On 13 Ago, 02:07, Doc wrote:
Recently I asked about suggestions regarding a UPS. I ended up
getting an 875 VA 525 Watt "Geek Squad" model from Best Buy - yeah,
yeah, everyone says Geek Squad stuff is overhyped junk, but at $69 on
sale, the price seemed right.

It seems to handle my 2 computers fine - a PIV 2.4 gig and a PIII 933
mhz sharing a monitor. With both machines and the monitor on, the
onboard readout shows them well below the unit's max capacity, drawing
about .250 - .260 kw (which I assume translates to 250 - 260 watts) ,
with an estimated run time of 9 minutes with both computers. More than
enough to get me through short hit outages with both machines running.

Interesting to note how much of a difference the monitor makes.
Without the monitor - a 17" MAG CRT, the draw for both computers
drops under 200 watts and the estimate run time for the 2 computers
goes from 9 mins to 15mins. Over 20 mins with just one computer
running but no monitor.

Since this thing has a built-in watt usage meter, any reason I
couldn't hook it up to say a refrigerator or TV to check how much
wattage they're using?

I've a 600VA unit and it will also run 2 PCs with their monitors.
When the battery went dead I connected a 92 Ah lead acid battery as a
replacement and has been fine since. I did not like the idea to test a
discharge to see how long it would run but for sure much longer than
the 7Ah original battery. The UPS keeps a float charge at around 13.5V
which is fine for this battery, but I may at some day apply an
equalizing charge for better maintenance. Running just one PC the
inverter transistors don't get too hot I think it could hold a long
time, I've the power guaranteed