CyberPower CP850AVRLCD 9-Outlet 850VA/510W AVR Tower UPS ~ $70 w/ FS @ OfficeDepot.com

thanks OP - in for one. need a new one as my old apc ups starting to give me headaches with the battery.

Questions, since I don't have an EE degree and never done this.

Would one simply drill a hole into the UPS compartment and solder 14AWG wires to the internal battery leads, then solder other tips to the external battery in parallel? Yes, I understand the voltage needs to be the same and the load handling is still the same, even with an extra battery.

The UPS will still charge up the external battery correctly and be able to still provide accurate backup time?

Thanks in advance. Just want to make sure nothing blows up. Not sure how much one can save vs buying the 1500VA model.

Quote from rbreding : no way to know unless you specify how many watts your devices are using that you plan on connecting to this. You can do this with any UPS, however the "plastic" ones aren't meant to run for extended times. However the older and more expensive METAL models are meant to have extended runtimes and have beefier components in them. Also some UPS's are 12V, some are 24V, and some are 48V.

Quote from guppeeh : Questions, since I don't have an EE degree and never done this. Would one simply drill a hole into the UPS compartment and solder 14AWG wires to the internal battery leads, then solder other tips to the external battery in parallel? Yes, I understand the voltage needs to be the same and the load handling is still the same, even with an extra battery. The UPS will still charge up the external battery correctly and be able to still provide accurate backup time? Thanks in advance. Just want to make sure nothing blows up. Not sure how much one can save vs buying the 1500VA model.

In theory yes. However the problem with some of these smaller plastic units is the charge controller that keeps the battery charged can only charge up a battery Voltamp to a certain level. Which means that you can max out the charge controller by connecting to many batteries to it.

Any deals on a larger sinewave unit? My APC Backups 700 keeps eating batteries.

Is this unit sinewave?

Quote from xlnc : OfficeDepot.com offers the CyberPower® CP850AVRLCD Uninterruptible Power Supply, 9 Outlets, 850VA/510 Watt [officedepot.com] on sale for $89.99 (regularly $99.99) through Dec 7. Add the UPS to your cart and apply coupon code 367597258 [officedepot.com] to save another $20 for a net cost of $69.99 plus applicable sales tax with free shipping. Manufacturer's product information: Intelligent LCD Series - CP850AVRLCD [cyberpowersystems.com]

Excellent find xlnc. I own one of these bad boys and it's a great UPS!

I think I got it about 5 or 6 years ago and it still works like it's day one when the power goes out. You can't beat $70 Shipped. Shipping alone probably costs $15 for OfficeDepot on this thing.

Quote from Four1Fool : Is this unit sinewave?

On Battery Waveform - Simulated Sine Wave
Link [cyberpowersystems.com]

Amazon had the 1500VA both sinewave and non for 149.99 and 119 (I think) respectively during their black friday/cyber monday sales week...

Quote from Four1Fool : Is this unit sinewave?

CP850AVRLCD is SIMULATED sine wave which will work with older power supplies, but the newer power supplies, especially the highly efficient ones that have Active Power Factor Correction APFC, require true sine waves or they will not work properly with the UPS. I only have gold and platinum 80+ rated PSUs so I will pass on this.

I hope this info saved at least a few people from buying a UPS that won't keep taking down their APFC-powered equipment whenever there is a mild disturbance in the utility grid.

I used to buy a lot of UPS for my half dozen PCs, router / modem, etc. I finally replaced them all with regular surge protectors.

It gets expensive to replace all of the UPS after the batteries wear out, and they start to beep non-stop.

Since I switched to laptops mostly with built-in batteries, there is a less of a need for these. Glad I don't have to swap another one out due to dead battery.

Good deal! In for 1.

I have the bigger 1500Kva CyberPower UPS and it's been working fine.

Thanks, OP!

Would this be appropriate to keep a modem and phone system alive during a power outage? Or is it overkill for that purpose?

Quote from bilditup1 : Would this be appropriate to keep a modem and phone system alive during a power outage? Or is it overkill for that purpose?

It is overkill in that it is more UPS than you need. However, the fact that it is overkill simply translates into additional battery life. You could probably keep a modem and router powered for hours with this size.

Quote from goldchocobo : CP850AVRLCD is SIMULATED sine wave which will work with older power supplies, but the newer power supplies, especially the highly efficient ones that have Active Power Factor Correction APFC, require true sine waves or they will not work properly with the UPS. I only have gold and platinum 80+ rated PSUs so I will pass on this. I hope this info saved at least a few people from buying a UPS that won't keep taking down their APFC-powered equipment whenever there is a mild disturbance in the utility grid.

how do you know which kind of psu you have i have a corsair 650 watt psu think box had a yellow ribbon on it not sure the model exactly.