Top
There's not much to see in this shot except the same initial power-up instructions that were present on the LX1500. There is one interesting difference though: while the LX1500’s enclosure consisted of two halves snapped together at the top, forming a seam along the middle, the 1000PFCLCD’s top piece slides towards the back to release both side panels and the front after the rear cover is removed.
Also unlike the LX1500, the 1000’s power-up label is a thin plastic affair instead of a metallic label with a strong plastic backing, lending additional credibility to my suspicion that the label was indeed structural on the LX1500.
Front
Remember my comments about how the LX1500 could have used one extra button to make configuration easier? The 1000PFCLCD has two extras adorning its glossy black front panel: one to toggle the alarm function and another to access controls. Ironically though, configuration options are limited to line voltage sensitivity only.
On the LX1500, all the basic configuration parameters are accessible through its tedious one-button interface. One step forward, two steps back.
Bottom
The bottom face of the unit is home to the battery door, product information, warnings and miscellaneous other information as usual. I believe this is the first time I have seen a battery door that opens by sliding inward instead of outward.
Printed on the battery door is a mention of patent 7405544. Are you at least a little bit curious to find out what it is about?
Patenting The Obvious
Is that an auto-transformer with some switches or relays to select taps or bypass the transformer altogether? This is fundamentally how tap changers work, and mechanical tap changers have been around for over half a century in power distribution networks. Also, as documented in this patent, Cyber’s AVR would only be capable of boost operation. My old APC BX1000 did buck-boost AVR while leaving its transformer disconnected when not in use (that second part is “GreenPower” in CyberPower-speak) and its main board was manufactured in 2005, one year before CyberPower filed this patent.
Indentity Crisis
In the caution department, I believe this is the first time I have seen an explosion warning about using the incorrect battery type. Different batteries use different form factors to make accidental mix-ups unlikely. Much like APC, CP uses the same enclosure for its 850VA and 1000VA models, and chose to use the same silkscreen with information for both. On paper, the only obvious material difference between the 850VA and 1000VA versions is the battery: 8Ah versus 9Ah.
I’m guessing the blank area framed with a white square was intended for a serial number print or sticker that got omitted for whatever reason.
Battery Door
In my LX1500 story, I had an issue with a broken flimsy tab on the battery door and wrote that CyberPower should have used two thicker tabs instead. In the 1000PFCLCD, it looks like the company got the right general idea. On the other hand, the lips that slide behind the side panels to lock the door in place do not seem like they would survive a hard landing. These should have been a little wider to prevent them from popping out if the sides bow out a little, and thicker to make them less likely snap and reinforce the battery door’s sides.
BBBBBattery!
What lies behind that door? The B. B. Battery HR9-12 is a high-performance absorbed glass mat (AGM) valve-regulated lead-acid battery (VRLA) designed specifically for high drain applications like a UPS. As such, it features an internal resistance of less than 15mΩ when fully charged and a five-second burst current rating of 120A.
Battery Shoot-Out
How does the HR9-12 compare? Instead of hunting down other 9Ah competitors, I chose to switch numbers around and normalize the power rating for a given discharge time per Ah of nominal capacity. Since the BBB lacked ratings for 1.67V (which all of the other batteries are rated at), I used a linear interpolation between 1.6V and 1.7V for BBB.
The BBB unit leads the five-minute discharge race by a hair, then jockeys for third place with Long for all other rates, while CSB splits the distance between third place and Yuasa in the lead. I’d call this a clear victory for Yuasa, a firm second-place finish for CSB and a mixed bag for Long and BBB.
Simple Puzzle
Taking the UPS apart is simple enough: remove the battery door to reveal a hidden screw fastening the top cover to the battery cradle, remove the rear cover’s screws, slide the top cover towards the rear to unlock the front cover, slide the front cover down to unhitch it from the side panels and reveal another screw also fastening the top cover to the battery cradle, gently pry the top cover and off it comes. Getting the battery cradle to separate from the bottom cover takes a substantial amount of force to release its snaps.
Great, Another One
Power conductors in the 1000PFCLCD are crimped and soldered to the motherboard, just like they were in the SMART1000.
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