Best Battery Backup for Your Rigs?

[Current-C]

I'm looking at this one: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=41041&Sku=O65-9900

and this one: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=5774231&Sku=A75-9270

but I honestly don't know where to start.  Is this too much? Not enough?  Need something I can grow into and run 4-5 rigs with 3-4 5850s each.  Thanks!

[AmpEater]

What do you want, enough power to ride out a brownout, or to keep rigs running for a few hours with no power? Either way I think you're going to need something beefier than either listed.  Really, you want something with separate batteries and then a good size 48v deep cycle pack.

[1bitc0inplz]

I guess it depends on how long you want to run while the power is off. If you're just interested in smoothing out < 1 minute hiccups in the power and otherwise using it as a means of giving your machine a chance to properly shutdown, then I'd image a sub $100 APC would work just fine.

[Current-C]

I'm really just looking for something that will let them keep power for a few minutes or so if the power flashes off (happens maybe once every couple of months, a little more here in the spring).  Maybe it's not worth it if it will reduce efficiency.

The biggest problem with a UPS is efficiency, if that is something you are concerned with. Let's say you have PSU's that are 90% efficient, and your UPS is also 90% efficient, this reduces your overall power efficiency to 81%

[AmpEater]

I'm really just looking for something that will let them keep power for a few minutes or so if the power flashes off (happens maybe once every couple of months, a little more here in the spring).  Maybe it's not worth it if it will reduce efficiency.

The biggest problem with a UPS is efficiency, if that is something you are concerned with. Let's say you have PSU's that are 90% efficient, and your UPS is also 90% efficient, this reduces your overall power efficiency to 81%

The effeciency thing doesn't have to be true. He's thinking of UPSs that constantly power the load from an inverter.  Most switch over to inverter power in a fraction of a sec to take the load and don't suffer an efficiency loss during normal operation. Look for "switchover time" on the specs

I'd buy this http://cgi.ebay.com/1800W-Pure-Sine-Wave-Tower-Long-Run-UPS-48V-220V-240V-/170551041937?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item27b5a25f91

And pair it with a bank of 4 small gel-cell batteries. U-1 would work well.  Size dependent on run time. You are planning on using 240v, right?

[Current-C]

I'm really just looking for something that will let them keep power for a few minutes or so if the power flashes off (happens maybe once every couple of months, a little more here in the spring).  Maybe it's not worth it if it will reduce efficiency.

The biggest problem with a UPS is efficiency, if that is something you are concerned with. Let's say you have PSU's that are 90% efficient, and your UPS is also 90% efficient, this reduces your overall power efficiency to 81%

The effeciency thing doesn't have to be true. He's thinking of UPSs that constantly power the load from an inverter.  Most switch over to inverter power in a fraction of a sec to take the load and don't suffer an efficiency loss during normal operation. Look for "switchover time" on the specs

I'd buy this http://cgi.ebay.com/1800W-Pure-Sine-Wave-Tower-Long-Run-UPS-48V-220V-240V-/170551041937?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item27b5a25f91

And pair it with a bank of 4 small gel-cell batteries. U-1 would work well.  Size dependent on run time. You are planning on using 240v, right?

I trust your input but do I really need all that to handle the occasional brief outage?  Power usually isn't off for more than a minute or two.  Will this setup require 240v?  If that's the case I may need an upgrade (or spread my rigs to multiple circuits?).

Thanks!

[AmpEater]

If you want to expand your rigs you want 240v off the bat, otherwise you need to spread the power over multiple circuits, each circuit would need its own cheap UPS, and power supplies work less efficiently at 120v vs. 240v (on my corsair 750w gold run at full load its 87.5% on 120, lower since you're probably dropping through an extension cord, surge strip...and 91% at 220 right off the panel)

But I look at electronics as a long term investment, cheap electronics as a short term thing. Are you planning on running your rigs in cases with filtered air and dedicated power, or sitting on a shelf in a living room plugged into the wall? If the latter a cheap UPS will work just fine, just make sure to get enough wattage for your full load needs.

[keybaud]

Don't forget to make sure that your internet connection has backup power as well, and you may want to check that your internet provider has it at your local exchange, otherwise you can put as much backup power as you can into your rig, but if you can't connect to the net it's a waste of money.

[bulanula]

Don't forget to make sure that your internet connection has backup power as well, and you may want to check that your internet provider has it at your local exchange, otherwise you can put as much backup power as you can into your rig, but if you can't connect to the net it's a waste of money.

Finally somebody with a bit of logic !

