EU EATON 5P1550IR 1550VA 1U UPS available from various eBay Sellers in Large Quantity

[olev]

While looking for a new UPS, I came across these Eaton UPSes available in large quantities from a few sellers.

They are units which have been in storage for a few years and the most sellers exclude warranty on the batteries, but they can be replaced for a bit over 100 Euros.

Bitte entschuldigen Sie die Störung...

Not sure what the catch is here?
I may order one to find out - commercial seller in Germany means one years warranty and eBay plus means free Returns.

 

[smakkerlak]

How noisy are the fans in these? Load/idle

 

[olev]

How noisy are the fans in these? Load/idle

Spec Sheet claims the maximum is under 40dB at 1m distance.
I haven't found any conclusive user reports online.

 

[smakkerlak]

Spec Sheet claims the maximum is under 40dB at 1m distance.
I haven't found any conclusive user reports online.

I tried searching around too and found both "near silent" and "had to replace fan" posts for units like these. Normally I'd feel fine just swapping the fan if it was too much, but i really don't feel comfortable messing with anything power related.

 

[luckylinux]

While looking for a new UPS, I came across these Eaton UPSes available in large quantities from a few sellers.

They are units which have been in storage for a few years and the most sellers exclude warranty on the batteries, but they can be replaced for a bit over 100 Euros.

Bitte entschuldigen Sie die Störung...

Not sure what the catch is here?
I may order one to find out - commercial seller in Germany means one years warranty and eBay plus means free Returns.

Not sure how "standard" these batteries are.

The good thing about the CyberPower UPS that I bought was, even after 10 Years, battery was Dead but I could just buy a standard Lead Acid Battery of approx the same Capacity and Size and it would fit & work.

If this is about proprietary Batteries that maybe aren't produced anymore then that could be a Reason ...

Not sure if this is better or worse, at first sight it seems the same apart from the Color of 3 IEC C13 Ports in the Back (Dark Grey vs Light Grey):

Bitte entschuldigen Sie die Störung...

 

[olev]

If this is about proprietary Batteries that maybe aren't produced anymore then that could be a Reason ...

I've gotten replacement batteries for APC from this seller before and they have a bundle for the Eaton SKU as well.

Akku für Eaton 5P1550I Rack, ersetzt 7590102 Akku

Akku für Eaton 5P1550I Rack, ersetzt 7590102 Akku, 5P-1550IR ➤ APC Ersatzakkus ➤ APC USV Anlagen - vom USV Fachhändler ☎ 0 72 53 / 93 29 00

www.battery-direct.de

It's even cheaper if you order them individually:

6V 9Ah Akku, AGM Bleiakku, B.B. Battery HR9-6, 151x34x94 (lxbxh), Pol T2 Faston 250 (6,3 mm)

6V 9Ah Akku, AGM Bleiakku, B.B. Battery HR9-6, 151x34x94 (lxbxh), Pol T2 Faston 250 (6,3 mm), HR9-6 ➤ APC Ersatzakkus ➤ APC USV Anlagen - vom USV Fachhändler ☎ 0 72 53 / 93 29 00

www.battery-direct.de

So really a puzzle to me. Maybe they got dumped from a big project like those Gigabyte AM4 Boards of which I bought a few and have been talked about here extensively.

 

[luckylinux]

I've gotten replacement batteries for APC from this seller before and they have a bundle for the Eaton SKU as well.

Akku für Eaton 5P1550I Rack, ersetzt 7590102 Akku

Akku für Eaton 5P1550I Rack, ersetzt 7590102 Akku, 5P-1550IR ➤ APC Ersatzakkus ➤ APC USV Anlagen - vom USV Fachhändler ☎ 0 72 53 / 93 29 00

www.battery-direct.de

It's even cheaper if you order them individually:

6V 9Ah Akku, AGM Bleiakku, B.B. Battery HR9-6, 151x34x94 (lxbxh), Pol T2 Faston 250 (6,3 mm)

6V 9Ah Akku, AGM Bleiakku, B.B. Battery HR9-6, 151x34x94 (lxbxh), Pol T2 Faston 250 (6,3 mm), HR9-6 ➤ APC Ersatzakkus ➤ APC USV Anlagen - vom USV Fachhändler ☎ 0 72 53 / 93 29 00

www.battery-direct.de

So really a puzzle to me. Maybe they got dumped from a big project like those Gigabyte AM4 Boards of which I bought a few and have been talked about here extensively.

