UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply)

  • Hi!
    I'm touring in Ecuador with my Band in August.
    We've been there 2 years ago and on two stages we had power blackouts.
    One of the two Kempers we had always needed a few minutes to come back to live after the blackout.
    The other booted immediately (see here my old thread: KPAs different reaction to power blackout! Why do some KPAs do better than others?)


    To avoid any Problems we'd like to use an UPS.
    Mainly, it should only be "strong" enough to cover a few minutes of blackout for two unpowered Kemper + Remotes.


    Anyone who knows what I have to look for? What are the important specs I have to look at?


    Thanks

  • Hi --


    I'm pretty new here, but I've been around equipment quite a while.


    APC is a manufacturer of decent UPS boxes, in a wide array of capacities. I keep one behind most of my critical gear including my Kemper. This is to permit an orderly shutdown in the event of a power outage, rather than to permit me to keep running. What's more, the UPS can provide a degree of isolation from power line spikes, surges, and fades, all of which can take a toll on delicate gear.


    Do you want something that's rack mounted? These are available, as well as boxes that look like beefed-up surge protector boxes.


    So to sum up: APC is a decent workable brand, boxes are available in a variety of capacities and configurations, and your goal probably ought to be smooth power and an orderly shutdown, rather than trying to continue to work in a power-out situation.


    Best wishes,
    Michael
    DadDadDaddyo

  • The most UPSs that i've Seen in action were APCs. So I also thought they nicht be reliable.
    It doesn't have to be rackmountable.
    The smaller and lighter the better.
    So at the Moment, i'm mostly interested about the needed specs.

  • Kemper specifications will tell you power requirements in watts. That becomes watt hours when you add time, where 1 watt for 1 hour is 1 watt hour. APC specifications will give you the UPS capacity in watt hours.


    So, speaking theoretically, if a particular UPS had a 50 watt hour capacity, it could run a 50 watt load for 1 hour, or a 1 watt load for 50 hours, or a 10 watt load for 5 hours...


    Best wishes,
    Michael
    DadDadDaddyo

  • Kemper specifications will tell you power requirements in watts. That becomes watt hours when you add time, where 1 watt for 1 hour is 1 watt hour. APC specifications will give you the UPS capacity in watt hours.


    So, speaking theoretically, if a particular UPS had a 50 watt hour capacity, it could run a 50 watt load for 1 hour, or a 1 watt load for 50 hours, or a 10 watt load for 5 hours...


    Best wishes,
    Michael
    DadDadDaddyo

    I read in another thread that the unpowered Kemper + remote requires 12watts. so for 2 kempers and remotes 24 watts.
    If I get it right, even the small APC BE425M would power these for more than 1.3 hours.


    does anyone know a ver small and light ups? i only need to cover <5min

  • You might want to think about an Online UPS that can provide a true Sine Wave. The standard APCs produce a square wave AC signal that can be hard on gear, particularly sensitive digital gear. I run all my digital gear on a Minuteman Online UPS. If you ever are gigging on a generator, this is even more important, as tube amps can handle the dirty power of a generator just fine, but digital gear can be unreliable, and even damaged by dirty power.

  • I got one of these from amazon

    I agree with the idea to use only a small UPS. This device can feed a KPA for hours, but it makes no sense to run the KPA when the Amps and Mixer can not work due a power fault.
    It is good for the KPA to make the correct shut down sequence after clarification of the expected power off status. For this case a small UPS is big enough.


    Some has reported troubles with restart after power off shut down.


  • Hello BobbyKa,


    I agree with @bigtoe and his recommendation. If you are going to be touring a foreign country which may have regions with questionable power infrastructure, and especially if you may find yourself at venues in which the local power is being supplied by a gasoline or diesel generator...you definitely want to consider going with a type of UPS system classified as "online, double-conversion".


    An example of a rack mount version of an online (double-conversion) UPS would be something like the following Tripp-Lite:


    https://www.amazon.com/Tripp-L…1000RTXL2UA/dp/B000ARNUYQ


    Of course, you will want to check the rating and voltage, and select the appropriate model for your touring needs.


    Also, the following informational article on types of UPS systems may be helpful:


    https://www.upssystems.co.uk/2…standby-power-the-basics/

  • Thanks for all the Information.
    I understand the fact with the "online" UPS.
    But, to be honest, the ones I saw are way too heavy and also too expensive for the risk I am expecting.

  • Since I'm also interested in an uninterruptable power supply option, I did a little bit of research and here's my findings:


    1. Omnicharge Omni 20
    Currently only available in the US and with 120V AC outlet but should become available in 230V version as well.
    Claims to have 73Wh total capacity
    Claims to be FAA compliant (can be taken in hand luggage)
    Can be charged while being used as power supply (they call it Pass Through Charging)


    2. RAVPower RP-PB55 Powerstation
    Available in Germany (haven't checked other countries)
    Claims to provide continuos power of up to 70W
    Charged with 19V, 1.6A power supply (only 30 Watts charging power!)
    No information on FAA compliance
    No information on "Pass Through" capability



    General remarks:
    These devices aren't grounded so there's basically no "protective earth" when connecting your equipment. Technically it's certainly possible to power the Kemper (without poweramp) and the Remote. The Profiler and the Remote have a pretty low power consumption. With the "Pass Through Charging" of the Omnicharge Omni 20 it should be possible to continuously power this rig. Not sure about continuous operation of 2 Profilers with 2 Remotes though since the charging is limited to 45W max.



    Personal remarks:
    I haven't tried any of these on my own although I would love to get the Omnicharge as soon as it's available here in Germany. If I ever get my hands on it, I will certainly look for an additional small surge protection device.
    Also I would be VERY interested if someone already has tried it or is about to try one of these. :)

  • I just got mine, it adds 15 pounds to my rack but with my kemper and power amp hooked up I get 32 minutes of battery power, it has 1060 joles protection and it says can convert bad power.

  • You might want to think about an Online UPS that can provide a true Sine Wave. The standard APCs produce a square wave AC signal that can be hard on gear, particularly sensitive digital gear. I run all my digital gear on a Minuteman Online UPS. If you ever are gigging on a generator, this is even more important, as tube amps can handle the dirty power of a generator just fine, but digital gear can be unreliable, and even damaged by dirty power.

    Yes, Absolutely. A true online UPS is the way to go. Although some by pass the UPS circuit when the power is good, then switch over to the UPS when the power is non sinusoidal. The UPS output is similar to the Bang Oulfson Amp in the powered Kempers. Both use an H-Bridge (Class-D) output. Thaks Bigtoe for starting the conversation. I have also used many APCs fro radar sites. All were 750 VA and up to 5kVA, but all were true offline.