Down and Out.... DTE really S_UCKS

[Fire$torm]

Sorry guys but I'm out of the game until the worst power company on the planet can get our part of the grid running. DTE's estimates restoring power by 9:30 PM. BTW the storm that knocked out power lasted all of FIFTEEN minutes with wind gusts topping 22~24 mph.......... Sad I know.

Got on the net by Jerry Rigging a cheapo UPS to a car battery so I could power the cable router and my lappy.
Gotta conserve the battery.... See ya when I see ya............

F$

[Steve Bohlen]

Got on the net by Jerry Rigging a cheapo UPS to a car battery so I could power the cable router and my lappy.

That is simply awesome.

[trigggl]

Gotta conserve the battery.... See ya when I see ya............

Hook a battery charger up to your UPS.

[DrPop]

That is just hilarious! Who'd a thought ... did you have an inverter lying around just for that purpose? 12V batt --> UPS --> router/computer

[c303a]

If you are a real die hard cruncher you would hook up jumper cables from your car and charge the batteries. Just think, 2 birds with one stone. You could sit in your air conditioned car at the same. Of course you would have to calculate how many stones per gallon you got.

[trigggl]

That is just hilarious! Who'd a thought ... did you have an inverter lying around just for that purpose? 12V batt --> UPS --> router/computer

A UPS holds its charge with an internal 12 volt battery. I guess F$ knew this and decided he'd hook it up to an external. Obviously, a car battery holds a charge longer than the small internal battery. The small one in his UPS was probably old and expired.

[Mumps]

As an example, I know the batteries in the APC SmartUPS line are nothing more than deep-cycle batteries just like you find on smaller motors. Like motorcycles, dirt-bikes and little kiddie rechargeable vehicles. You can go in to Batteries+ and replace your SmartUPS batteries for $25 or less. :-)

[DrPop]

As an example, I know the batteries in the APC SmartUPS line are nothing more than deep-cycle batteries just like you find on smaller motors. Like motorcycles, dirt-bikes and little kiddie rechargeable vehicles. You can go in to Batteries+ and replace your SmartUPS batteries for $25 or less. :-)

Really!? That is great news! I have an APC 1500 - I think that's the model, it's pretty beefy and quite heavy, but the battery is going south (beeps occasionally and the indicator LEDs come on)...maybe I could replace the thing for much cheaper than the $125 or so I saw online?

@Trigggl - so basically the UPS just has a certain wattage inverter built in? We could roll our own - huge "Cruncher Style" UPS's then, with deep cycle marine batteries and a REAL full size inverter!

[Mumps]

Really!? That is great news! I have an APC 1500 - I think that's the model, it's pretty beefy and quite heavy, but the battery is going south (beeps occasionally and the indicator LEDs come on)...maybe I could replace the thing for much cheaper than the $125 or so I saw online?

Yup. Should be. If you open it up and pull the batteries out, you should find a pair hooked together in that 1500. Standard batteries. Part number on 'em will match the ones you can find at Batteries+ and even WalMart. :-)

[Fire$torm]

That is just hilarious! Who'd a thought ... did you have an inverter lying around just for that purpose? 12V batt --> UPS --> router/computer

A UPS holds its charge with an internal 12 volt battery. I guess F$ knew this and decided he'd hook it up to an external. Obviously, a car battery holds a charge longer than the small internal battery. The small one in his UPS was probably old and expired.

That's right Doc! The UPS is about a year and a half old but can only power a P4 desktop for about 10 minutes tops. My Gateway has battery backup (internal) but the gateway only provides phone service on battery. That only lasts about 3 hours and much less if you make numerous calls.

Really!? That is great news! I have an APC 1500 - I think that's the model, it's pretty beefy and quite heavy, but the battery is going south (beeps occasionally and the indicator LEDs come on)...maybe I could replace the thing for much cheaper than the $125 or so I saw online?

@Trigggl - so basically the UPS just has a certain wattage inverter built in? We could roll our own - huge "Cruncher Style" UPS's then, with deep cycle marine batteries and a REAL full size inverter!

Correct. There are a lot of DIY UPS How-Tos on the net. The main issue with the setup I had is that the APC UPS I have does not put out enough current to charge a car battery. Me thinks it is time to build my own UPS, but only for the Gateway and the lappies. Cost to build one for my desktop is out of my league money wise. The Gateway is a must since phone service comes from it.