June 30, 2011

New Hire...we grow to serve you

Good news... GreenlightUPS is growing enough to bring an additional tech on board.

Joining the Team is Stephen Kingston.  He will help with warehouse, assembly and delivery.  This will allow the rest of the team to focus more on serving your needs in the most cost effective and efficient manner.

June 20, 2011

The Reduced Runtime Model Series...

Normally, Reduced Runtime, would be something that would be undesirable in battery backups systems.  The whole point is to have runtime, so reducing it seems dumb.... but not in some cases...

Our Reduced Runtime series (designated xxR) is when we take the normal battery and replace it with a smaller one.  This smaller battery costs less and the overall unit is less expensive.

Our first product in the Reduced Runtime series is the APC SmartUPS 3000 Tower (310R).  In this case the four 12v 18ah batteries are replaced with four 12v 7ah batteries.   Why?

Many people with copiers need the 3000va capacity of the unit, but dont need the 30mins of runtime.  So the 310R can protect these items for $100 less.

Look for future Reduced Runtime models including

  • Tripplite SmartOnline 10kva ... to1096R
  • APC SmartUPS 1500va Desktop... 402bR

June 8, 2011

Random Part of the Month X - AP8641

I just recently started selling PDUs, and it has always amazed me how they can be so expensive.

Case in point, the APC Switched Rack 2G 0U 30amp PDU.

This glorified surge strip sells for $1450.00 from APC.
Sure, its has some neat user controls and a few too many ports... but why do blue LCD screens cost so much?  This unit's earlier version AP7941 can be found at our website for $259.

June 6, 2011

KnowUPS - Power Conditioning

Frequently, I get requests for the best UPS for power quality and conditioning.

To answer that, I can offer 2 different approaches.

TOPOLOGY
Topology is, loosely, the type of UPS mechanism.  I have written in depth about this.  Online and Line Interactive are the common ones.  Simply, Online type is where output power is always being made by the UPS and Line Interactive type online "makes" the power if something goes wrong.  So, if you want UPS to manufacturer the power output all the time,  Online is the best topology.  But that doesn't necessarily mean its the "best power."


OFFICIAL POWER QUALITY
Technically, power quality is the quality of the voltage; specifically, transient content and voltage magnitudes.   UPSes address both problems and offer redress.  No matter whether its an Online or Line Interactive type UPS,  they output a voltage plus or minus their operational tolerance.
A quick check of some common units, shows some differences in Output Voltage

  • APC Line Interactive 5kva (585AB) = +/- 5%
  • APC Online 5kva (593g4) = +/- 3%
  • Tripplite Online 5kva (to595) = +/- 2%
  • Eaton Line Interactive (p5593) = +/- 8%
  • Eaton Online 5kva (p9593v) = +/- 2%
So if the goal is 208volt (or other selected voltage output), the best power quality unit is a Online UPS, but with low ranges such as the Eaton or Tripplite.

But, as I have said many times, most IT equipment runs off its own power supply, and the small differences of power quality in the specs isnt worth worry about.
Worry about the quality (or absence) of your Transient Voltage Surge Suppressor....  thats where real power quality should be addressed

June 2, 2011

My Inner UPS Child... recalls the SmartUPS 2200 208v XL 5U

This unit is famous for being one of the units that I would bring to a deserted island, first hurt my back on, and drove 150 miles out of the way on a vacation to pickup.

The reason is that its a great unit.  It take four large batteries for serious runtime, it has a XL port that can connect to the Super BigMomma battery pack, and has a couple 120volt outputs for non high voltage loads.

While we havent sold that many recently, its still a very good unit and $429 its a best buy

So buy one today, and relive 2003 with a SARS mask, your first Itunes purchase and with no fear of another East coast blackout

June 1, 2011

Most requested unit we dont have

I would love to be able fulfill every request that we get, but the nature of the refurbished marketplace means I dont have control of availability.  All it takes is for a major University, national chain or large IT reseller to put a bounty on certain items and the prices and availability get skewed.

This month's challenges...

  • The Dell Branded SmartUPS 3U - DL3000RM3U (303b)   We have a standing purchase order for 40 that we cant fulfill.  The caused the price to jumped from $419 to $479 to adjust to the demand
  • The 120v Online 3U APC - SURTA3000RMXL3U (313g4) is on permanent backorder.  As soon as I get one in it gets snapped up.  I sold the last one for $909, which is $200 more than the price earlier this year.