Printer back up generator or UPS ? Storm proof ?

[Travis Wallace]

Hello everyone, I have 2- Epson 9890 printers, 1- Epson 3880 and a computer that I would like to stay up and running during storms and unsure how to get the best result. We have a 1500 UPS though we still shut down everything until a thunder storm passes, and it rains here 3-4 days a week for 5-6 months out of the year.

Will a UPS keep everything running without a hiccup or should I look into a getting a generator that I just switch on when a storm is coming? And what type/brand should I get?

Has anyone had a bad print due to a UPS or did it save the day?

Thanks for the help in deciding.

[Ken Doo]

A UPS is good general protection against surges/spikes and brown outs. In case of outage, it's probably enough to finish a print, but I wouldn't count on a UPS for much more than finishing your work and shutting your systems down. Back-up generator might be a better solution, and I'd check into one that provides consistent and sufficient power beyond just your computers and printers (think other appliances and power needs).

[howardm]

while there are a lot of factors to consider, the bottom line is that the 9900 draws 80W when running and 16W in standby.  Now add in the draw from the computer (probably another 50-80W) and cost.

http://www.apc.com/products/family/index.cfm?id=165&tab=models

On that page, you can input the approx power draw and see what the expected run time is.  Basically, maybe 2-4 hours or so at 200W draw.  And that is for a $1000+ UPS.  If its really important that the system keep on trucking during a storm and they are frequent, I think a small-ish generator is the way to go and those are all over the place on price & quality & capacity.  Dont forget the automatic transfer switch and the rest of the loads.

[BobShaw]

If you want to save the work in progress then you need a UPS. It maintains power until it goes flat. A generator supplies power but from a standing start. So you need both for continuous use.

The power goes off so you disconnect the mains, start the generator and plug the Ups into it. Reverse when power comes back.

[Alan Goldhammer]

You don't say how frequent and long the power outages are.  Clearly if it's just a couple of minutes or so a high capacity UPS might be OK but as has been noted these really are only good to finish up a current job and shut the system(s) down.  Anything more than that you would need a generator.  Before our electric company started an aggressive tree trimming and line hardening campaign we had frequent outages both from summer and winter storms.  Longest outage I can remember was 3 1/2 days!  The most reliable generators are those that draw from your natural gas line and automatically come on when the power goes down.  When I costed such a system five years ago it was about $7500 installed.  This would power all basic appliances and the air conditioning or heating system  (heating system does not really draw much current as opposed to AC which needs to run the compressor).  Portable gasoline generators are OK but you have to go and start it up.  they have a more limited power output relative to the whole home generator mentioned above.

We ended up doing nothing and the power company has done a good job clearing the wires of potential tree damage.  I think we have only had one minor outage in the past two years that was longer than 10 minutes.

[howardm]

yes, if you want non-stop running, you end up w/ a UPS and a generator but the UPS can be much smaller since all it has to do is carry the load for a few seconds until the generator comes online and is stable.

Basically, once the utility power drops out, the ATS sees that and commands an auto-start of the generator, once that is stable, it switches over to gen. supplied power and the house/circuits is fed from that.  Getting a gen setup for just a few circuits isn't that much less $$ than just doing the whole house.

We installed a 400KVA unit for the office and of the $700K we spent on the project, only $130K was the generator unit itself.  Of course,
since the office park was built on landfill, they needed to go down 7' to make the pad to support the 40000 lb unit.
Just for laughs ---->>>  http://1drv.ms/1OusSIp

edit:  our generator was diesel powered (1700gl).  turns out that a natural gas or propane generally requires a motor 50% larger due to BTU efficiency (or lack thereof) which would have been cost/size prohibitive.

[Travis Wallace]

Storms last 20-30 minutes and a couple times per day. Florida Hurricanes are 3-7 days without power, but those are rare and come every 5-10 years for a direct hit.

A past client of mine had a 200gal diesel generator to run her 6000 sf home, so if I was to get a whole house generator then that is the route I would take.


Can a print job be damaged during the switching process? or does it just stop and keep on printing like normal when the power comes back on?

I plan on getting a portable generator, what features should I look for?

[AlterEgo]

Storms last 20-30 minutes and a couple times per day.

drunken driver for example knocking out an utility pole on his truck might mean more than 20-30 minutes to get the power back... w/o any storms or hurricanes - specifically if you live in a rural area... and rural area up north might get power out just because too much snowfall... so I'd vote for a diesel/gas generator with some ups to allow the time to start it.

[digitaldog]

A past client of mine had a 200gal diesel generator to

We have a 14kW Generac that isn't whole house, just certain critical circuits (refrigerator/freezers, HVAC, hot water well pump, the biggie for us). It's hooked up to Propane and is very efficient. It does go into a self run mode once a week for 10 minutes. We have 250 gallon tank we rent. Power goes out rarely and usually for less than 8 hours (twice this year).

If we assume 200 gallons (80% of 250 or the tank) we get 86.95 hours BUT altitude at 7000 feet makes this iffy… but we probably will never run full power either:
The 14kW Guardian Series consumes 2.30 gal/hr of liquid propane at full load. At that rate, we will have a little over 43 hours of continuous running time before your are out of fuel (100 gal).

You should size your propane fuel supply based upon how long you would want the generator to run in a power outage. We've lived here 4 years, our tank is at 65%.

[BobShaw]

A UPS that lasts a few seconds is not enough. Most people have to realise what has happened, get the generator, get to where it needs to be and start it. The recommended small generator used to be the Honda about 2KVA. Probably any good sine wave inverter would be Ok.