On Sun, 3 Oct 2004 20:56:38 +0100, "Vortex3"
wrote:

Hi There,

Does anyone out there own one of these cheap UPS's like:

http://www.dabs.com/uk/channels/hard...quicklinx=2HQ2

These things seem to be absurdly cheap. I'd be interested in an opinion

I was thinking of getting one to protect my PC's from the occasional
"brown-out" we get in very windy weather.

Most of the cost in UPSs is in the batteries. This one gives a
power output level, but not battery capacity, i.e. doesn't say how
long it will run.

Entry level UPSs are intended to give enough running time to (ideally
automatically) shut down the operating system or Windows rather than
running for any length of time.

You need to decide how long you want. If it's more than a few minutes
then you need a bigger UPS.



A second application would be use with a lead lamp when doing electrical
wiring at the fuseboard with all power off, in the half-light and with a
torch in your mouth!

I have a better solution than that, and less expensive.

I put a maintained fluorescent emergency lighting fitting

http://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Main_Ind...s_1/index.html

near to the consumer unit and wired into the lighting circuit.
In my case, the consumer unit is in a cupboard in the kitchen, so I
fitted a door activated switch to the door to control the light.
In another situation, one could have an ordinary switch.

The light is charged from the mains and will operate as a conventional
light - in my case when the door is opened.

If the power fails for whatever reason, the light comes on and will
run for three hours.

This is very useful for working on the CU for whatever reason, as well
as generally useful for finding things at the back of the cupboard.










David


..andy

To email, substitute .nospam with .gl