UPS solution for printer?

Chakonari

Chakonari

Getting Fingers Dirty
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Can anyone recommend a UPS for a printer that draws, say, 25 Watt max at 230V?

The UPS wouldn't need to power anything other than the printer, so the general computer UPSs provide "too much" power.
 
Chakonari said:
Can anyone recommend a UPS for a printer that draws, say, 25 Watt max at 230V?

The UPS wouldn't need to power anything other than the printer, so the general computer UPSs provide "too much" power.
Click to expand...
There's no such thing as a UPS providing "too much" power unless you mean you just don't want to pay too much or you want to keep the physical size down. However, if your printer is an all-in-one, sometimes they can require surges of power so I would be more concerned about too little power than too much.

But why do you want to put a printer on a UPS? Most UPS's only have enough energy in their batteries to allow you to save your files and turn off your computer before the UPS runs out of energy so that you don't damage your computers or your software or your data. No problem will come to your printer if the power suddenly goes off, except that you may have to repeat your print job and if you think the UPS will avoid that problem, it can only do it for a relatvely small print job, unless you get a UPS with a lot of watt-hour capability in it, which is bigger, not smaller.
 
Besides the moderate power backup are you really looking for surge protection from transients in your AC power line. Most, if not all UPS systems contain thus feature.

irv weiner
 
Here's something I found on APC's website:

Printers draw a very large amount of power and it is not advised that they be provided with UPS backup power because it is not economical. Many UPS for desktop use have additional surge protected outlets that do not provide backup power. This is where laser printers should be plugged in. Since laser printers are plugged into outlets that do not use the UPS battery, the presence of the laser printer does not affect UPS wattage or run time. If you do plug the Ink Jet Printer into the outlets with battery backup power, the UPS backup time during an outage will be reduced.
 
My experience with UPS at work is they all have dead batteries or batteries that are so close to dead that they only provide so little protection as to be worthless, a false sense of security. I periodically test my UPS systems by unplugging them from the wall and timing how long they will power the computer and monitor. The good ones have batteries that cost hundreds of dollars. The cheap ones that you can buy at the local stores all are rated for just minutes of time and that's when they're new. They would be good if you live in an area where you have a lot of surges or brownouts that disrupt your computer but most computers can tolerate abuse on the power line without the need for any other protection.
 
irvweiner said:
For a 25 W UPS request I doubt that a laser printer is being considered by the OP

irv weiner
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I doubt it too but they still do not recommend putting an inkjet printer on a battery backed up outlet of a UPS. I thought your earlier suggestion was to use one of the outlets that just provide surge protection which is what APC recommends.
 
George, I repeat, the OP is discussing 25W, this is typical of many hobbyist's photo printers, serious or or newbies. The 3 Canon 9xxx's (used over the last decade) and my present Epson 3880 ALL draw <30W when printing (from the manuals). Yes, I am keenly aware of the power requirements of 'home use' laserjets. my wife's little HP 1006 desktop pulls quite few amps when printing a page. The laserjet is not the focus here.

I'm not looking for a flamethrowing contest here but your remarks about the status of the UPS's at your worksite is quite disturbing. If I were managing your group, I'd be all over IT's butts. If the UPS situation is truly that poor, it is you and your associates responsibility to correct/report it--anything less it gross negligence.

Five or ten minutes to shut down, no problem--but diminished or no transient voltage protection, this can easily wipe out your HD's and memory storage.--incurring serious work/info loss and dollars. I have 2 moderate size APC USP's at home, they give my wife and 15-20 mins or more breathing time, the batteries for theses units: 2x~75 WH lead-acid cost ~$20 from Digikey. This APC RS1500 cost ~$150 with batteries and alarms.

New England is a stormy place, about 15 yrs a lightning strike to our well pump, 130 ft underground wiped out our major electronic appliances and toys. I planted surge protectors throughout the house , in '05 a major summer storm knocked down several nearby trees. Instead of the typical power loss suffered by myself and neighbors the real trouble hit me when power was restored. The Neutral line from the 3-phase AC was sheared open, this changed my home AC voltage to 202 from 115-lots of fused in those surge protectors blew--saving us from a repeat disaster. This is an example of a voltage surge not being a transient but steady state. The few light bulbs that were on went off like 'flashbulbs'.

Regards irv weiner
 
Irv, please, the question is: should a printer (laserjet or inkjet) be on a UPS? APC says no. I say no. I'm not sure if you say no or not, I can't tell. I understand your concern about surge protection but you don't need to put a printer on a UPS to get that. Don't you agree?
 
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