Computer back up battery/surge protector.

Derfish

Gold
Jan 7, 2016
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A decade ago when I bought a complete computer system including a CRT etc... I was told I should also buy a surge protector and back up battery. Are such available here in the DR? One that when the lights go out will keep the wifi on, though that probably was not what mine did back then. But when ever the lights go out here from Ede flash and flicker even for a half a second I have to reset the modem This is with a laptop and it has a battery which is fully charged as I use it.
Anybody know about a system to not lose the internet when the power goes out for a minute? Would a fiber optic connection be the answer?
 

Drro

Bronze
Mar 22, 2006
1,407
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I have an inverter and when the power goes out I have seamless internet connection, internet phone connection and no time lag.
 

Jaime809

Bronze
Aug 23, 2012
1,152
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36
A decade ago when I bought a complete computer system including a CRT etc... I was told I should also buy a surge protector and back up battery. Are such available here in the DR? One that when the lights go out will keep the wifi on, though that probably was not what mine did back then. But when ever the lights go out here from Ede flash and flicker even for a half a second I have to reset the modem This is with a laptop and it has a battery which is fully charged as I use it.
Anybody know about a system to not lose the internet when the power goes out for a minute? Would a fiber optic connection be the answer?

APC makes a low-wattage device that retails for $40 and weighs about 6 lbs to ship. It keep my internet going for ~30 minutes. A UPS not only does what a surge protector does, but it's also a line conditioner that protects from power dips.
 

No Place Like Home

Well-known member
Jul 9, 2013
708
39
48
CEDUCOMP in POP, about 1,700 pesos. Battery backup for about 20 minutes depending on whats connected to it. After 10 minutes and power is still out, I shut the PC down and allow my moden/route to continue
to run so I can use WIFI devices for many many hours.
 

SantiagoDR

The "REAL" SantiagoDR
Jan 12, 2006
5,808
948
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Here you go Derfish .. At pricesmart (no live link posting so you join yourself) https://shop.pricesmart.com/ni/en/product/ 275662433/1500va-back-ups-xs-lcd-ups-battery-backup#page=1

Definitely "OVERKILL" for the stated problem

And there is no guarantee a UPS will fix the problem.
The problem could also be the modem/router, even after you get a needed UPS.

Derfish, post the model number of the modem/router, perhaps others will have advice about that particular unit.

You may have to switch out the modem/router along with getting a small UPS that powers just the modem/router.


And "No", a fiber optic connection is not the answer unless it's the phone company dropping the connection. Which may still occur even with fiber optics.
 

MpJuly

Member
Apr 30, 2009
467
1
18
buy the brand Omega locally, paid one month ago 1,700 pesos for 1000VA,work well with inverter, no all brand work with inverter !!

I have my internet modem oin it and no drop
 

Cdn_Gringo

Gold
Apr 29, 2014
8,671
1,133
113
Derfish,

Your real issue may well be your inverter. The fact that a power failure results in a momentary loss of power means your inverter is not as fast as it should be to kick in or was good and is beginning to show its age and progressing towards failure.

You can address your singular concern by hooking up your modem to a UPS. Because you are using a laptop you don't need the UPS to prevent loss of power to the laptop but the surge protection provided is always a good idea here. If you were using a desktop computer and your modem flickers when the power goes out, chances are the desktop computer would crash too at the same time as the modem. Something to keep in mind if you ever buy a non battery powered computer.

A UPS of 750VA or greater will power your modem for a long time but not forever obviously if the power is off long enough to drain your inverter batteries.

You could really solve the problem and install a wizbang pure sine wave inverter and make all your other electronics happy at the same time. I assume you rent so probably don't want to change the inverter so go with the UPS. Just make sure that you have a place to buy replacement batteries for the UPS. The frequent power failures here results in having to change batteries much more frequently than in a place where the power only goes off once a year. As an additional caution, many North American UPS systems don't much like the square wave power supplied by cheapy inverters. They are too heavy to ship to the DR anyways and the batteries contained will designate the package dangerous goods making it even more expensive.

So yes, buy a UPS here in the DR or buy a better inverter, voila problem solved, for now.
 

bob saunders

Platinum
Jan 1, 2002
32,502
5,930
113
dr1.com
I bought at pricesmart a Tripp-lite voltage regulator 2000 VA output. Works great. You must have a grounded system and three prong outlet with the regulator plugged directly into the wall connection- no extension cord between.
 
Last edited:

westom

New member
Dec 4, 2009
16
0
0
But when ever the lights go out here from Ede flash and flicker even for a half a second I have to reset the modem This is with a laptop and it has a battery which is fully charged as I use it.
Electronics are happiest with a cheapest and 'dirtiest' UPS. In your case, the modem draws so little power that any UPS is more than enough power for many minutes (or even an hour) of power interruption.

Internet amplifiers may also be interrupted by that power outage - and still the modem must reinitialize. But only experience (with a UPS) can say anything useful.

Forget the naive who foolishly think a UPS protects from surges or conditions power. Yes it does. And then look at the numbers. So tiny - so near to zero - that is virtually does not. Manufacturers market to people who all but want to be scammed - who ignore numbers. It is a near zero surge protector and outputs 'dirty' conditioned power so that the naive will believe it does 100% surge protection and pure power. The naive quickly identify themselves with recommendations that ignore numbers.