It might be fine with Eaton but ... given my Experience with APC, no thanks even free of Charge for APC UPS !

I had them keeping replacing the same unit with some intermittent Fault, at one point it caused a Earth Fault that tripped my entire House Electrical System (while I was on a Trip ). Lately I threw away the Batteries because the Units had a relay that started Clicking every 5 Seconds or so and after a while the Battery was super Hot !

 

[nexox]

The good thing about the CyberPower UPS that I bought was, even after 10 Years, battery was Dead but I could just buy a standard Lead Acid Battery of approx the same Capacity and Size and it would fit & work.

Any UPS using lead acid batteries will be easy to swap, there just aren't that many sizes or different manufacturers around to make odd configurations.

 

[thulle]

Spec Sheet claims the maximum is under 40dB at 1m distance.

That seem correct, it ain't that bad, but it's fairly high pitch 40mm delta fan. Nothing you want in the bedroom for sure.
It's mostly off/low rpm until battery usage kicks in since it's not a dual conversion unit, but it happens periodically as it does regular self-tests. It's replaceable with a noctua if you're not pulling too much power from it ig, but it can get pretty hot, but otoh you're not pulling power from it for that long.
Batteries are 6x 6v cells for a 36v total, so the high amperage causes the batteries to generate a fair amount of heat too.

 

[b3rrytech]

While looking for a new UPS, I came across these Eaton UPSes available in large quantities from a few sellers.

Great find, thanks for sharing! Wish I had this seller a year ago when I upgraded. Bought mine for €250 used.

How noisy are the fans in these? Load/idle

I have the HPE version of this, the HPE R1500 G5, and it’s not silent nor loud. The fan profile seem to always be on and it ramps up when under heavy load or charging. Not sure if it’s the same for this but I would count on it.

I tried searching around too and found both "near silent" and "had to replace fan" posts for units like these. Normally I'd feel fine just swapping the fan if it was too much, but i really don't feel comfortable messing with anything power related.

I opened mine up before and it’s an easy swap. Standard connectors etc. I don’t know how the firmware will handle lower RPMs though, so you might need to use an adapter.
Regarding noice, I’d definitely say it’s noticeable in a quiet room. In a rack with other stuff it’s probably not what’s loudest though. I don’t think you’ll destroy anything by swapping the fan, as long as you’re not running with a maxed out load. But then you’ve bought the wrong UPS anyway..

Not sure how "standard" these batteries are.

They’re very standard and can be bought easily on Amazon or your local battery shop. Easy swap.

It might be fine with Eaton but ... given my Experience with APC, no thanks even free of Charge for APC UPS !

I hold Eaton very high and I find their battery charging is much better than APC and Cyberpower. Sure, I haven’t had that many UPS’ and all are not equal so take this at face value. I do find though in general that my Eaton UPS batteries last a couple of years longer than the others.

That seem correct, it ain't that bad, but it's fairly high pitch 40mm delta fan. Nothing you want in the bedroom for sure.
It's mostly off/low rpm until battery usage kicks in since it's not a dual conversion unit, but it happens periodically as it does regular self-tests.

I agree, but my HPE version of this unit doesn’t ever turn the fan off. Only lowers RPM. Mine lives in the basement so I haven’t bothered to swap the fan, but I wouldn’t want it in my private office or living space.

 

[olev]

It's mostly off/low rpm until battery usage kicks in since it's not a dual conversion unit, but it happens periodically as it does regular self-tests.

Do you have one of these exact units yourself and can confirm that?
Or are you stating that as a general matter?

 

[thulle]

Do you have one of these exact units yourself and can confirm that?
Or are you stating that as a general matter?

I haven't bought from this seller, but I have two of this Eaton model, but with some random SAN company branding that I can't remember the name of at the moment. Only thing that differs is the plastic on the front. One had some issue and was refunded, the other one I swapped fan to a Noctua 40mm and used at my desk for a while until I swapped back to the delta fan and put it in the rack.
The self-tests are like 30seconds, but iirc the fan runs a bit longer. Then it also does charging cycles after a period of uptime, and after any small outage event, and those are fairly long. A full charge is more than a day, and then even the Noctua became a bit annoying behind the desk.

