does need for his situation.

We have just been through all this, and go through it often. Please read this thread, it has all the correct info in my posts, for your situation.

As far as power, a UPS must meet the VA rating, which covers the apparent power the device uses because electronic devices are inductive loads, and the actual power consumed by the device in watts.

These specifications should be in your manual, or on the tag on the device.

If only the power consumption in watts is given, then a rough rule of thumb is that the VA rating needs to be about 30% higher than the continuous watts rating.

Ok, I feel ashamed and ready to admit guilty for giving wrong advice, however curious we both cited same thread

(I missed the fact he mentioned brown-outs)

 

[jneutron]

During the downtime any schedule recordings don't fire, and the darn Comcast DVR takes about 30 mins to download everything again before you get any TV guide information.

Unfortunatley, my Samsung Plasma overloads the darn battery and sets off a very annoying overload alarm on the battery.

Does the TV need power for the recorder and DVR to work?

Cheers, John

 

[solomr2]

According to CNet, the TV requires (watts) 412.85 in default settings. After calibration 266.66, and in powersave mode 369.57. I have set the TV up exactly as CNet recommends, so I should be very close to 266 watts, let's say 300 watts to be safe.

My battery is rated at 540 watts, 1000VA, so by itself it should'nt be tripping the overload alarm. I guess I may have a faulty battery. I'll test it again to verify but when I did this a couple of days ago putting the TV alone on the battery through the PureAV console was tripping the alarm.

For clarity, I've got all my components plugged into my PureAV PF60 power console, here is the product sheet: http://www.belkin.com/pureav_detail.process?product_id=178925

My plan was to put the battery between the PureAV and the wall socket to eliminate the brown-out issues. I don't wish to take the TV off the PureAV console.

 

[skers_54]

According to CNet, the TV requires (watts) 412.85 in default settings. After calibration 266.66, and in powersave mode 369.57. I have set the TV up exactly as CNet recommends, so I should be very close to 266 watts, let's say 300 watts to be safe.

My battery is rated at 540 watts, 1000VA, so by itself it should'nt be tripping the overload alarm. I guess I may have a faulty battery. I'll test it again to verify but when I did this a couple of days ago putting the TV alone on the battery through the PureAV console was tripping the alarm.

For clarity, I've got all my components plugged into my PureAV PF60 power console, here is the product sheet: http://www.belkin.com/pureav_detail.process?product_id=178925

My plan was to put the battery between the PureAV and the wall socket to eliminate the brown-out issues. I don't wish to take the TV off the PureAV console.

The amount of power a plasma draws is somewhat dependant on how bright the material being displayed is; 266 is probably an average, so you still need to compensate for peaks. It shouldn't trip the UPS by itself though, unless the power factor (ratio of real power drawn to apparent power) is really low. Have you tried plugging the UPS directly into the wall? The Belkin unit could be limiting the power that the UPS can draw.

 

[TLS Guy]

The amount of power a plasma draws is somewhat dependant on how bright the material being displayed is; 266 is probably an average, so you still need to compensate for peaks. It shouldn't trip the UPS by itself though, unless the power factor (ratio of real power drawn to apparent power) is really low. Have you tried plugging the UPS directly into the wall? The Belkin unit could be limiting the power that the UPS can draw.

Those numbers seem low for the peak power draws of a 50" plasma. I would allow 750 watts and a KVA rating of around 1200 VA.

 

[skers_54]

Those numbers seem low for the peak power draws of a 50" plasma. I would allow 750 watts and a KVA rating of around 1200 VA.

For peak draws I would absolutely agree. CNET only lists average power draw for a 10 minute sample clip, which isn't very useful for the OP.

 

[solomr2]

Have you tried plugging the UPS directly into the wall? The Belkin unit could be limiting the power that the UPS can draw.

I'm not sure I understand your question. I plugged the PPS unit into the wall socket, and then I plugged the PF60 into the UPS. The TV and all my audio gear is plugged into the PF60. This might help, showing power flow in sequence:

1-Wall socket>> 2-UPS>> 3-PF60 4-TV & audio gear.

 

[solomr2]

Those numbers seem low for the peak power draws of a 50" plasma. I would allow 750 watts and a KVA rating of around 1200 VA.

Ok... but I need to power my TV, my Denon AVR, my Motorola (comcast) DVR and one other component (XBox, PS3 or Oppo DVD player) all simulataneously. Would it be possible to do that on say a 950watt UPS? I found a couple of sites now that rate the power of the Samsung Plasma at 380 watts, but not clear if that is average, peak or ? I imagine 380 for TV, maybe 200 for Denon, 200 for Xbox and maybe 100 for the DVR, that would run me to 880, so 900 is pretty close. The thing is, over 900 and the prices really spike up from about $200 to $500. Crazy.

Is there any way, with maybe a volt meter, to measure how much power is going through so I could test it myself and see what my average and peaks are?

FPL blew me out 4 times today during a brief storm. They were all minor blips, under a second, but enough for my HT gear drop out. Friggin FPL is pissing me off.

