I have an ancient Tripplite 700VA UPS, which is briefly triggered maybe twice a year, and needs a new sealed lead acid (SLA) battery maybe every two years. Oh boy, more toxic waste, and shopping trips, and disposal trips.
Theoretically, it can provide a signal that tells my computers to prepare for shutdown, but it doesn't seem to play nice with Linux. Most of the outages have been less than 30 seconds, so triggered shutdown is not a "must have". However, extra bonus points if the UPS /does/ behave well with more than one Linux machine. The load is two computers (250W) and perhaps one of two screens (another 60W?). Note that 700VA actually means something like 400W continuously delivered - perhaps the VA number covers the peak impulse power at computer startup, or during a power line excursion. New technology LiFePO4 batteries last much longer and are environmentally cleaner than an SLA, and are shape and terminal compatible, but they charge differently. I tried one and failed. Perhaps there is a warranty-voiding retrofit hack for the Tripplite, but for safety's sake I prefer to purchase an Uninterruptable Power Supply designed for LiFePO4. Searching on Amazon reveals some $1K units (and a crap-ton of SLA in response to "Lithium"), more power than I need and way more dollars than I wish to spend. I don't mind spending 2X, but not 5X. Suggestions? Keith -- Keith Lofstrom [email protected]