[TheShoura]

Don't forget to make sure that your internet connection has backup power as well, and you may want to check that your internet provider has it at your local exchange, otherwise you can put as much backup power as you can into your rig, but if you can't connect to the net it's a waste of money.

yup

I totally spent about a grand getting UPS and BBU's up and when the power went out, my internet went down anyway even tho the modem was still on. Local terminal was not on a UPS/BBU

So check that first.

[foggyb]

If the internet goes down anyway, what is the point of keeping the system on battery backup?

Just have a reboot cycle when the power comes back on.

For voltage regulation, the Tripp Lite LC1200 can provide sag and surge protection for up to 1200 watts. It also has $25,000 connected equipment insurance. I've done some research, and it seems this LC1200 regulates power better than some UPS units. Given that 1000+ watt UPS units are very expensive, it is likely that many people will buy the cheapest one they can find, and unwittingly achieve worse line conditioning than the LC1200.

I will get two, I think. For $120 each, seems to be the most bang for the buck.

There's also an 1800 watt unit, the LC1800 but its nearly 200$.

[SgtSpike]

I'd do some cost/benefit analysis on this before plunking down some change.

If $200 gets you another 5870, and that 5870 is mining for the next two months, does it really matter if the power cuts out for a day while you're away?  You're likely going to make loads more bitcoins in those two months with an extra card than you would lose in 8 hrs of power outage.

Just sayin.

But buy the UPS.  It'll make you feel better, and it'll keep the difficulty a fraction lower. 

[foggyb]

Its much, much cheaper than frying a board full of 5850's, which could cost you all your parts AND weeks worth of lost mining.

Not everyone has stable power. Those who do tend to not see the value in line conditioning. Its insurance. Not an investment.

[SgtSpike]

Its much, much cheaper than frying a board full of 5850's, which could cost you all your parts AND weeks worth of lost mining.

Not everyone has stable power. Those who do tend to not see the value in line conditioning. Its insurance. Not an investment.

Good point.  I hadn't thought about the line conditioning side of things.  We have very stable power in my area, aside from the occasional outage from a downed powerline somewhere.

However, the OP did specifically state that he wanted a battery backup for power outages, not for line conditioning.  If he isn't having trouble with brownouts or overvoltage, I wouldn't recommend buying a UPS, for the reasons I already mentioned above.

[keybaud]

Its much, much cheaper than frying a board full of 5850's, which could cost you all your parts AND weeks worth of lost mining.

Not everyone has stable power. Those who do tend to not see the value in line conditioning. Its insurance. Not an investment.

I'd hope that the PSU would be conditioning the power, as you're putting 12V DC to the cards, not 110/240 AC.

[SgtSpike]

Its much, much cheaper than frying a board full of 5850's, which could cost you all your parts AND weeks worth of lost mining.

Not everyone has stable power. Those who do tend to not see the value in line conditioning. Its insurance. Not an investment.

I'd hope that the PSU would be conditioning the power, as you're putting 12V DC to the cards, not 110/240 AC.

BUT, the PSU can only condition the power so far, and if there was an unregulated spike or brownout, it could pop the PSU, subsequently sending too much or too little power to some components and frying them.

[foggyb]

Sure, the PSU can do it. But if your PSU fails it might take some components with it. If the line conditioner fails, the PSU should still be able to protect the PC from getting fried.

[compro01]

Its much, much cheaper than frying a board full of 5850's, which could cost you all your parts AND weeks worth of lost mining.

Not everyone has stable power. Those who do tend to not see the value in line conditioning. Its insurance. Not an investment.

I'd hope that the PSU would be conditioning the power, as you're putting 12V DC to the cards, not 110/240 AC.

Sure, but you can only fit so much into a standard ATX PSU.  When it comes to power conditioning, bigger is better.  larger caps, larger heatsinks, heavier varistors, larger transformers, etc. can all take and correct for more variance.  my UPS is almost as large as my computer itself.  and if things just go completely out of whack, just drop to battery and ride the crazy out.

[Littleshop]

Its much, much cheaper than frying a board full of 5850's, which could cost you all your parts AND weeks worth of lost mining.

Not everyone has stable power. Those who do tend to not see the value in line conditioning. Its insurance. Not an investment.

I had bought five UPS's around 2005 for my internet service.  They caused more problems then they fixed!  One seemed to die every few months TURNING OFF the system they were connected to even though there was no power failure. 

Buy name brand stuff like APC.  Mine bad ones were I think from Cyberpower. 

If anyone is in the Maryland area I have some large rack mount 2U APC professional UPS systems. They take in 220v and have outless for 120v out.  They worked for years without failing but now they need new batteries (which are available for about $20 each x 8 needed).  These APC units are available for free. 

[thefussydutchman]

I live in an old trailer with old bad wiring. The fuse box keeps tripping.  Would a UPS help me have a more steady power supply?