Anyone know if I can run printer from Battery Backup?

[One Frame at a Time]

Hi,  I just got a 3880 and want to run a bunch of prints today. Its supposed to storm all afternoon. If storms approach and I am in the middle of a print I can disconnect from A/C power.  I have a big battery backup system that can power all my equipment for about 2 or 3 hours after the power fails. 

Like most other UPS systems mine is not a pure sine wave inverter.  The square wave output is supposed to be ok for computer gear but not for motor systems like fans and refrigerators (from what I have been reading, they get hot from this type of power).  Does anyone know if printers can handle this type of voltage without problems?  Unlike computers, printers have motors to drive the print head and paper. Thanks!

[darlingm]

That's a really good question!

I believe the issue with square wave AC is for induction motors, which can cause the motor to overheat.  I believe if it's a DC motor or an AC synchronous motor you don't have the same heat issue.

I have no idea what type of motor is used.  It's entirely possible the power could be immediately converted to DC, and either used to run a DC motor.  If the power is immediately converted to DC, I believe your risk would be fairly limited to the internal power supply.

If it's not urgent to be able to run the prints today, I'd wait and speak with Epson tech support tomorrow and see if you could get an answer, or transferred to a higher level tech.

If it's urgent, I have no idea what I'd do.  If you just got it, it's probably under warranty still, but you never know what damage might wait until the warranty expired to star showing itself.

We experienced an unexpected outage two days ago, apparently due to lack of supply from many AC units running.  Was near the end of a 24x36 print.    Even worse, the heads didn't make it to the capping station, so the nozzle test I was able to run about 15 hours later when the power came back was just awful.  Many colors weren't there at all, and those that were had about half missing.  I was beyond thrilled when a normal cleaning cycle took care of it in one shot.  I had no idea if I'd have to ramp up to a power cleaning cycle at some point.

[bill t.]

My 8300 ran just fine for about 2 minutes on a cheap battery backup, didn't even miss a pixel going from the mains to the backup and back again.  The computer was not so lucky, its battery had quietly died without even telling me, just to spite me for not hooking up the USB data link.  Fortunately the file was already completely buffered on the 8300's disc so all was well except for a few finger-crossed moments rebooting the computer.  Memo to self...make sure the printer and computer do not share the same 15 amp circuit with the microwave and toaster in the kitchen, or never print at lunch time.

It's surprising how little power even the 44" printers need.  I think my 9880 required under 200 watts, and the 8300 about 300.  That's less than most desktop computers.

Have long marveled at the brilliant industrial design work embodied in our printers.  They are unreasonably good machines in terms of being hammered daily by knuckleheads like me, while still functioning well years down the road with almost zero maintenance.  Except for maybe some minor clogging and belt issues.  I know a thing or two about motors and power electronics, and I have to assume all the servo and non-servo motor systems, and all the electronics, can shrug off the Frankenstein AC waveforms one gets from bargain basement battery backups.  Basically, almost everything in a printer is isolated through sophisticated power supplies that can deal with a lot of flack from the mains.  The cooling fans are probably on their own, but they're tough.

[Farmer]

It's a very common recommendation for users of LFP to get a UPS, and I've never seen a requirement for pure sinewave.  As was suggested above, the power is converted to DC immediately and therefore shouldn't cause any issues.

[DeanChriss]

Your printer may not need a pure sine wave UPS, but computers made over the past few years all use active power factor correction power supplies, and those are much happier with a pure sine wave supply. Without a pure sine wave the protection circuits inside the computer's power supply will sometimes shut it down during a transfer from mains power to battery power depending where the stepped (simulated sine wave) waveform is at that moment. Pure sine wave UPS units are available at low cost from CyberPower. APC has also made them for quite a while under the "SmartUPS" designation, but they are very expensive. My knowledge of current models is a few years old so perhaps that has changed by now. I have a 1500VA pure sine wave unit running the my computer and printer with no problems.

