Large Format Printer on ups power supply?

[gchappel]

I live in central florida- and we have frequent short term power blackouts.  At least once a week the neighborhood has a 30+ second power loss. 
My 2 computers are on ups systems, so all is fine there.
My  question is about my ipf8400.
I "thought" I remember reading not to just pull the plug on the printer, but to power it down normally. 
We had a power flash today- and when I restarted the printer I had an ink pump error.  I shut it down and restarted, and all was well.  Fingers crossed.
Should I put this printer on a ups to stop the short term outages it experiences?
I tried the search engine here without success.
Thanks
Gary

[Ryan Mack]

Yes.

[Ken Doo]

Yes.

[langier]

Yes. My E9900 is on a UPS even though interruptions are rare where I live. I figured one or two jobs that completed when the power glitched would make it all worthwhile.

Overall, a UPS seems like cheap insurance plus with being in the lightening capitol of the world, most good UPS systems also have good surge protection. Get one with enough capacity to keep your printer running long enough to complete a printing queue so it's not just to keep the printer on standby.

[stevenfr]

Yes

[stockjock]

I have my ipF8400 on a CyberPower CP1000PFCLCD PFC Sinewave UPS System.  It is unclear if the more expensive pure Sinewave UPS's are necessary but I read one thing a long time ago that suggested the square wave UPS's might be bad for the main circuit board.  No idea if that is true but I decided to spend the extra $50 just in case.  But you definitely have to put a large format printer onto a UPS.

[mearussi]

In the past month I just lost two Epson printers (7800, 9800) from voltage spikes, but not immediately as the damage took about a week after the event to show up with both main controller boards destroyed. I now have my new(er) printer (Canon IPF 6400) on a surge protector.

BTW, though a UPS is usually recommended, most don't offer the same amount of surge protection (measured in Joules) as a regular surge protector power strip does.  My surge protector is rated at 2100 Joules whereas the highest rating I've seen for a UPS is about 1/2 that, and the highest surge protector power strip I've seen is 4350 Joules, which for Florida might not be a bad idea: https://www.cyberpowersystems.com/product/surge/csht1208tnc2g/

Then if you still want battery backup you can plug the UPS into the Surge Protector power strip which will give you double protection.

If you do still want a UPS then you also need to be careful about the quality of the sine wave they output. A synthetic sine wave is choppy and can damage some sensitive equipment whereas a natural sine wave is the same as that from a regular home ac outlet. They do cost more though and you have to read the fine print to make sure exactly what you're getting.

https://www.cyberpowersystems.com/promotions/pfc-sinewave-ups/

Here's an example of a UPS with a natural sine wave:  https://www.cyberpowersystems.com/product/ups/pfc-sinewave/cp1500pfclcd/

You're looking at around $240 for both a surge protector and UPS (Amazon pricing) but considering the cost of your printer and computer it's worth it.

[picman]

Let-through voltage is more important than just going for the highest Joules.

[Garnick]

For all of the years that I've been running wide format printers I have never felt the need to use UPS, although of course all of my computers are on UPS.  There were situations when the power would be out for perhaps an hour or two and no noticeable negative effects with the printers.  Perhaps it was just luck.  When I moved my business to my home location and ordered an Epson P7000 I decided that perhaps it might be time for a UPS for it as well.  I checked all of the specs and determined the maximum wattage draw for the printer and bought a unit that would supposedly handle that wattage.  It's a CyberPower SX650G and I paid a bit under $100.00 CDN at BesyBuy.  I felt there was no point paying for wattage that was not needed.  The unit has 4 surge protected outlets and 4 surge protected backup outlets.  I don't recall the max running time, but all one needs is enough time to shut down the printer properly.  Perhaps scrap a print and save the printer 

Also, one should carefully read the specs of the UPS unit, especially the Warranty section.  In most cases the use of a power strip/bar can negate the warranty if the the strip is plugged in to one of the outlets.  However, I don't know about running the UPS from a strip.  The use of a strip in either case seems to be more of an issue if the strip has surge protection, from what I have read.  Just a thought.

Gary 

[mearussi]

Let-through voltage is more important than just going for the highest Joules.

Just talked to APC and was told let-through voltage and Joules are approximately the same. But they also mentioned not to plug a UPS into a surge protector strip. As to which one is best it really depends on your area. For an area with a lot of power surges but little or no power outages a high Joules rated surge protector would be better than a UPS. But if you're more worried about protecting your work if a power outage occurs then get a UPS.

[vjbelle]

Absolutely......  I have had my 8400 on a UPS for years without a hiccup.  It doesn't have to work very long as I have a 50KW standby generator which takes over in about 30 seconds but the UPS takes care of a very important 30 seconds. 

Victor

[gchappel]

I wanted to thank everyone for a very informative discussion- and for helping me out.
UPS is on order.
My printer thanks you
Gary

[Dan Wells]

Should probably throw my Pro-2000 on one... I don't think big printers draw very much power? I seem to recall that it's only about 100 watts when actively printing, and essentially nothing at any other time?