UPS location

It depends on what you are planning to power with the UPS.  I have small UPSs connected to each of my DVRs to maintain power during the all too frequent power interuptions we are blessed with.  Nothing worse than watching a movie and have the receiver have to reboot due to a short power outage.

chowimark,

This a Home Theatre APC J10 BLK UPS power Conditioner with battery backup (in the beginning I mention to say UPS), it will be connected to my home entertainment system which consists of 11 components. My concern is can I place is on the carpet underneath my system. Thanks for asking. By the way, what brand is your small UPS?

It should be ok to place it on the carpeting, but I would suggest some type of stand or legs to allow air to circulate under it.  I have other types of power conditioners and some of them tend to get warm.   If might get hot if there is limited air circulation. 

On the UPS question, most of them I use are the APC Back-UPS  CS 350 units.  There are small and are on sale often.  

chowimmark,

Thanks, I thinking about placing a metal shelve under it to help with the circulation.

chowimmark,

I decided to place it on the glass shelve it would be more stable then on the carpet plus it will have better air circulation. I will be moving two components to make the room for it. I am glad I made this purchase, since the latter part of May we have been getting thunderstorms in the area on a daily basis. My next move is to purchase a smaller Audio Video UPS for the bedroom, as I mentioned at the start of this thread this one was suppose to be that purchase. But it can better be used to protect the home entertainment system which the HD DVR is connected too.

I have two APC UPS units (550 and 650 VA) and a Tripplite (1500 VA) which are on the carpet (no problems).

bob_nielsen,

Thanks for that information, do you have anything under them, does the fans put out any heat which I think they would, does it goes onto any plugs which in my case it would if I place it underneath my entertainment system stand? I truly like this UPS, and I am ready to connect it to protect my entertainment system, but I wanted to make sure that I select a stable location. By the way, do you have the phonelines connect to it? I was told on another thread to only connect the plugs and nothing else, but how is the phonelines protected?

A typical UPS will have the batteries at the bottom so there should be no problem with heat if you place it on a carpet, as long as the carpet isn't blocking any air vents. You could also place it on a small piece of plywood or put some carpet protectors under it if you want. Running the phone line through the UPS shouldn't cause a problem, but you don't want to run the satellite cables through it. Some surge protectors have problems passing the frequencies used by the satellite dish or with the DC voltages use to control it.

Madmac3

This unit is heavy, so I think the floor is the best place for it.  Like Sungam suggested a board underneath it should make it more stable on carpet, and it would also allow the legs on it to provide some air under the unit.  I checked a friends configuration that has this UPS/conditioner and his does get warm.    If your phone line is going to connect to your receiver I would run them through the protector for the additional protection.  I used to install phone systems and you wouldn't believe how many electronic devices get hit with surges over the copper phone lines.

sungam,

Thanks, This UPS battery is located in the upper area. Prior to me rethinking of placing the UPS on the shelve; I measure it and my plans was to go to either Home Depot or Lowe's to have a board specially cut to place underneath it. As I mentioned earlier the fan would be an issue due to the heat coming from it, well at least I think it would. Besides the usually plugs and telephone lines (in and out) there will be nothing else connected to this UPS.

My APC UPS units (550 and 650 VA) are not warm at all. There are no fans or vents.

bob_nielsen,

The APC model that madmack3 got is a >$400 specialty(Audio Video) UPS and Power Conditioner. I too have one of the BE550's for my bedroom HD DVR, eSATA & SDTV and a APC XP Series BX1500LCD for the entertainment center with a HD DVR, eSATA, HDTV, BluRay and DVD recorder on it. But user madmack3 intitially purchased one of the "UPS-Backup" series like the BE550 and BE650 and was told by APC Customer Service that these UPS's were "not suitable" for protecting Audio/Video equipment. Personally, I think APC would prefer you spend > $400 rather than what we paid for our BE550's(I actually paid right at $200 for the BX1500LCD model for my entertainment center). At least I "hope" I'm right because the APC CSR actually implied to madmack3's question that the power generated by the "UPS-Backup" series were designed for computer applications only, could be "harmful" to audio/video equipment and that they would not cover any damages to A/V equipment connected to them. I think user madmack3 didn't want to take any chances, but I still think the UPS's we have will be "better than nothing".

P.S.

madmack3,

The BX1500LCD model I have is pretty large compared to the "BE" series and is approx. 12" high by 8"wide by 24" long and is quite heavy(probably around 60 lbs). It has several fans on the back of it, but like mentioned earlier the base doesn't have any cooling ports. Mine sits on the carpet behind the entertainment center and I made certain the fans were not blocked and the unit had plenty of room around it for air circulation. It gets a "little warm", but not what I would consider "hot". You probably just need to be sensitive to where the fans are located and any cooling slots.

Has anybody tested a UPS/Surge Protector that can handle the dual coax satellite feed without signal interference? I realize that the chances of a direct lightning strike (no pun intended) on the dish are remote, compared to a surge through power or phone lines; but that's still a tinyelectrical backdoorto most of your electronics and probably your entire network. 

ggtwo,

You could always be "the first":0)

And let us know if your DirecTV service still works!!!

If your dish and coax goes through a grounding block and the system is properly grounded I am under the impression that this is really the "protection" that counts.

dj,

I may shortly be that guinea pig.

Theoretically, a properly grounded dish might protect your system; and you can be sure that the best surge protector is completely useless, if it is plugged into an improperly grounded outlet. But a power surge, especially a lightning strike behaves like a river overflowing its banks: it keeps going, rather unpredictably, on the path of least resistance until something stops or absorbs it completely. That's why a strike just may zap half the phones in your house, kill your printer and the USB bus on your computer, and yet leave the computer still functioning. (Not that it does you much good: you still end up having to replace the computer ... or getting to replace it,depending on your perspective and insurance.) 

If a power surge hits hard enough, it can overflow the electrical ground, like a flash flood over a storm drain: and the next drain along the street is your TV system and network. That's where a good surge protector, willing to give its life for your equipment, comes in.

Of course, it is a very tiny dish, in a veritable sea of power and phone lines...