Upgraded my surge protection + back-up power - Tripp Lite

[imacman]

As many know, I recently changed stoves, and decided that I should upgrade my surge protection too. The stove has 2 circuit boards, so I feel better about protection for them with this unit. (thanks for the info/recommendation vgrund!). I included a few specs too. Got this off eBay ($59 + shipping) as a used unit, but it looks brand new.

Tripp Lite 1000LCD (UPS):

BATTERY MODE: PWM sine wave 115V +/-5%
Full load runtime-3 minutes (1000VA / 500W)
Half load runtime-9 minutes (500VA / 250W)
Line-interactive voltage regulation corrects brownouts as low as 89V back to safe values
Brownout correction-Brownouts as low as 89V are boosted by 14%
Alarms-Audible alarm indicates loss of utility power. Alarm can be silenced by pressing front panel mute button. Once silenced, alarm will re-sound when approximately 2 minutes of runtime remain.

SURGE / NOISE SUPPRESSION
UPS AC suppression joule rating-1038 joules
EMI / RFI AC noise suppression-Yes
AC suppression response time-Instantaneous

LINE / BATTERY TRANSFER
Transfer time from line power to battery mode in 2-4 milliseconds
Low voltage transfer to battery power-Switches to battery power as line voltage decreases to 89V or less, switches back to AC mode as line voltage increases to 94V or higher
High voltage transfer to battery power-Switches to battery mode as line voltage increases to 139V or higher, switches back to AC mode as line voltage decreases to 135V or lower

 

[Dr_Drum]

That looks like a serious piece of equipment. Very nice. Line conditioner and UPS backup as well.

I was considering installing a whole house surge protector at the main panel. They tend to run around $100 for the cheaper ones. Specs seem good for trip and response time. Wondering if anyone has any experience with them?
Mike -

 

[smoke show]

Wondering if anyone has any experience with them?
Mike -

nope

 

[imacman]

time to test it. unplug & time + listen to how pstove runs. cant remember how long mine lasted but it did beep when i unplugged it from the wall. DONT PLUG KILLAWATT into gizmo, i blew mine doing so.

I did, Pook. Stove never missed a beat, and sounded the same. I don't know long it will last on a full charge, but at 250 watts, it claims 9 minutes....more than enough time for generator to start-up and transfer load (that usually takes about 20-25 seconds total).

Don't own a Kill a Watt, so no worries there.

 

[minch]

That looks like a serious piece of equipment. Very nice. Line conditioner and UPS backup as well.

I was considering installing a whole house surge protector at the main panel. They tend to run around $100 for the cheaper ones. Specs seem good for trip and response time. Wondering if anyone has any experience with them?
Mike -

I put one in about a year ago. Mine hooked up to two circuit breakers and I had to move a couple of existing circuits around within the panel. The wiring was easy. The hardest part was going through a stud to place the surge suppressor into the adjacent wall cavity in a cramped corner and adding the pipe extension through the stud and into the panel box.

The LED's are burning green still, but I don't have any way to know if it has actually defended us. I still have surge suppressors throughout the house, figuring it is best to have multiple lines of defense given that a surge could come in via cable modem, phone line, attic TV antenna, etc. (Probably doesn't matter what you have if you get a direct strike to your house)

M

 

[Dr_Drum]

Yes, that's sounds similar to the ones I have seen. They tie into two 15 amp breakers.
Thanks, Mike -

 

[odlaw]

I had the same UPS and got 45 min worth of TV programming before the battery went dead. The tv was a 10 year old 13 inch.

 

[John_M]

Dr_Drum, I installed my whole house surge protector about two years ago after a lightning strike took out my refrigerator. If I recall correctly, the whole house protector is designed to protect large appliances. One would still need more sensitive surge protectors for sensitive electronics. So, I now also have individual surge protection on all large and small appliances and believe these expensive items are properly protected (I hope!).

