UPSes - MinuteMan, others?

[Ben Scott]

On 8/10/06, Mark E. Mallett <mem at mv.mv.com> wrote:
>   http://www.intellipower.com/

  Yah, Google found them, too.  They had some interesting tech papers.
 The issue, as usual, is that it's all biased to sell their stuff.
:-/

> While they all lasted 5+ years, most of them long enough to go through
> more than one set of batteries, each one ended up having electronics
> failures eventually.

  Well, everything wears out, eventually.  It sounds like those might
be wearing out at 5+ years.  I'm dunno if that's good or not.  :)

> These days we are using standby units, mostly (if not entirely) APC.

  Our regular IT equipment is all on stand-by UPSes.  I'm using
PowerWare stuff here, but only because that was what was here when I
got here, so I kept buying the same brand to keep things simpler.
I've used Smart-UPS'es in the past in similar roles.  They all feature
some kind of hand-waving "voltage regulation".  It's fine for keeping
computers working on typical office power.

  Some of our test equipment, though, is both esoteric and expensive,
and in the middle of a factory with crappy power.  Your typical
stand-by UPS basically chokes in this environment -- it's like having
a power failure 15 times a day.

  I'm pretty set on a double conversion unit, it's just the brand I'm unsure of.

>     (or you could get one of those flywheel systems..)

  Ha ha, only serious.  I looked -- very briefly.  Motor-generator
sets are the best power protection money can buy, or so I'm told.
It's hard for a voltage surge to get through an axle.  Even lightening
is generally stopped by a MG.  But while I'm willing to pay for some
overkill here, that's a bit more overkill then I need.  (Overkill
overkill?)

-- Ben