It has served me really well though, batteries were used and I've been running it for 4 years, so they are on their last note. Probably have 10-12 outage events per year and never any issue.
They also have transformers to handle overvoltage and undervoltage, which was really useful when power company ****ed up and fed 275v into the local grid. Voltage shoots up and then input and output diverge as the transformer kicks in:


Really happy with it.

I agree, but my HPE version of this unit doesn’t ever turn the fan off. Only lowers RPM. Mine lives in the basement so I haven’t bothered to swap the fan, but I wouldn’t want it in my private office or living space.

Yeah, as I was writing I realize it probably just lowered the RPM here too, but having swapped to a Noctua I couldn't hear it then.


I got mine with a network management card, firmware is old an probably vulnerable, and the newer cards are usually very pricey. It works nicely for monitoring though. When I intended to upgrade to the latest firmware there was some unclarity in the instructions, so I shot a mail to Eaton in Sweden asking if I could ask a few question about the upgrade process. In a day I also found a forum with a lot of Eaton representatives hanging around, so I asked there and they instantly escalated internally and then forwarded the response from I think product owner of the management cards.

Then a reply from Eaton Sweden showed up a few days later excusing for the late response, it had been a bit too hectic to reply to mail from non-customers, and then they asked what the issue was so they could forward it correctly.
Incredibly helpful people all around, even though I made clear I just had bought a used unit for €200 and had no SLA nor anything.

 

[b3rrytech]

I haven't bought from this seller, but I have two of this Eaton model, but with some random SAN company branding that I can't remember the name of at the moment. Only thing that differs is the plastic on the front. One had some issue and was refunded, the other one I swapped fan to a Noctua 40mm and used at my desk for a while until I swapped back to the delta fan and put it in the rack.
The self-tests are like 30seconds, but iirc the fan runs a bit longer. Then it also does charging cycles after a period of uptime, and after any small outage event, and those are fairly long. A full charge is more than a day, and then even the Noctua became a bit annoying behind the desk.

It has served me really well though, batteries were used and I've been running it for 4 years, so they are on their last note. Probably have 10-12 outage events per year and never any issue.
They also have transformers to handle overvoltage and undervoltage, which was really useful when power company ****ed up and fed 275v into the local grid. Voltage shoots up and then input and output diverge as the transformer kicks in:
View attachment 44958

Really happy with it.



Yeah, as I was writing I realize it probably just lowered the RPM here too, but having swapped to a Noctua I couldn't hear it then.


I got mine with a network management card, firmware is old an probably vulnerable, and the newer cards are usually very pricey. It works nicely for monitoring though. When I intended to upgrade to the latest firmware there was some unclarity in the instructions, so I shot a mail to Eaton in Sweden asking if I could ask a few question about the upgrade process. In a day I also found a forum with a lot of Eaton representatives hanging around, so I asked there and they instantly escalated internally and then forwarded the response from I think product owner of the management cards.

Then a reply from Eaton Sweden showed up a few days later excusing for the late response, it had been a bit too hectic to reply to mail from non-customers, and then they asked what the issue was so they could forward it correctly.
Incredibly helpful people all around, even though I made clear I just had bought a used unit for €200 and had no SLA nor anything.

Wow, that’s a bit much over the +-10% voltage fluctuation that’s allowed..

My HPE also came with a network management card but I haven’t used it at all. I use NUT so I just replaced my old UPS straight up. I’d like to try it though, to see if it’s any use for me in the homelab. NUT works great so haven’t really seen any reason yet though.

I also bought a server rack for cheap on Tradera this spring that had an Eaton 5PX 2200 in it. That had both the network card as well as some EMP (Environmental Monitoring Probe). Need to find time to test out that setup (too) and see if it’s useful.

 

[macdaddybighorn]

I don't have experience with Eaton, but someone mentioned Cyberpower above and I have to chime in. I had one of those cyberpower smart "enterprise" 2U UPSs with a ethernet card for NUT and everything basically worked, except the output waveform was so bad my servers would power off immediately (but other small devices were OK). It turns out that even their "enterprise" unit is simulated sine wave and the output was absolutely terrible, in my scope it was basically +180V, 0V, -180V, 0V, etc. and all averaged out would equate to 120Vrms. So for whatever you buy, do some research and avoid simulated sinewave or stepped sinewave and make sure it's pure sinewave or your servers with PFC may not function on a loss of AC.