Installation of the whole house surge protector was pretty simple, assuming you know how to SAFELY work around a main electrical panel. My experience so far parallels that of minch.

Best wishes,

John_M

 

[THE ROOSTER]

macman, very nice set up Last winter was the first test of my Batt. backup, and it lasted 10 hours and my batteries where still at 11.2 volts, so I figure 12 hours is a real possibility
Thanks again for posting...

 

[Dr_Drum]

Dr_Drum, I installed my whole house surge protector about two years ago after a lightning strike took out my refrigerator. If I recall correctly, the whole house protector is designed to protect large appliances. One would still need more sensitive surge protectors for sensitive electronics. So, I now also have individual surge protection on all large and small appliances and believe these expensive items are properly protected (I hope!).

Installation of the whole house surge protector was pretty simple, assuming you know how to SAFELY work around a main electrical panel. My experience so far parallels that of minch.

Best wishes,

John_M

Thanks for the info. I think I will stick with the "point of use" surge protectors.
Mike -

 

[imacman]

macman, very nice set up Last winter was the first test of my Batt. backup, and it lasted 10 hours and my batteries where still at 11.2 volts, so I figure 12 hours is a real possibility
Thanks again for posting...

Rooster, I'm guessing you're talking about a regular 12v. Car-type battery?

The battery in this UPS is small, like they use for home security back-up (Length:5.94", Width:2.56", Height 3.74"). It's 12v, 9ah.

Not a lot of capacity, but enough to get the stove shut down if I had to, and plenty to allow the generator to take over.

 

[charles u farley]

macman, very nice set up Last winter was the first test of my Batt. backup, and it lasted 10 hours and my batteries where still at 11.2 volts, so I figure 12 hours is a real possibility
Thanks again for posting...

That's too far to discharge a battery. You will really shorten it's life taking it below about 11.6 too often.

 

[THE ROOSTER]

macman, very nice set up Last winter was the first test of my Batt. backup, and it lasted 10 hours and my batteries where still at 11.2 volts, so I figure 12 hours is a real possibility
Thanks again for posting...

Rooster, I'm guessing you're talking about a regular 12v. Car-type battery?

The battery in this UPS is small, like they use for home security back-up (Length:5.94", Width:2.56", Height 3.74"). It's 12v, 9ah.

Not a lot of capacity, but enough to get the stove shut down if I had to, and plenty to allow the generator to take over.

I knew what you had, and I like it alot, if I had a home gen. like yours I'd do exactly what you did... I have a 36V E-Z-GO golf cart, that I rewire to 12V, so it's six 6 volt batteries that I use to power the Harman 512... My golf cart sits right under my stove in the basement, so I drilled through my hearth and ran a cord to my stove, then I pull out the gen. once I get home from work to charge the batteries back up
I would love to have a set up like yours, enjoy my friend

 

[THE ROOSTER]

macman, very nice set up Last winter was the first test of my Batt. backup, and it lasted 10 hours and my batteries where still at 11.2 volts, so I figure 12 hours is a real possibility
Thanks again for posting...

That's too far to discharge a battery. You will really shorten it's life taking it below about 11.6 too often.

Not 6V golf cart batteries

 

[kbjelka]

Hey macman, looks like a nice unit. Very curious if you think it can handle an ignition cycle? I work in IT and have had a chance to get my hands on some pretty nice APC UPS's but I have always thought in the back of my mind that the small units could never handle a cold start and might be a hazard with that much draw. Since my stove is thermostat driven you never know if it will be up and burning burning when the power drops. Just wondering if anyone else has any thoughts or experiences on the UPS's and cold starts.

 

[kbjelka]

time to test it. unplug & time + listen to how pstove runs. cant remember how long mine lasted but it did beep when i unplugged it from the wall. DONT PLUG KILLAWATT into gizmo, i blew mine doing so.

I did, Pook. Stove never missed a beat, and sounded the same. I don't know long it will last on a full charge, but at 250 watts, it claims 9 minutes....more than enough time for generator to start-up and transfer load (that usually takes about 20-25 seconds total).

