Solar UPS on the cheap?

[ignesandros]

I'm interested in trying something similar to Bruce S's solar powered UPS which powers his freezer. If a UPS is rated at 575VA and claims an uptime of 28 minutes, can I reasonably assume it utilizes a 1200W inverter (since this suggests a 10amp/120v system)? Can I trust a refurbished UPS? Will this suit my needs?

-Andrew

[D]

[crashk6]

That UPS just by size alone I can tell you does not have anything near a 1200 watt inverter. In fact if you examine the picture of the label on the site you will clearly see it has a 312 watt inverter so keeping overhead in mind you could run 290 to maybe 300 watts of gear off of it.

Sorry to be disappointing, but at least you haven't already bought it.

--

crashK6

[ghurd]

At the big office store last night.

A 575VA UPS on sale for $50. Lets say that's a 300W inverter, a battery and a charger.

They also had a no-name 140W inverter for $60.

Strange math they do there.

G-

[nothing to lose]

"Strange math they do there."

Hmm, go to wally world and you can buy a cordless aircompressor for about $50.

Or pay $70 for a junk Vector booster starter which does only that, and only starts cars if the battery is not dead but just low.

Go to Sears auto department and you can buy a Xantrex power plus (if they still sell them) for about $70 and it has much larger battery, aircompressor, 300watt or bigger inverter, and booster starter to jump start cars with DEAD battery.

Yep it is strange. Give me an all in one Xantrex anytime over seperate items, and it can even be connected to an external battery for extended run times with the booster cables.

[ignesandros]

Read the label you're talking about. That wattage is probably indicating capacity (roughly 26Ah I'm guessing),  since it's paired with the 575VA. Just prior to that it mentioned 100/120v 5.75A max, which indicates to me 575 to 690 watts max. Am I wrong?

-Andrew

[ghurd]

I think thats right.  Rated VA usually seems to be a bit higher than rated watts, but I personally use them interchangably for small inverters.  I don't cut it that close where it would matter.

G-