My New UPS is 540 watts

[jcarter]

So I really dont dare plug any more stuff into my new RS 900 UPS, as its rated for 540w.
My old Triplite cant carry both Macs, I found that out this morning. Its 7 years old and getting tired, so I bought a new unit.
My question is that I dont want to overload this one, so I dont want to plug my printer into it, Ive got both iMacs=500 watts and my router and cable modem. I think thats enuf. But I have another curcuit in this room, unfortunatly its a switched outlet, but I can tape it on and just turn the lights off by the switch on them.  
BUT,,,,,,, this is a very old plug and its only the 2 prong one with no ground.  My husband just found one of those cheater adapters with the 3 holes on the top. Is this OK to plug my Epson scanner/printer into that?
Thanks,
Jane

ps Ive not fired up the computers yet, as the instructions say to let the battery charge for 8 hours before using it with the battery outlet side.
Im using his Mac in a different part of the house.

[pendragon]

Jane,

AFAIK (which ain't much)

You may not care to have your printer plugged in to the UPS, at least not to the plug which maintains your system in the event of an outage. Even if you do lose power while printing, the worst that can (or should) happen is that you lose what was in your printer queue. Still, your printer should be connected to a high quality surge protector.

[sandbox]

I agree with Harv....no need for a printer(s) to be on a USB.

Mac
Monitor
Modem
Phone---(Broadband and Cellphone charger)
Router
.
Maybe a low watt LED light for the time it takes to SAVE data and shut it all down.

[Texas Mac Man]

My Belkin 750VA UPS has a monitor window that opens which shows the current load. Does your UPS have this feature?

I have my G4 MDD with 4 HDs, LCD monitor, printer, scanner & router connected and the window shows a load of 11% of capacity.

[Paddy]

As the others said, absolutely no reason/need to plug a printer into a UPS. The reason for the UPS is twofold - to protect your computer from power surges (to which it may be more sensitive than a printer - and it's a heck of a lot more expensive, should the surge be extreme!) and to provide you some shut down time in the event of a power outage.

Also, NEVER plug a laser printer into a UPS - they draw waaay too much power and will either trip the UPS or fry it. Most UPS units have a warning about this.

[sandbox]

QUOTE(Texas Mac Man @ Nov 13 2009, 09:27 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

My Belkin 750VA UPS has a monitor window that opens which shows the current load. Does your UPS have this feature?

I have my G4 MDD with 4 HDs, LCD monitor, printer, scanner & router connected and the window shows a load of 11% of capacity.

Hey Tom iHave one of those...Belkins...and I don't think that they're making them anymore. It's been 5 years or so and still works fine.

[jcarter]

Thank you all for the info, Ive got the printer, its an inkjet, Epson with a built in scanner, plugged into a different circuit into the wall. Its an old one, but works well.

I only have the 2 Macs and one external hard drive, and my router and cable modem in the new UPS.  I think its OK, since I took the other stuff out.
Things are working fine this morning, and my Macs are back on and running fine. I was using my husband's Mac yesterday.

Was thinking I would plug the UPS into my little KillOWatt meter, but in the instructions it said not to plug the unit into anything other than the main wall plug.
Jane

[Xairbusdriver]

First:
Did you use the UPS company's site to compute which model to buy? Even though the recommendations are often too conservative, they should be an indication of what the model can do.

Buying a model very near the upper limits of the needed power will usually result in the shortest times that it can provide that power. Hopefully, that will be long enough for your computer to complete any and all critical processes.

Secondly:
Does the UPS provide unmonitored circuits?

These are for simply passing the AC to what are devices that simply don't need to be running during a power outage, like a printer/scanner/modem/Airport (usually)/USB or Ethernet hubs/switches (usually). The "usually" mean that if these devices are connecting to external hard drives, then they should be using the UPS to maintain power in case there is a write process occurring. Stopping a write to a drive before it is completed is not a good thing.

If you have those type of circuits/sockets, they will not be included in the wattage limits of the UPS. That wattage is the amount of power the UPS can provide via its batteries and the inverter than converts the DC into AC needed by the devices it is protecting.

