Does anyone use A UPS to protect their Projector?

stretcher

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Hi - I live in a semi-rural area which has overhead power cables and whether related or not, frequent power cuts. Sometimes these last literally a few seconds, others from 30 minutes to 4 hours and worst case so far has been 4 days.

On a number of occasions my £5k projector has been on and therefore not been able to go into standby and allow the lamp to cool properly.

Any experiences of using a UPS with short-term battery backup and if so, what brands, models etc? Moving is not an option!

Cheers.
 
I also live in a rural area with overhead power line so, yes, I use UPS's for computer and projector.

APC come highly recommended, expensive but if it saves wrecking a £300 lamp... :lesson:
 
That's useful - any particular model you'd recommend? The PJ has a power rating of 390W. A UPS would only be used for this so lots of additional outputs would just be redundant.
 
Mine are 10 years old and so obsolete, but just look at the APC website and choose something suitable.

Of course, other makes are available...
 
There was another UPS/ Projector thread earlier that may give some more information.
Ah - thank you.

In the meantime, I think my take-aways from this so far are:

1. A UPS is probably a worthwhile investment.
2. A silently operating one is important.
3. A sine wave output is desirable but perhaps not absolutely essential?
4. An awareness of the risks of existing battery technology
5. A budget of about £300 should be sufficient, and avoid the cheapo Chinese ones (common sense anyway I guess)

I have a Sony VPL-VW270ES and a bulb replacement is in the order of £300 as well. It currently is powered from an newly installed 13A ceiling socket and as such is permanently in stand by - I wonder if I should invest in a remote switch to fully turn off the PJ but also the UPS when not in use? Then may reduce any fire risk?
 
I live in a seni-rural area with overhead powerlines too. We occasionally get little blips where the power dips or cuts out for a second which could adversely affect projectors and the like. I have all my computers and servers on various UPS's which I would say are pretty essential for 'always on' PC's. For my projector I have a power inspired AG500 (I think?) which has a battery backup built in which ma be an option for you? I was going to go for another APC UPS like my PC's but read somewhere that the power output of them is a stepped sine wave (or something like that?... I can't remember the details) and when power is cut may not be the best for a PJ? The power inspired unit is an AC regenerator which may offer a cleaner mains signal if its a bit rubbish or variable coming in from the wall if you are in a rural setting? I am sure an APC unit will be fine but just thought I would offer you another option, I think it may be a bit more expensive though?

Anyway hope that helps, and you get some form of protection for the projector.

Cheers

Ash
 
I live in a seni-rural area with overhead powerlines too. We occasionally get little blips where the power dips or cuts out for a second which could adversely affect projectors and the like. I have all my computers and servers on various UPS's which I would say are pretty essential for 'always on' PC's. For my projector I have a power inspired AG500 (I think?) which has a battery backup built in which ma be an option for you? I was going to go for another APC UPS like my PC's but read somewhere that the power output of them is a stepped sine wave (or something like that?... I can't remember the details) and when power is cut may not be the best for a PJ? The power inspired unit is an AC regenerator which may offer a cleaner mains signal if its a bit rubbish or variable coming in from the wall if you are in a rural setting? I am sure an APC unit will be fine but just thought I would offer you another option, I think it may be a bit more expensive though?

Anyway hope that helps, and you get some form of protection for the projector.

Cheers

Ash
Thanks for the input - some seem described as just sine wave, which turn out to simulated or stepped, where as others as "true sine wave" - these latter ones do seem to be at a premium price point and that's what I currently looking into - seems difficult to find something suitable as I plan to use the UPS in a dedicated cinema room, and just for the projector, so I don't need the expense of umpteen outputs. The rest of the kit is protected by an old but effective surge protector and power smoother, but no battery backup.
Looks like Cyberpower/APC and Riello are the manufacturers to look at.
 
@stretcher Did you find a suitable UPS ? I think I want to put one my pj , amps and subs. I currently is a tacima surge filter protector lead. I doubt that will save in the event of frequent power cuts.
 
@stretcher Did you find a suitable UPS ? I think I want to put one my pj , amps and subs. I currently is a tacima surge filter protector lead. I doubt that will save in the event of frequent power cuts.
No, I never did. I sort of lost interest a bit with conflicting reports and then a few "home" issues. I'll need to look into it again. Like you, I've also got a surge filter in the meantime, but I agree with your comment about those frequent power cuts. I will definitely post again if I do come up with something.
 
No, I never did. I sort of lost interest a bit with conflicting reports and then a few "home" issues. I'll need to look into it again. Like you, I've also got a surge filter in the meantime, but I agree with your comment about those frequent power cuts. I will definitely post again if I do come up with something.
Thanks. The prospect of national power outages has really made me think about it more seriously.
 
I ran for while but it never seemed to cut in quickly enough to stop the pj powering down but i guess it did allow the cooling fan to run on
 
I had one years ago, ironically the only time my projector was affected by a power cut was me pressing the wrong button on the UPS and cutting the power. Didn't seem to harm the lamp as far as I could tell (and I was measuring lamp output already in those days). Given the cost of electricity I probably won't be using mine so much this winter anyway. :blush:
 
I have a 1 KVA UPS for all my AV gear, the large one with two 12 Volt batteries & ten Power sockets.
It saved my PS4 from having problems that I read many other people had, needing to rebuild the database after a Power cut.

I don't generally keep running my gear when there's a Power cut, unless it's just a blip.
We're close enough to the transformer that we can hear the loud POP when it blows, usually in the hottest days of Summer, so then I will Power down my equipment, except the modem & my computer.

Use the modem & computer to quickly report the outage & then turn them all off & go out for lunch.
 
I spent nearly a grand over the years on multiple UPS devices, to protect my pj. None lasted more than a year or so. At least two were APC branded, if not all of them. I even had a battery replaced in the fourth one rather than spend full price on a new one. It didn't last any longer.
They all died in a short time so I haven't had one for years, I figured it would be cheaper for me to take the risk of losing the bulb.
Now that power cuts are being mooted as likely this year I'm considering buying one again, just to allow the fan enough time to cool the pj down, not to run it.
Could the fact that the projector was the only device plugged into the ups and that the pj was only in use a few times per week have been the reason why the devices died after such a short time with little use? Maybe they need to constantly draw power to stay optimally operational.
 
I spent nearly a grand over the years on multiple UPS devices, to protect my pj. None lasted more than a year or so. At least two were APC branded, if not all of them. I even had a battery replaced in the fourth one rather than spend full price on a new one. It didn't last any longer.
They all died in a short time so I haven't had one for years, I figured it would be cheaper for me to take the risk of losing the bulb.

You seem to have been extremely unlucky with your APC UPS's.

As mentioned back in Post #2, I've had three for the last 10 years and, apart from a routine battery change for each at around 5 years, they've been faultless.
 
I spent nearly a grand over the years on multiple UPS devices, to protect my pj. None lasted more than a year or so. At least two were APC branded, if not all of them. I even had a battery replaced in the fourth one rather than spend full price on a new one. It didn't last any longer.
They all died in a short time so I haven't had one for years, I figured it would be cheaper for me to take the risk of losing the bulb.
Now that power cuts are being mooted as likely this year I'm considering buying one again, just to allow the fan enough time to cool the pj down, not to run it.
Could the fact that the projector was the only device plugged into the ups and that the pj was only in use a few times per week have been the reason why the devices died after such a short time with little use? Maybe they need to constantly draw power to stay optimally operational.
My work use them for medical equipment. APC. They literally last for years and years and cut in and protect equipment far more expensive than even a generous home cinema set up. Loads and loads of the units all over the world.
 

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