Need help choosing a UPS

[bp2008]

@bp2008 , am I mistaken and is my fear unfounded because the lithium iron phosphate batteries have been around long enough to have some data that proves it's as safe and dependable as the SLA battery tech?

I'm not a font of scientific knowledge on the subject, but my understanding is they are very safe relative to other lithium batteries (e.g. like those in phones). We have 60 kWh of the things in the basement (EG4 LifePower4) so they'd better be safe.

 

[kd5mdk]

APC, Vertiv/Liebert and other Tier 1 UPS manufacturers already offer LiFePO4 options (at a significant premium) so the chemistry itself is known to be safe.
It’s always possible that a careless manufacturer makes a design that is bad but that is also a risk with SLA.

One thing to look out for is the certifications that a product has gone through. For example Goldmate is a pretty widely advertised LiFePO4 battery and UPS vendor and they clearly say that their batteries have industry certifications. But they have not published certification of their UPS product enclosing those batteries in the early models that I saw when I was shopping..
Is that a sign their UPS is unsafe? No, it’s an absence of indicators.

Alternately, you could put intended LiFePO4 batteries in your existing APC, many of them are designed to imitate SLA batteries to the charging unit. But you do need to be sure they are designed for that role rather than expecting a Lithium capable charger.

 

[Nick70068]

I have a 22kw whole house generator and about a dozen APC and one CyberPower UPS on my computers and electronic components without any problem. They all have done great and batteries last about 5 years. I did install a MicroAire Soft Start on my 4 ton AC because when the AC would kick on a couple of the UPS would turn on for a second or two. The Soft Start kicked the AC inrush current at startup from 120 amps down to 25 to 26 amps. BTW, I retired from a major University and always spec'd out APC UPS, we had hundreds of them throughout campus. Never had a problem with any of them except replacing batteries in about 5 years.

 

[looney2ns]

I had 3 cyberpower UPS's each fail catastrophically, just out of warranty.
Used APC for years in my business and home, never had a problem with an APC.