[jcarter]

I figured that both Macs would be just a bit under 500 watts, then the cable modem, one or 2 of the external HDs, and my router in the un-battery side would be OK. The printer is on another circuit, its an inkjet/scanner. Unfortunatly the other circuit is a switched one, and my light is in it too. But when I need to print or scan, I can just switch the wall switch on, and turn the light off and fire up the printer.
I managed to clean up a lot of the wires under my desk, what a mess that was!

http://www.apc.com/products/resource/inclu...total_watts=200
This is mine, the BR900
And if my new iMac 24 inch one is about 300w and the old one is a bit less than 200w, then my runtime according to the chart would be about 6 minutes. Enuf for me to shut down stuff and save my Photoshop stuff.
Nothing else is in the battery side but my 2 computers.
What I really wanted to do was to put my little KillOWatt meter on one of the computers and see how many watts it took, but there isnt room for the plug.
Was wondering if there is a list on the Apple support pages somewhere that gives you an idea of how many watts that an iMac uses. Or if there might be something like iStat which could tell that. When the thing is idling, or cranking on Photoshop, or in the middle, that would be interesting.
What a cool idea for a Widget!
Jane

[Xairbusdriver]

A great way of avoiding crowded receptacles, especially those with 'wall warts', is to use a short, usually four to six inch receptacle/plug extender combo. basically a very short, heavy duty extension cord.

Check the Specs on your machine on Apple's Support pages. Those should be available for any machine made in the last 5+ years and will give you the wattage, ambient room condition limits, length, width, weight and Steve's age when the model first came out. I doubt if there is any accurate app/widget that would give you the watts or amperage being used. It would not have any knowledge of what the machine is actually using unless there happen to be some sensors built into the power supply. And even then, it would only be a transient value depending entirely on what the machine was doing at the time you get the measurement. Even that KillOWatt meter may not give you the actual highest power usage at any particular time. It probably just checks at a certain interval and and averages the values for the output. But you should be able to use that short cable to connect it between any two items.

[Texas Mac Man]

For more info on UPS, look at these links. One thing that's helpful is that your UPS manufacturer gives the rating in both KVA & Watts. (Start reading late at night as they may help you go to sleep.)  

A Guide to UPS
http://itmanagement.earthweb.com/netsys/ar...uide-to-UPS.htm

Tech Tip: Macintosh UPS Buyers Guide.
http://creativetechs.com/tipsblog/macintos...s-buyers-guide/

10 things to look for in uninterruptible power supplies
http://www.zdnetasia.com/techguide/disaste...39372369,00.htm

Demystifying the Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS)
http://www.atpm.com/13.02/ups.shtml

Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) FAQ
http://www.jetcafe.org/%7Enpc/doc/ups-faq.html

How big a UPS do I need?
http://www.jetcafe.org/%7Enpc/doc/ups-faq.html#04

Comparison of Power Protection Methods
http://www.pcguide.com/ref/power/ext/comp-c.html

Standby and uninterruptible power supply tutorial
http://www.powermanagementdesignline.com/h...TMY32JVN?pgno=1

[sandbox]

Good stuff Tom...

Jane here's a suggestion that will give you 10 minutes to shut down. 750 VA
http://www.amazon.com/APC-BE750G-10-Outlet...4004800-7352810


Of course that depends on what's plugged in, but I can shut down everything in under 2 minutes so this one would work for me too. It has 4 lines on Battery and 4 on serge protection only. It has a data line protector as well.
Details 750VA
http://www.apc.com/products/resource/inclu...total_watts=200

[jcarter]

I searched Apple's support pages diligently and found nothing on wattage consumption. Not a thing with Google either. I got the estimates from our local store, guessed at 300 for my new 24 inch, and about 200 or less for this one, the soccer ball one.
But nobody seems to know. I guess I should just unplug one from the UPS and use the KillOWatt the way you say to hook it up, and then I would know, yes as you can just look at the screen of the little meter.
And this would obviously fluctuate with what software you are using, how hard you are pushing the machine.

Hey, thank you!  I am reading the links,,,,,,
GREAT links, why does not Google come to them???, well anyway thanks for them, as I know now that my 24 incher is 280 watts, perhaps idling, and my new UPS, see link in previous post, will carry both easily.
iStat should add it to their monitoring wizard, if they could figure out how to do it. Sensors? How do they know how many RPM your fans are going or the temp of the hard drive and everything else in the innards?
Jane

[sandbox]

Jane, just plug your stuff into the UPS and unplug it, to see if it works the way you want. See how long it works in real life.
There is no downside to testing it and it will give you the confidence you need.

[Xairbusdriver]

New round up of why/what/when/how info on Uninterruptible Power Supplies from <Christopher Breen, Macworld.com>. He seems to agree with us.