Conversation about 2200VA Rackmount Quality UPS grey market

[smpltech]

Trying to find a unicorn, I have a lot of experience with a lot of UPS's, and I still have not found the perfect girl - does she exist? Goal: get the equivalent of a $4000 UPS for under $700. Requirements:

1. 2200VA 120V
2. MUST use standard UB1270 style cells 12V 7AH-9AH usually same dims (for LFP replacements)
3. Hot swap pack replacement (or minimal downtime to get back to full service)
4. Expandable
5. Pure Sine Wave
6. Double conversion preferably if possible
7. NOT low efficiency (high efficiency probably wont happen)
8. 2U ideally
9. Preferably 48vDC (4x1270 cells), higher V usually=more efficient.
10. LAN option would be nice
11. LCD would be nice

First 5 are deal breakers

Now some conversation:

The intention is to acquire a 2nd hand UPS ($300-400), and replace the batteries with Dakota Lithium LFP 10 AH cells ($320), =close to 2x runtime and 4x pack lifetime, and ~30% lighter and run cooler. If anyone has another LFP replacement that is *reliable* I am open... 99% of amazon products have horror story reviews, even if they have 5 stars, I dont want to be one of the 5% that gets robbed. I have had a Dakota fail, but you know they will replace it without any heckling. I want the equivalent of a new $3000 APC Lithium ION UPS- but I want LFP chemistry for safety.

APC:

Criteria#2 eliminates most (or all) newer APC models as far as I know, they all use a 1250 cell, which at 5 amp hours is a waste of space, and there is no *reliable* lithium cell replacement in that form factor. I am not in love with the older APC models, they tend to have a super high draw just to run the UPS (with nothing plugged in), so efficiency is kind of low.

SURTA2200RMXL2U meets all requirements accept LCD

Vertiv Liebert:

PSI5-2200RT120 (no double conversion) 24V- which is fine, 6 cells, so ~50% more runtime than other 4 cell models

Tripp Lite (now owned by Eaton):

SM2200RMXL2UPN (not double conversion)

SMART2200RMXL2U (no LCD, not double conversion)

Eaton:

5PX2200 - on paper these things look great, but I avoid them since servicing the pack requires a full 10-20 minute disconnect (AC+DC) to reset alarms.

Cyberpower: need not apply

Powerwalker (EU): VI 2000 RLP (no double conversion), Excellent product

For the typical Enterprise home lab (haha), you may have 1-2 (or more) servers with dual power, which servicing the UPS would not affect if you bypass the UPS on the 2nd PSU, but other common components like routers, RPi, or NAS appliances might not have dual PSU, I dont want a down UPS to affect them if I know a Tripp Lite can swap a pack live, I have seen some brands that if the battery is dead the UPS becomes a zombie, or replacing the pack requires jumping through hoops, I dont want to have to deal with those.

Any other models to suggest?

 

[bugacha]

What do you think about PowerWalker VI 2000 RLP?

 

[smpltech]

What do you think about PowerWalker VI 2000 RLP?

That is a very nice piece of engineering, not double conversion, but everything else about it looks to far exceed competing brands, they have definitely put a lot of thought in to that... accept that it is cost prohibitive for me not being a popular brand found on the USA grey market. Definitely recommended to anyone in the EU market.

 

[nabsltd]

For the typical Enterprise home lab (haha), you may have 1-2 (or more) servers with dual power, which servicing the UPS would not affect if you bypass the UPS on the 2nd PSU, but other common components like routers, RPi, or NAS appliances might not have dual PSU

For those devices, get an auto-transfer switch.

 

[smpltech]

For those devices, get an auto-transfer switch.

Thanks, that is definitely a good point for people, but dollar for dollar buying UPS-X that allows hassle free hotswap servicing vs UPS-Y that does not, I just wont consider the brand that does not if they are in the same price range, it has the eventual potential to waste time, and at some point the balance between redundancy and complexity has to weigh less on complexity.

If I were to need a switched PDU, I would definitely opt for that one with the auto-transfer (assuming can integrate with HA fencing)- in the same spirit as I would opt for a UPS that has the added benefit of hot swap servicing. These look like great alternatives to AP7900 as far as added features and availability.

 

[nabsltd]

Thanks, that is definitely a good point for people, but dollar for dollar buying UPS-X that allows hassle free hotswap servicing vs UPS-Y that does not, I just wont consider the brand that does not if they are in the same price range, it has the eventual potential to waste time, and at some point the balance between redundancy and complexity has to weigh less on complexity.

I think you misunderstood. I wasn't commenting at all on your UPS choices (which are fine...for example, I absolutely have to have hot swap batteries on my UPS). I just was giving you an option for how to handle devices that don't have multiple power supplies.

I did assume that you are supporting devices with multiple power supplies by plugging each power supply into a different UPS, and each UPS into a different wall circuit. Without that, a transfer switch would not do anything for a device with just one power supply.