 

[skers_54]

Ok... but I need to power my TV, my Denon AVR, my Motorola (comcast) DVR and one other component (XBox, PS3 or Oppo DVD player) all simulataneously. Would it be possible to do that on say a 950watt UPS? I found a couple of sites now that rate the power of the Samsung Plasma at 380 watts, but not clear if that is average, peak or ? I imagine 380 for TV, maybe 200 for Denon, 200 for Xbox and maybe 100 for the DVR, that would run me to 880, so 900 is pretty close. The thing is, over 900 and the prices really spike up from about $200 to $500. Crazy.

Is there any way, with maybe a volt meter, to measure how much power is going through so I could test it myself and see what my average and peaks are?

FPL blew me out 4 times today during a brief storm. They were all minor blips, under a second, but enough for my HT gear drop out. Friggin FPL is pissing me off.

The Kill-a-Watt meter will do that. Pretty cheap too.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16882715001&nm_mc=OTC-Froogle&cm_mmc=OTC-Froogle-_-Electronic+Gadgets-_-P3+International-_-82715001

One thing to remember is that equipment has a "turn-on surge" where power demand momentarily spikes. You'll want to give a several second break between turning on components, otherwise you may trip the UPS.

 

[nibhaz]

I'm not sure I understand your question. I plugged the PPS unit into the wall socket, and then I plugged the PF60 into the UPS. The TV and all my audio gear is plugged into the PF60. This might help, showing power flow in sequence:

1-Wall socket>> 2-UPS>> 3-PF60 4-TV & audio gear.

So all of your equipment is plugged into the UPS via the PF60?


My 800VA UPS couldn't handle booth my receiver and plasma simultaneously when listening to reference levels...

If you have everything going to the single UPS, that’s your issue, how much are you looking to spend?

This guy looks up to the task for about $120 shipped

Just my candid opinion, but a conditioner after a ups is pretty much unnecessary

 

[TLS Guy]

So all of your equipment is plugged into the UPS via the PF60?


My 800VA UPS couldn't handle booth my receiver and plasma simultaneously when listening to reference levels...

If you have everything going to the single UPS, that’s your issue, how much are you looking to spend?

This guy looks up to the task for about $120 shipped

Just my candid opinion, but a conditioner after a ups is pretty much unnecessary

I don't think that unit is adequate.

I would buy this and you will be pleased with it.

The unit you picked out is in the junk class and I don't think it is powerful enough. Always buy decent equipment. It is much more economical.

 

[solomr2]

So all of your equipment is plugged into the UPS via the PF60?


My 800VA UPS couldn't handle booth my receiver and plasma simultaneously when listening to reference levels...

If you have everything going to the single UPS, that’s your issue, how much are you looking to spend?

This guy looks up to the task for about $120 shipped

This is not enough for what I want to do. I don't need my components running off a bunch of different individual UPSs. I want to use one UPS capable of supporting the entire system. I'm currently looking at this 1500VA (980 watts) from APC. I spoke to UPS4Less and he advised me that I need to use a UPS that has Pure Sinewave output or certain components will not work. The only other option he recommended was the APC S20BLK which is not in my budget.

Just my candid opinion, but a conditioner after a ups is pretty much unnecessary

Thanks for your opinion . I just happen to have the PF60 already, I bought it when I bought my HT system, and I have used it effectively with switching gates and such, I'm quite pleased with it. I don't intend to bypass it.

 

[solomr2]

I don't think that unit is adequate.

I would buy this and you will be pleased with it.

The unit you picked out is in the junk class and I don't think it is powerful enough. Always buy decent equipment. It is much more economical.

That is exactly the one I'm currently looking at. But I think I'm going to buy the little Kill A Watt device to take some measurements first to make sure it will support my system.

 

[nibhaz]

I don't think that unit is adequate.

I would buy this and you will be pleased with it.

The unit you picked out is in the junk class and I don't think it is powerful enough. Always buy decent equipment. It is much more economical.

Well that is your opinion, but I wouldn’t go so far to say that the CyberPower stuff is junk

And my anecdotal experience with several plasmas attached to a UPS would suggest that this UPS is more than capable of handling a single TV.

Your suggestion is obviously a good unit, but the OP has already implied that he is price conscience so the APC is probably out of the range he looking to spend. At least that’s my speculation…?


Also, he is already a CyberPower owner so he can form his own opinion about the price to performance ratio and share with us if he likes.

The only problem I see that he is having with his current unit is that he’s plugging in more things than it can handle, if I read his post correctly.




Edit: Slow typing makes me look like an arse

 

[nibhaz]

This is not enough for what I want to do. I don't need my components running off a bunch of different individual UPSs. I want to use one UPS capable of supporting the entire system. I'm currently looking at this 1500VA (980 watts) from APC. I spoke to UPS4Less and he advised me that I need to use a UPS that has Pure Sinewave output or certain components will not work. The only other option he recommended was the APC S20BLK which is not in my budget.

Ahhh! Then TLS Guy is correct in his suggestion.

I was just trying to get you the cheapest solution!

If you want one UPS to rule them all then it’s going to be kind of expensive.