Anne Wilson wrote:
On Friday 30 January 2009 11:02:50 Sorin Srbu wrote:
Did you check Eaton Powerware? They are very competitively priced IMO. We bought APC's before as well, but I felt the controller software was not as smooth as it could've been and the battery replacement-programs very not that good as Powerware's variants.
With UPS's I prefer a brand-name. If nothing else for the reason that they stock batteries even to older models.
Never heard of them, but I'll take this as a recommendation, thanks.
Eaton Powerware used to be Best, they made the very good FerrUps series.
Re: batteries, most all UPS's I've seen use various standard VRLA batteries (Valve Regulated Lead Acid, often mistakenly called Sealed Lead Acid, or Gel Cells), readily obtainable from vendors like www.digikey.com, assembled into packs... with a few exceptions, you can use the generic equivalent battery, much much cheaper. I resurrected a dead SmartUPS 2000 that was going to be tossed at work by replacing the batteries with 4 x 12V20AH Panasonic VRLA, which happens to be the same size my motorcycle uses.
Now, battery prices have gone up considerably these last 2-3 years, lead prices are very high, as are transportation costs.