Edit: I looked it up, it was a Cyberpower OR2200 UPS w/Network SNMP Card RM205

 

[luckylinux]

They also have transformers to handle overvoltage and undervoltage, which was really useful when power company ****ed up and fed 275v into the local grid. Voltage shoots up and then input and output diverge as the transformer kicks in:
View attachment 44958

That's a 30s-40s Reaction Time for Overvoltage. But it's fairly small Overvoltage at 275V/230V -> 20% Overvoltage.

Considering Grid can be permanently +/- 10% of Nominal Voltage, 20% is not a whole lot.

However I believe your statement is quite incorrect: the Voltages diverge because the UPS effectively disconnects from the Grid and starts outputting its own Voltage through the Inverter.

This is the normal working principle for a UPS which does NOT normally do double Conversion (charge Battery + provide Power to the Load), EXCEPT when the Grid Voltage gets unstable (Overvoltage / Undervoltage / etc):



What happens is that the Static Switch directly connected to the Grid turns Off and, for a Single Phase UPS, max. 10ms later (50Hz) or max 8.3 ms (60Hz) the Static Switch in the Inverter Path turns On.

The the Inverter starts providing Power to the Load instead of the Grid, thus the voltage is REGULATED.

That is why the Grid Voltage & the Output Voltage are diverging: they are on different "Paths" and NOT connected anymore.

It's not a variable Transformer, that would be a whole other Weight & Size .

You can argue that the concept is "similar" just with Power Semiconductors (MOSFET), but the Key Difference is the DISCONNECTION from the Grid and connection to the Inverter Output.

A Variable Transformer on the other Hand would be PERMANENTLY connected to the Load and would just adjust it's Tap Position (On-Load Tap Changer Transformer) effectively changing the Transformer Ratio thus the Output Voltage.

 

[luckylinux]

I don't have experience with Eaton, but someone mentioned Cyberpower above and I have to chime in. I had one of those cyberpower smart "enterprise" 2U UPSs with a ethernet card for NUT and everything basically worked, except the output waveform was so bad my servers would power off immediately (but other small devices were OK). It turns out that even their "enterprise" unit is simulated sine wave and the output was absolutely terrible, in my scope it was basically +180V, 0V, -180V, 0V, etc. and all averaged out would equate to 120Vrms. So for whatever you buy, do some research and avoid simulated sinewave or stepped sinewave and make sure it's pure sinewave or your servers with PFC may not function on a loss of AC.

Edit: I looked it up, it was a Cyberpower OR2200 UPS w/Network SNMP Card RM205

Well technically speaking ALL Power Converters are NOT doing a "Real" Sine Wave, the Question is in how they do it.

They are NOT Linear Amplifiers, so the Voltage is either:
- Square Wave 50/60 Hz (lots of Harmonic Voltage & Current) - I had an APC UPS entry level UPS doing that: "Simulated" Sine Wave
- PWM at ~ 2kHz - 20 kHz (depending on Power, Application, etc) + LC or higher order Filter: "True" or "Pure" Sine Wave after the Filter

The Square Wave is especially bad: what do you think happens when [trying] to force a voltage "Step" on a Load that is, at least to some Extent (due to AC Filters), of capacitive Nature ? Theoretically infinite Current.

Your "Simulated Sine Wave"


Maybe they also do some slow Regulation using the 2x Thyristors facing opposite Ways in the Grid Line, effectively using them like a Triac, unless the "AVR" in their Block Diagram is just the 2 pairs of Static Transfer Switches:


My "Pure Sine Wave"


EDIT 1: Good Article about Approximated-Simulated Sinewave / True Wave

https://www.eaton.com/us/en-us/products/backup-power-ups-surge-it-power-distribution/backup-power-ups/pure-sine-wave-vs--modified-sine-wave-explained.html

 

[Samir]

It might be fine with Eaton but ... given my Experience with APC, no thanks even free of Charge for APC UPS !

I had them keeping replacing the same unit with some intermittent Fault, at one point it caused a Earth Fault that tripped my entire House Electrical System (while I was on a Trip ). Lately I threw away the Batteries because the Units had a relay that started Clicking every 5 Seconds or so and after a while the Battery was super Hot !

