My what? Up to who? I don't mean United Parcel Service. In this context UPS stands for uninterruptible power supply. By par I don't mean Phil, I mean average.
This posting is based on my personal experience and knowledge of electronics. I have been using a UPS on my computer, and another one on Sue's computer for about 8 years. What is a UPS? It's a device you can buy that will keep your computer going in the event of a power failure. In most cases it will keep you running for about 10 minutes which is plenty of time to save what you are working on and do an orderly shutdown so no files will be damaged. A UPS will also let you ignore those little power bumps that make the lights flicker but will drive a computer bananas. It will also keep you going through those 5 second interruptions that happen sometimes when the power company is switching equipment. How do they work? There are three basic parts to a UPS. 1. The control circuit. 2. The storage battery. and 3. The DC to AC converter. The battery is kept charged from the power line during normal operation. When the power fails, the control circuit switches on the DC to AC converter which operates off the battery and powers your computer until the mains power comes back on or the battery runs down. The control circuit also senses the condition of the battery which is what prompted this posting. Sometimes your UPS will start beeping for no apparent reason. If you call someone with eyes they will tell you there is a yellow light glowing that says replace battery, or something like that. Sometimes this is a false alarm and sometimes it isn't. Obviously, the safe thing to do is to replace the battery but they aren't cheap so you might like to know if you really need to replace it. Here's how to test it. Save all files and close all applications but leave your computer on. It won't really hurt to let the power fail as long as nothing is running. Unplug the UPS from the wall socket and note the time. The ups will start to beep but the computer should stay on. At first it will beep every minute or so but as the battery runs down the beeping will grow more urgent. At the end of the cycle it will beep continuously for a while and then shut down. Note the time again. If it keeps your computer up for 5 minutes or more you are safe. If the computer goes down almost immediately, or after a minute or so, it is time to replace the battery. I would say it wouldn't hurt to do this exercise about every 3 months even without a warning light. The battery needs to be cycled once in a while to keep its chemistry in good shape. Replacing the battery. The battery in a UPS has a limited life and it was meant to be replaced. The manufacturers have made it easy for that reason. Unplug the UPS and make sure it is turned off. Somewhere on the back or bottom you will find a trap door. It may require a screwdriver to open but usually it just pops open. The battery is equipped with push on terminals. Pull the wires off of the old battery. Take the old one to a store that sells office supplies, computer supplies or batteries. They will sell you the proper replacement and take the old one for safe recycling. The new battery will have safety covers over the terminals. Remove them before attempting to connect the wires from the UPS. Some UPSs are designed so you can't put the connectors on wrong, the positive wire will not fit on the negative battery connector. Some don't. Sighted assistance is recommended here. It's not rocket science. The red wire goes to the red terminal on the battery and the black wire goes on the black terminal. Regards. Max. K 4 O D S. Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Transistor site http://www.funwithtransistors.net Vacuum tube site: http://www.funwithtubes.net Music site: http://www.maxsmusicplace.com To subscribe to the fun with tubes group send an email to, [EMAIL PROTECTED] To listen to the show archives go to link http://acbradio.org/handyman.html or ftp://ftp.acbradio.org/acbradio-archives/handyman/ The Pod Cast address for the Blind Handy Man Show is. http://www.acbradio.org/news/xml/podcast.php?pgm=saturday The Pod Cast address for the Cooking In The Dark Show is. http://www.gcast.com/u/cookingindark/main.xml Visit The Blind Handy Man Files Page To Review Contributions From Various List Members At The Following address: http://www.jaws-users.com/handyman/ Visit the archives page at the following address http://www.mail-archive.com/blindhandyman@yahoogroups.com/ For a complete list of email commands pertaining to the Blind Handy Man list just send a blank message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/blindhandyman/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/blindhandyman/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
