[NANOG] Re: Small Capacity UPS

[Mel Beckman via NANOG <nanog () lists nanog org>]

ic,

Alas, although some of these units advertise this capability, they don’t reliably operate this way. I’ve tried several 
brands as solar-charged UPSes at remote radio antenna sites, and all eventually failed within just a couple months of 
the batteries didn’t make it through a long gray spell. 

In my experience, they may initially work as a UPS for a few power outage cycles, but then suddenly fail permanently 
with burned components. Some vendors actually say operating as a UPS — drawing power while charging — voids the 
warranty, despite appearing to work. 

For mission-critical operations, it’s best to use a name-brand self-contained UPS designed for the purpose. In a small 
space you won’t get more than an hour or two of runtime, but that’s the physics we’re stuck with at this time. 

-mel via cell

> On Apr 8, 2025, at 5:30 AM, ic via NANOG <nanog () lists nanog org> wrote:
>
> Hi,
>
> > On 6 Apr 2025, at 20:55, Mike Hammett via NANOG <nanog () lists nanog org> wrote:
> >
> > I'm trying to find something that keeps my customer's network gear online for a meaningful amount of time. The 
> > challenge is that an ONT, firewall, switch, AP, and some IP phones doesn't add up to be very much load. Most normal 
> > UPSes get terribly inefficient at lower load ratings. Add up all of the network devices a customer may have and we 
> > rarely break 50 watts of load. Normal, small UPSes are lucky to break 50% efficiency at those loads whereas they may 
> > be 95% efficient at say 100 or 200 watts. Get a bigger unit with a bigger battery and now you're even less 
> > efficient. Get a big enough unit to have extendable batteries and now you're spending thousands of dollars for such 
> > a small request.
> >
> > I've gone asking, but haven't really gotten anywhere. The best technical solution was from some electronics parts 
> > nerds that was basically to build my own small rectifier and battery system. Great. I can achieve high efficiencies 
> > with small loads, letting me have say 4 or 8 hours of battery. However, I've got a science project, not something I 
> > can deploy at a customer.
> >
> > I'm hoping one of you has the magic bullet in what product a service provider should use in this scenario.
> >
> > Oh, and of course, being able to centrally manage them from my own iron would be great too.  :-)
>
> For places which are not proper IT cabinets, I’d go with something like https://us.ecoflow.com/ - most (if not all) 
> support charging while output is on, and you get the extra benefit of being able to add a solar panel if you want to.
>
> Not sure about the efficiency though.
>
> BR, ic
>
> _______________________________________________
> NANOG mailing list
> https://lists.nanog.org/archives/list/nanog () lists nanog org/message/HSXYBNXQYRSDQXQSXEOAEC2VJQRISP2E/
_______________________________________________
NANOG mailing list 
https://lists.nanog.org/archives/list/nanog () lists nanog org/message/TLTIGR224VSY73UCGVION526TWS564WG/