Interesing you mention that trip. An older 700va sine wave unit would have an issue with tripping one of those 'ground fault' circuit breakers--an electrician couldn't find an issue and there was no issue when the UPS was moved to another application in another building. Probably was a real problem with the circuit breaker.

And one of our older 1000va units had the clicking problem with a non-APC battery. Once an APC battery was put in the next upgrade cycle, it was fine.

These are older 1990s era APC units though--the ones that build the APC reputation. I've got some newer ones too and they seem to work as intended with no drama.

 

[Samir]

That seem correct, it ain't that bad, but it's fairly high pitch 40mm delta fan. Nothing you want in the bedroom for sure.

But I do like high pitched screamers in the bedroom...oh wait...different type of screamer, lol.

 

[luckylinux]

Interesing you mention that trip. An older 700va sine wave unit would have an issue with tripping one of those 'ground fault' circuit breakers--an electrician couldn't find an issue and there was no issue when the UPS was moved to another application in another building. Probably was a real problem with the circuit breaker.

And one of our older 1000va units had the clicking problem with a non-APC battery. Once an APC battery was put in the next upgrade cycle, it was fine.

These are older 1990s era APC units though--the ones that build the APC reputation. I've got some newer ones too and they seem to work as intended with no drama.

I don't believe so in my Case at least. That's NOT my Experience with the APC BR1500GI. Granted it's NOT an Enterprise Unit and apparently (I didn't know at the Time) an "Approximate Sine Wave" (probably Simulated Sine Wave). These I bought in 2010-2012 IIRC and since then I had Issues. RMA in 2011 and 2012 from the emails I could find so far.

I think the Earth Fault Issue was actually trigged by an automatic Test. That's how it tripped my entire House while I was on a Trip and I lost all contents of my Freezer . To try to locate it & prove the Issue I added a small RCD / GFCI in series ONLY with the UPS, but set at a better Sensitivity (10mA RCD instead of 30mA RCD). Granted it's NOT a perfect Solution to avoid tripping everything anyways since the selectivity is not that great if at all (I was renting an Apartment at the Time, it's not like I could have re-done the entire Electrical System), but at the next self Test that 10mA RCD tripped (and the 30mA "common" RCD one thankfully didn't) ! So it was the UPS.

The other stupid Design that caused an RMA every 6 Months or so was the UPS on its own starting to emit a Status Code and beeping Continuosly (cannot remember if it was F02/F04/F09 etc, was too long ago). I'm not sure that's related to earth Fault, but it could also be, for me it was a separate Issue though.

 

[Samir]

I don't believe so in my Case at least. That's NOT my Experience with the APC BR1500GI. Granted it's NOT an Enterprise Unit and apparently (I didn't know at the Time) an "Approximate Sine Wave" (probably Simulated Sine Wave). These I bought in 2010-2012 IIRC and since then I had Issues. RMA in 2011 and 2012 from the emails I could find so far.

I think the Earth Fault Issue was actually trigged by an automatic Test. That's how it tripped my entire House while I was on a Trip and I lost all contents of my Freezer . To try to locate it & prove the Issue I added a small RCD / GFCI in series ONLY with the UPS, but set at a better Sensitivity (10mA RCD instead of 30mA RCD). Granted it's NOT a perfect Solution to avoid tripping everything anyways since the selectivity is not that great if at all (I was renting an Apartment at the Time, it's not like I could have re-done the entire Electrical System), but at the next self Test that 10mA RCD tripped (and the 30mA "common" RCD one thankfully didn't) ! So it was the UPS.

The other stupid Design that caused an RMA every 6 Months or so was the UPS on its own starting to emit a Status Code and beeping Continuosly (cannot remember if it was F02/F04/F09 etc, was too long ago). I'm not sure that's related to earth Fault, but it could also be, for me it was a separate Issue though.

Oh there were some bad years for APC when they felt the need to cut corners to compete, and that would explain some of what you experienced.

Interesting your tripping issue was also in an apartment--mine too. Maybe that's a function of how the grounding of multitenant units are done--who knows. I just know that the exact same unit is working fine now in my office on a circuit with a bunch of other stuff plugged in.

I've seen status codes like that too, and many times even though unrelated it was just that the battery was dead. Yep, not their best years on those units.