[NANOG] Re: Small Capacity UPS

[Dorn Hetzel via NANOG <nanog () lists nanog org>]

Agreed.

In particular I've tried to use EcoFlow for this task and none have ever
survived a year in service.  Some got an initial repair, but all failed
again just out of warranty and ended up discarded.

-Dorn


On Tue, Apr 8, 2025 at 7:57 AM Mel Beckman via NANOG <nanog () lists nanog org>
wrote:

> 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
> >
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