Rackmount UPS - any decently cheap options on ebay?

[frogtech]

Hi,

The 2U APC SmartUPS UPS seems to be pretty popular but does anyone have any other suggestions on relatively low cost UPS you can scrounge up on ebay?

Also looking for a good link to a calculator to determine wattage needs from the UPS.

Thanks.

 

[T_Minus]

Please define "low cost" as a UPS can be $600 new in the box for a 2U on-line and that to me is low cost, great deal but to you it may be too expensive or maybe low cost to you is $1k?

Do you want line interactive or on-line?

Do you need metered outlets?

Do you need controllable outlets? (on/off/cycle)

Does it need to be silent? home use?

There are some $250 or less APC units on ebay that need new batteries, are not on-line, do no special 'features' but they "just work". I have 3 or so of those. I got a new in the box TrippLite On-Line for around $600 on amazon, again this was best 'bang for buck' some here don't like TrippLite but 10+ years protecting my house and we haven't lost equipment yet (we use other equipment from them too). I got some Liebert GTX3 off ebay for a couple hundred bucks which I think is a steal for a $1500+ on-line UPS.

Batteries are cheap on ebay and I've purchased 2 dozen in the last 2 years of varying brands and IMHO they are all the same other than the amp hours. They seem to come in 6ah to 12ah depending on specific battery size for your unit, and how much $$ you want to spend on getting the 'better' capacity battery. Often times I've found the AH rating to be 1 off, ie: 8 and 9 and keep in mind this isn't much but when you're using 3 or 4 batteries the capacity may add up to a whole other battery!

For capacity planning determine what you want it to do... being a home system I want longest run time because it will take me a few minutes to get generator power going. So I got the biggest storage capacity I could find, and in some cases add the extra 'pack' of batteries for longer run time. If you only have a couple systems it's not such a big deal.

Latest APC consumer/home don't seem to be using quality batteries like they did before I've got a couple years on this system on my workstation with extra battery and if power goes out I have about 2hrs of using my desktop. If power goes out and I shut down and come back 12hrs later the batteries are already dead ugh, hope to get another 10-15mo out of them.

I routinely use my battery backups so I never test them, so take that fwiw too.

 

[cheezehead]

PM sent, got a spare APC 2200 2U rackmount unit with management card.

 

[fmatthew5876]

You can also try a refurb vendor like Save on UPS Battery Replacement, APC RBC Replacement Battery Cartridges , UPS Battery Kits | RefurbUPS.com.

 

[John Burns]

I'm also interested in this thread. I'd prefer something

• Quiet
• Rackmount
• 120v
• Either line interactive or online
• Don't need metering or outlet control
• Don't need a long runtime, just enough for the nas/ servers to shutdown ( 5-10 mins tops)
  • Currently 800va load, would like room to grow.
• Network notifications would be a bonus, could live with USB.

 

[frogtech]

So just wanted to update this thread, I found some Dell 1920R UPS on ebay for 175 each new in box, they both have warranty and 'new' batteries. Might want to see if any more pop back up on there, the model is technically K792N or "Dell 1920R". It's a 2200VA/1920W model, 2U, with network management capabilities if you get the add on card.

I didn't want to go with an old used APC that had refurb'd batteries or used but needed to be replaced soon.

 

[T_Minus]

@frogtech googling the part #s returns the individual battery that's inside the unit.
IE: Dell 1920W (K792N-2U) 12V 9Ah UPS Battery - This is an AJC Brand® Replacement-Newegg.com

Looks like it uses the standard 8 or 9AH batteries every other UPS I've owned (2U or tower/workstation) utilizes.

 

[vl1969]

just want to brag a little
some times you can find a deal without even looking for it.
2 years ago I scored a 48" Compaq rack on ebay (a half rack I guess) , local pickup for $24.
when I came to pick it up , the rack had 2 APC 1500 UPS and a PDU in it.
granted the battery gave out with in a year but it could be my fault as I kept them unplugged for couple of month.
but now I plan to get the new batteries and will use them for my setup.
so it was a deal of the century IMHO.

 

[frogtech]

What are best practices for UPS units and PDUs? Can I plug in all my gear to the pdu and just plug in the pdu to the UPS?

Sent from my LG-H811 using Tapatalk

 

[Peanuthead]

I don't see why not.

 

[fmatthew5876]

I didn't want to go with an old used APC that had refurb'd batteries or used but needed to be replaced soon.

The refurbed APC SMT1500 I bought from upsforless.com came with brand new batteries. It's only the ups hardware itself that's used when you buy from these companies.

When it arrived, the lcd screen was cracked. I emailed them and they sent me a brand new replacement lcd. I've had no issues with it since then.

Since UPS is so damn heavy and expensive to ship, personally I would be careful when buying one on ebay. If you have an issue, returning it could cost a fortune in shipping.

 

[BLinux]

the APC SUA1500RM2U units are usually about $200-$250 online; varying conditions though. Replacement batteries are easy to come by. Also, the "re-branded" versions for Dell are often a bit cheaper, i think it's part number DLA1500RM2U or something like that.

if you're not in a hurry, i would check your local craigslist or something because you might find a local business that is retiring equipment and UPSes are sometimes hard to get rid of (too heavy to ship) so will often sell for cheap or sometimes free. I picked up 5x SUA1500RM2U once for $800; kept 2 of them and sold the other 3 for $250 each. Making my out of pocket cost for the 2 i kept like $25/each.