UPS power

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This topic contains 15 replies, has 9 voices, and was last updated by Profile photo of av8en1 av8en1 9 years, 8 months ago.

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  • #39642
    Profile photo of Ron
    Ron
    Participant

    Is anybody using UPS power supplies on the QU series?

    I can’t count how many times I’ve had lights flicker in bars and rarely a problem with analog gear.

    However with digital gear you get a reboot situation. Most of my gigs with the QU are mostly corporate type events. I’m thinking it might be worth piece of mind to be on a UPS.

    Anybody recommend anything?

    #39646
    Profile photo of
    Anonymous

    Hello Ron
    I was doing this show with 3 of the QU’s
    It was a wet weekend
    Outside in marquees… drizzle YUK
    My best steamroller crew guy… older wiser guy that was staying on site decided to dry his damp socks on a fan heater that he plugged into the distro that fed the main marquee whilst the main show was running off a generator.
    Of course it all went down in a flash! @#$%^& but he quickly unplugged it when the monitor op yelled at him “what the F…@#$%^& are you doing!?”
    The power came back on in a flash and we all continued…
    The QUs’ (multiples) died at FOH but all resumed, and I carried on as if nothing had happened?
    I hadn’t thought about using UPS until then
    I was always an analog type guy…
    So, I don’t think I will use a UPS.
    Just more stuff to lug around. Unless the budget permits otherwise.
    I’m at the point (where I believed) that the digital scenario is all meant to make it easier with less gear?
    Just always keep saving the show (or desk) to memory

    So with that in mind… if you save the desks settings and you kill the power, does the desk keep that in memory?

    I haven’t tried that ghastly deed of testing that kind of function on the QU’s
    That’s just not in my being.
    Like someone turning off an older PC at the wall when they go to bed at night, rather than powering down! argh!!! It hurts to think about it
    If anyone can help out there if the QU’s retain memory settings, I would be great full!

    cheers
    dave NZ

    #39652
    Profile photo of Detonator
    Detonator
    Participant

    Here’s how to tell if you need a UPS for your digital mixer:

    The next high profile gig you have with an important speech, or ANY gig that you feel is important, choose a critical time and turn the power switch on your desk to “off” for a few seconds, then turn it back on. If the results of this are OK with you, then you don’t need a UPS.

    Cheers

    -Tim T

    #39656
    Profile photo of GR-PDX
    GR-PDX
    Participant

    Only times I’ve lost power during an event, it went down on the amp racks, too, so…not sure how much help it will be to maintain power at the desk. But I suppose if you have different circuit breakers trip…

    #39663
    Profile photo of dcongdon
    dcongdon
    Participant

    We have had a leg of a spiderbox trip in the middle of a show. This left half of the amp rack and DSP up and the other half (including FOH) down. Thankfully, FOH was on a UPS and the show continued with relative ease. During the next set change, the leg was reset and the show was up and running. Most of the audience (and band) were completely unaware. It would have been a huge deal if FOH had gone down too.

    If you work in outdoor or temporary-install situations, a UPS is a must. We have them at FOH and the AR2412 stagebox.

    Also note: improper shut down of equipment while in use can cause reboot issues.

    #39665
    Profile photo of debzdoodle
    debzdoodle
    Participant

    I did not think twice about purchasing a UPS as soon as I ordered my QU16. I have heard sudden power outages and then reboots are bad for any digital console along with the loud pop through the speakers caused when the power comes back on. A few hundred dollars is nothing to spend when investing a couple of thousand -is it???
    The point of the UPS is not to keep the show going because if the amps are off – no sound anyway – but it is to give you a few minutes to get the amps turned off and then shut down the QU16 properly – no?

    #39666
    Profile photo of groverk
    groverk
    Participant

    That’s a good question, and the answer for me yes.

    If your recording to the q-drive and the power shuts down , I believe you lose whatever you recorded from the last time you stopped and saved. My UPS is just big enough to give me plenty time to hit save on the q-drive if I’m recording. If I’m not recording I would probably go without the UPS

    Ken

    #39667
    Profile photo of Detonator
    Detonator
    Participant

    APC 550 VA units work fine. Price new – $60-$70 US. The idea is to avoid temporary program/recording interruption and the agony of a reboot… Voltage regulation, surge protection, clean power, it’s cheap insurance.

    -Tim T

    #39670
    Profile photo of Ron
    Ron
    Participant

    I’m looking at a Cyberpower PFC Sinewave line interactive 1kVA. Should run the board and a small rack for probably 10 min. This is a desktop style.

    I’m not using an AR2412 yet and didn’t think about that needing back up too, makes sense though.

    #39683
    Profile photo of
    Anonymous

    +1

    #39684
    Profile photo of debzdoodle
    debzdoodle
    Participant

    +2…. I have the Cyber power Sinewave 1kva also……. works great !!

    #39694
    Profile photo of av8en1
    av8en1
    Participant

    Thanks to Ron for starting this thread.

    A UPS is essential on any computer. In the case of our Qu16’s it is absolutely crazy to not have one, given the possible consequences of not having one as previously stated by others.

    I agree with the reasons in this thread about the virtues of a UPS. My biggest concern is a very short duration event (power failure) … 500ms to a few seconds. If the power goes down as stays down throughout the house it’s an entirely different problem. The need is for capacity to get through a very short dropout or enough to save and perform a clean shutdown, so a couple of minutes? How long does the OS take to close the file being written to the USB drive?

    What I can offer feedback on is using a common APC ES-350 UPS: It introduced a low level buzz into the system. I had to remove it to get back to a quiet system. I am guessing it was the charging system in the UPS. Anyone have any experience modifying the charging system of one of these cheap UPS’s to be able to turn it off during the gig? Without the buzz it would probably fulfill the minimum requirement for short duration backup.

    Which brings me to the question: What are the low cost lightweight options that are quiet?

    #39698
    Profile photo of Detonator
    Detonator
    Participant

    avben1 –

    Over a span of 8 years using 3 different cheap APC units (500, 550va), I have had no issues, they have always regularly passed the UPS “test” (pull the plug on the UPS with the system running) and have been dead quiet. I opine you had a bad UPS, and suggesting from a single experience these units all produce a buzz is unwarranted. Certainly any unit bought new that is defective should be returned, any unit bought used can be risky.

    -Tim T

    #39707
    Profile photo of av8en1
    av8en1
    Participant

    Tim:

    To clarify, the noise is audible in my QSC K12’s when the APC UPS is in line with my Qu16, with power from my American Audio power distro. Take the APC UPS out of the power chain: dead silence in the mains. I would not care if there was noise when running on battery, as at this point there are other problems to deal with.

    I’ll certainly give another APC UPS a try, as if they can be used are a very economical solution. I have a couple more of them at home, so as soon as I get everything set up again I’ll check it out & report back.

    john

    #39814
    Profile photo of abzurd1
    abzurd1
    Participant

    I’ll concede it’s not a bad idea, but certainly not critical. I’ve been using digital mixers for 50 shows a year since January of 2009 and never had a problem. As mentioned, if the system goes down, almost always, the whole PA system is going with it. Besides that, the drum module, guitar processors, vocal processor, stage lighting, synths, etc, will all have to reboot. So any power interruption will interrupt the show.

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