Don't own a Kill a Watt, so no worries there.

I guess the igniter question would apply less to you macman since you have a stand-by generator as well. Man you seem to be setup! I do like your choice of Trpp Lite, they are a very solid brand. I bought one of their suppressors for my stove this year as well.

 

[imacman]

....... Man you seem to be setup!.....

Thanks. I'm getting myself "setup" because I'm retiring from my 31 yr. job in a month or so, and am trying to "get all my ducks in a row" before then. I'm buying the stuff I'll need down the road now while I still have some $$. Also am trying to buy things that are "solid" and will last.

That was the thought process for buying the 10-CPM and the Tripp Lite. Seem to be solid and will hopefully last me quite a while.

 

[Shortstuff]

This is the unit I have and is used only for my Castile stove. For testing purposes I have had it unplugged and the stove has cycled on and off for more than 2 hours and still had 50% charge remaining. If you look at the specs and extra photos, I have the option to add additional batteries if I want to. Macman, maybe you can add more batteries to yours too? Nice setup by the way.

Here

Steve

 

[charles u farley]

macman, very nice set up Last winter was the first test of my Batt. backup, and it lasted 10 hours and my batteries where still at 11.2 volts, so I figure 12 hours is a real possibility
Thanks again for posting...

That's too far to discharge a battery. You will really shorten it's life taking it below about 11.6 too often.

Not 6V golf cart batteries

They're not magic because they fit a golf cart. Manufacturers say not to go below 20% charge. 11.58 is considered to be the average 20% voltage of lead acid batteries.
http://www.trojan-battery.com/BatteryMaintenance/Discharging.aspx
http://www.crownbattery.com/?page=support_careandmaintenance

 

[BJN644]

This is the unit I have and is used only for my Castile stove. For testing purposes I have had it unplugged and the stove has cycled on and off for more than 2 hours and still had 50% charge remaining. If you look at the specs and extra photos, I have the option to add additional batteries if I want to. Macman, maybe you can add more batteries to yours too? Nice setup by the way.

Here

Steve

That is a very nice UPS unit, but for the cost of it you could buy a Honda inverter series generator. Pure sine wave power for hours on a gallon of gas. I do see the value of a UPS on a pellet stove to prevent smoking up the house until the generator is hooked up.

 

[imacman]

.......That is a very nice UPS unit, but for the cost of it you could buy a Honda inverter series generator. Pure sine wave power for hours on a gallon of gas.

Yep, it IS a nice unit, but like you said, $300+ will go a long way toward a nice little pure sine wave genny.

 

[flowercat]

I bought a Cyberpower UPS that support 1500Ws. There is more than enough time to shut down my Englander pellet stove with some battery left. This UPS cost a little over a $100 on sale at Staples last year and it works as well as more expense models I have used in the past. Based on the vendor and my experience, the UPS shown in the original posting wouldn't be enough for my stove. I would recommend to anyone buying a UPS to ask the stove vendor for their electrical requirements so that you have enough time to shut down.

 

[THE ROOSTER]

macman, very nice set up Last winter was the first test of my Batt. backup, and it lasted 10 hours and my batteries where still at 11.2 volts, so I figure 12 hours is a real possibility
Thanks again for posting...

That's too far to discharge a battery. You will really shorten it's life taking it below about 11.6 too often.

Not 6V golf cart batteries

They're not magic because they fit a golf cart. Manufacturers say not to go below 20% charge. 11.58 is considered to be the average 20% voltage of lead acid batteries.
http://www.trojan-battery.com/BatteryMaintenance/Discharging.aspx
http://www.crownbattery.com/?page=support_careandmaintenance

Well they're 8 yrs. old and I still can get 36 holes in, come home hook the utility trailer to it and do yard work, then charge them... I hope you're right, cause after 36 holes, yard work sucks