That UPS has one purpose. Temporary and 'dirty' power so that a modem/wifi need not restart. Any $40 UPS will do.

Another interesting and custom solution is a large capacitor on the power cord between modem and power brick. If router power is from a 12 volt brick, then the capacitor must be at least 16 volts and many thousands of microfarads. These can even be found and work just fine when removed from scrapped electronics. Then plenty of power remains for seconds after a quick power loss. And do power conditioning and surge protection equal or superior to what that many times more expensive UPS might do.

Finally, even a most expensive (pure sine wave) UPS is made as cheap as possible. Battery life expectancy for a cheapest or most expensive UPS is about three years. Better is to find one with a replaceable battery.
 

Derfish

Gold
Jan 7, 2016
4,441
2
0
Derfish,

Your real issue may well be your inverter. The fact that a power failure results in a momentary loss of power means your inverter is not as fast as it should be to kick in or was good and is beginning to show its age and progressing towards failure.

You can address your singular concern by hooking up your modem to a UPS. Because you are using a laptop you don't need the UPS to prevent loss of power to the laptop but the surge protection provided is always a good idea here. If you were using a desktop computer and your modem flickers when the power goes out, chances are the desktop computer would crash too at the same time as the modem. Something to keep in mind if you ever buy a non battery powered computer.

A UPS of 750VA or greater will power your modem for a long time but not forever obviously if the power is off long enough to drain your inverter batteries.

You could really solve the problem and install a wizbang pure sine wave inverter and make all your other electronics happy at the same time. I assume you rent so probably don't want to change the inverter so go with the UPS. Just make sure that you have a place to buy replacement batteries for the UPS. The frequent power failures here results in having to change batteries much more frequently than in a place where the power only goes off once a year. As an additional caution, many North American UPS systems don't much like the square wave power supplied by cheapy inverters. They are too heavy to ship to the DR anyways and the batteries contained will designate the package dangerous goods making it even more expensive.

So yes, buy a UPS here in the DR or buy a better inverter, voila problem solved, for now.

Ain't no inverter here. So to buy a UPS what do I call it in Spanish?
Der Fish
 

shorts

Member
Dec 3, 2012
310
3
18
I have a quick inverter/battery question

I bought new batteries at Pricesmart about a year ago. I allowed them to go too long without water and they dried out. I then put water in them, but they're not working (my inverter isn't coming on when it's supposed to). Are my batteries toast?
 

josh2203

Bronze
Dec 5, 2013
1,570
525
113
I have a quick inverter/battery question

I bought new batteries at Pricesmart about a year ago. I allowed them to go too long without water and they dried out. I then put water in them, but they're not working (my inverter isn't coming on when it's supposed to). Are my batteries toast?

As far as I know, it doesn?t work like that. You need to maintain the plates within the batteries well watered non-stop, otherwise they get destroyed slowly. If you let them go dry badly, watering them afterwards will have no effect anymore.

If the inverter does not kick in anymore, it would mean that the voltage drops. You can also purchase a voltage meter yourself, and check the overall voltage of the batteries. I?m not sure about the exact requirement, but the voltage should be pretty close to the input voltage of the inveter (e.g. 24v interter does not turn on if the batteries only provide 21-22v), and if the voltage is slow, the battery is dead.

We had issues like this in the past, but did not want to invest to 4 new batteries, so we always replaced just the worst battery (the one with the lowest voltage), but that solution helps also slowly destroying the other good batteries...
 

Cdn_Gringo

Gold
Apr 29, 2014
8,671
1,133
113
Fish, as Good Love said, any computer store will recognize the letters U-P-S or bater?a de reserva if you encounter a shop keeper from Swaziland.

Since you have no inverter or power at all when the Ede system fails, get the largest UPS you can find/afford. 750VA - 1500VA. Don't obsess over the numbers but the larger the number the longer it will run stuff. Most boxes will tell you that they will run a "computer" for XXX minutes. These numbers are misleading and best case scenarios, laboratory conditions only. A UPS near the 1000VA (1200VA is a common size) rating will allow you to keep your internet, a small plug in light and small fan operating for awhile. When the UPS battery gets to 50%, turn off the fan, then the light. Viola, you've gone from the dark ages to light, a breeze and the internet overnight.

When overall UPS battery performance drops to about 1/2 of what it was new, get ready to change the batteries. That last half of rechargeable capacity is a rather quick drop to zero with rechargeable batteries.
 

Cdn_Gringo

Gold
Apr 29, 2014
8,671
1,133
113
Shorts,

Without actually testing your batteries I can't say for certain that one or all is toast but I would suspect they are. The water level in new batteries should be checked every two weeks for the first couple of months and can then be stretched out to once a month if you find you are not adding water during the two week checking cycle. If after a month you find you are adding water consistently, go to a three week inspection cycle. The idea is to never have any part of the metal plates exposed to the air.

If it is quick and easy to check the fluid levels, you'll be more inclined to do it. If you have to get down on your knees with a flashlight and a mirror to peer into the batteries on the bottom shelf of a rack, over time, you'll get lazy.