How dangerous can using an UPS be?

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yamas111

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Jan 13, 2015
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I was thinking about buying a UPS to help against brownouts, but I read that there's some danger to UPS. I saw this

http://njnnetwork.com/2010/03/your-ups-battery-backu-may-be-killing-you/

And it worried me a bit.

How much danger do I have to worry about when using an UPS for a home computer system?
 
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The biggest danger from uninterruptable power supplies is that they sometimes catch fire. This is not a common occurrence at all (thankfully) but unlike an AC mains circuit which has breaker, there's no internal mechanism to put out a battery fire. I've only seen one UPS catch fire and the user had placed documents on top of it which caused it to overheat.

The gaseous emissions from the lead-acid battery are not harmful in the...
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RealBeast

RealBeast

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Wat? Since when did NiCad batteries use sulfuric acid -- hint *never* and even lead acid batteries are quite safe, ask your car.

I have a UPS on every computer, which includes 8 in just my office -- and I'm still alive and fairly old, but healthy. :D

 
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Pinhedd

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The biggest danger from uninterruptable power supplies is that they sometimes catch fire. This is not a common occurrence at all (thankfully) but unlike an AC mains circuit which has breaker, there's no internal mechanism to put out a battery fire. I've only seen one UPS catch fire and the user had placed documents on top of it which caused it to overheat.

The gaseous emissions from the lead-acid battery are not harmful in the quantities that they are emitted at as long as the environment is ventilated. Running a UPS in an unventilated broom closet would be an issue, using one in an office would not.

As always, read the manual.

Furthermore, purchase a UPS from a reputable manufacturer. I personally love the APC ones.
 
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Pinhedd

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Yup. Plus they have an awesome lifetime equipment warranty which insures against damage to the attached devices should the UPS fail to block a surge.
 
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yamas111

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What about CyberPower? I'm wondering because the prices for that brand look a bit cheaper with good reviews still.

Thanks for the help about how legit that article is.
 
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Onus

Onus

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Modern PSUs with active PFC really aren't too fond of the stepped square waves output by most cheap UPS units (including APC). You can buy a true sinewave UPS, but those are a lot more expensive. My understanding is that Cyberpower uses a clipped triangle (I don't own an oscilloscope to test personally), which crosses the -0- line similarly to the way a sinewave does, instead of "lingering" there like a stepped square. As a result, PSUs treat it more like regular AC and are less electrically stressed. These Cyberpower UPS units are much cheaper than APC true-sine units, and in my experience, work as well. One thing that makes Cyberpower cheaper is that they use smaller batteries, which means lower run time. I have two of them, and that has never been a problem.
 
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Pinhedd

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I've never had a PSU disagree with a UPS over the shape of its output waveform and I've been using them for years. The only time where it panics is when I kick my PC into top gear by running IBT and Furmark at the same time. This draws more current from the PSU than it can provide on battery.
 
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Onus

Onus

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I have a Delta-built Antec SG-650, that will shut off instantly on an APC Back-UPS, but runs flawlessly with either an APC true sinewave unit (I forget the model; my father has it now) or on a Cyberpower APFC unit. My father has it now, because his Earthwatts is also picky. I have read that Delta is more sensitive to waveform than others, e.g. Seasonic.
 
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g-unit1111

g-unit1111

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What's your source for the reviews? If it's store reviews don't read too much into those - a lot of junk products get inexplicably high ratings thanks to store reviews.

And yeah any website that says "Your UPS might be killing you - here's some links about Bob Dylan!" I would think would not qualify as a serious tech website. :lol:
 
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