[One Frame at a Time]

Thanks all for your responses.  Dean, do you know if laptops run the same corrective supply?  I saw the units from Cyber Power listed on Amazon.  Very inexpensive for conditioned UPS backup but then I started to read many of the one star reviews....  Do you know anything about them?

[DeanChriss]

Thanks all for your responses.  Dean, do you know if laptops run the same corrective supply?  I saw the units from Cyber Power listed on Amazon.  Very inexpensive for conditioned UPS backup but then I started to read many of the one star reviews....  Do you know anything about them?

If you are running the laptop with the battery installed from the battery charger/AC power adapter you shouldn't need a pure sine wave UPS. Even with no UPS, if the power fails the laptop battery should keep things going for quite a while. In cases like that the UPS is more for surge protection than power failure issues. If you are running through a docking station your mileage may vary. I'm not very familiar with how all of the different models out there work, so perhaps someone else could chime in about that. Regardless, a "pure sine wave" UPS is will run anything up to it's rated power limit without problems because its output is essentially the same as what you get from a commercial power source.

I've had a 1500 VA CyberPower USP for more than a year and have had no issues at all. Based on reviews they apparently used to have a packaging issue that allowed the very heavy units to be damaged in shipment. Mine came very well packaged. All I can say about the performance is that it works. APC has a great reputation and their design makes battery replacement easier. Their pure sine wave (Smart-UPS) models have come down in price since I purchased but are still considerably more expensive. The unit I got was the "CyberPower CP1500PFCLCD UPS 1500VA / 900W PFC compatible Pure sine wave". It's rated 4 out of 5 stars in 68 reviews at newegg.com.

[Clearair]

I did some research a few years back on this very issue due to living in darkest Dorset and seeing NOT only short power outs but also high spikes and voltage 240 instead of 220.
None of the information saw this as good news for both the PC or LFP.
My Canon iPF6100 gave off a LOUD buzzing from the power stage while asleep when connected to a square wave UPS.

I delt with a power supply specialist company and gave my equipment specs, they made these points.
1  My Mac Pro desktop may run on a budget UPS but please don't as these are designed for safe shut down, not extended running, and PCs are more sensitive these days.
2  The power stage noise on my printer says all, and also I believe Canon service say a power out can damage a printer such as these.

I tried a small UPS from them for my Apple and it was very good so bought a more powerful one for all my equipment including the printer.
All has worked well for almost two years and I can see the power usage and the constant buck of the power supply from the LCD on the UPS.
The smaller unit now looks after my wife's iMac, printer etc.

I have used both online and line active square UPS and they were edgy and unreliable.

I see my set up as a power filter and back up.

PS, there are very few if any actual true sine wave power supplies, just techie versions.

Don't now send replies bamboozling this post with anorak electrical knowledge, it is meant as a reply from a layman to a layman.
Regards

[DeanChriss]

No bamboozling here, just info, honest.     For some information that explains the problem see:

http://www.cyberpowersystems.com/

http://www.jkovach.net/projects/powerquality/

You'll see that while the "pure sine wave" units are not exactly pure they're far closer to a sine wave than the stepped waveforms (really modified square waves) of the other units. [EDIT] If you hear buzzing from a power supply only when it is on backup power it is a direct result of having a modified square wave input that causes inductors in the supply to resonate. [EDIT 2] Energy Star 5.0 requires the use of active power factor correction power supplies on line-powered computers because it's the only way to make a power supply that's more than about 70% efficient. I suspect anything else that plugs into a wall outlet and bears the "Energy Star" label also uses the same sort of power supply, including printers.

[kaelaria]

Living in the lightning capitol of the world, I use an APC battery unit on everything electrical in the house except the major appliances.  We get regular spikes, brownouts, surges, and cutouts during our storms from seconds to hours.  I have never had an issue printing, using the computer, tv, cable box, router, modem, you name it.