He did not respond to the words, ‘Active PFC.’ He didn’t chuckle when I mentioned ‘sine wave.’ However, he did act like I might have just teleported over from a different timeline.įinally, he acknowledged that he didn’t know what I was talking about, but he warned me that some UPS manufacturers have been known to use bad batteries that can expand.
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Then, I found an available Apple Genius and posed the question…Ī perplexed look slowly spread across his face as if I had asked him about Windows 10. Surely they would have a point of view…įirst off, there were no UPS units on sale anywhere in the Apple Store. So I decided to head down to my local Apple Store and speak to the Apple Geniuses. Well, the next question I had was whether my iMac has an Active PFC power supply… For those few minutes it takes to power down your computer, you’ll be just fine. Unless you’re planning on running your computer for extended periods on a simulated sine wave UPS, (like with a home media server) there’s no problem. Others insist an Active PFC computer won’t run off of a simulated sine wave at all.īut there’s another camp that says not to worry… Some say those computers audibly buzz as they struggle with the wrong kind of power. And those units are designed to work with true sine wave current.Īctive PFC power supplies don’t like the cheap stuff. However, certain computers use ‘Active Power Factor Correction’ power supplies (Active PFC). Apparently, they can handle the cheaper juice. a GMO liquid.)Īnd that’s fine for lots of computers. (My body is starting to shudder uncontrollably just trying to type all these words.)Īnd yes, simulated sine wave UPS systems cost less than the ‘pure’ ones. They give you something called a simulated sine wave… or a modified square wave… or a stepped-approximation sine wave. Most consumer UPS systems don’t give you a ‘true’ or ‘pure’ sine wave electrical current. It has to do with the quality of electricity a UPS generates. It would be best if you found an electrical engineer to explain, And it could point to a huge risk in the health of your computer when running off the ‘wrong UPS unit.’ If you’re still reading this paragraph, I congratulate you for your insatiable search for knowledge… or you have my condolences for being such a massive geek…Įither way, you should know, the ‘Sine Wave’ conversation is apparently a controversy in certain tech circles. (And now all the APC marketing folks are throwing their hands up in disgust with my fickle positioning.) So for no rock-solid reason, I decided to go with ‘the other guy.’ (You know how I get when it comes to reliable power.)ĪPC appears to still be the dominant manufacturer of consumer UPS units today, but after a little online research, I found lots of folks talking about how much they liked their CyberPower UPS systems.
I decided I didn’t want to mess around with tech that’s already a few generations old. That’s already half the cost of a band new UPS, but many of you would probably still say, “Click” and be done with it. I tracked down the right model, which was named ‘Battery Cartridge #33.’ So I jumped onto Amazon to see how much the replacement battery would be. That activated a red light in the front and the irritating 30 seconds of its beeping red alert. It performed a self-diagnostic and apparently failed the test. My five-year-old APC UPS (XS 1200) decided it was no longer fit for duty while I was enjoying my morning cup of Joe. Providing stable, emergency power for a few minutes, a UPS battery system can really save your computer heartache.īut any battery only lasts for so long, even if you’re not using it. Time to Replace My Uninterruptable Power Supplyīut seriously, unless you have complete faith in both your electrical grid and Mother Nature, you should expect the occasional brown out or total black out. It was my lowly UPS unit… I mean to say my uninterruptable power supply… You know… that big, heavy battery backup box that my iMac plugs into for protection against a power outage.Ĭomputers hate unstable power or the sudden loss of power mid sente
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A power net, that is… Time to buy a replacement!Ī moment of Tech Zen is often a fleeting one… Last week, my Home Zen was shattered by a piercing series of beeps coming from under my desk. “Uninterruptable Power Supply Interrupted.” My APC UPS failed its own self-diagnostic… and my iMac began operating without a net.
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