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TrippLite UPS Gripes |
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| A UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply) provides battery backup, surge protection and possibly voltage regulation |
April 13, 2003. I got this model as a replacement from TrippLite for the unit described below. It has 6 outlets, three of which are battery backed up.
It's not clear if the battery on this model is user replaceable or not. The Owners Manual says battery replacement must be performed by qualified service personnel. Then it gives instructions on how to replace the battery. Are they for the "qualified service personnel" or for me? It also says not to open the UPS for any reason. On the outside of the box it says there is a "convenient battery replacement door" and says "user friendly feature allows easy replacement of UPS batteries". I emailed Tripp Lite. There was no response to the email, so I asked via their tech support web page. This got a quick reply:
"We suggest that a service person replace the batteries in the unit, but if you feel confident replacing a car battery then you should be ok replacing the UPS's battery."
The on/off switch does not turn the unit on and off. My cable modem has no on/off switch of its own, so I plugged it into a non-battery backed receptacle. With the UPS turned off, it was still getting electricity. Sure enough, the Owners Manual says that the on/off switch just effects the battery backup feature. Why anyone would want to turn off the main feature of the unit beats me. There is no real on/off switch like that found on a surge protector.
There is no advice in the Owners Manual (dated October 1999 Revision 5.5/5.6) regarding replacing the battery. No specs, no model numbers.
FYI: The plug that plugs the UPS into a wall outlet is not flat (they refer to this as a right angle plug)
March 25, 2003
The UPS died after 23 months.
Lesson learned. Never buy a UPS without a user-replaceable battery.
On March 29, 2003 I asked Tripp Lite what the blinking green and constant yellow light mean by filling out the tech support web page. TrippLite responded with: "This indicates that the unit is in stand-by mode". Since I described two problems, it's not clear if the blinking green light or the constant yellow light means stand-by mode. They asked what happens when the on/off switch is pushed in the on position. I responded that the unit does not light up at all, no matter what switches are pushed where, no lights come on any more.
In response, they sent me a new unit! It arrived April 8, 2003. This is above and beyond the call of duty. Their only request was for me to cut the power cord and dispose of the bad unit. Thank you Tripp Lite.
It comes with a two year warranty, but it is not obvious whether the warranty covers a dead battery. Even if it does, the UPS has to be returned to Tripp Lite and these things are heavy, bulky, and no doubt expensive to mail. I emailed Tripp Lite on March 29, 2003 asking about the warranty coverage and gave them the serial number, stock number and date code. I never got a response to this email message, but the response described above made this moot.
May 2, 2001
I bought a TrippLite OmniSmart 300 PNP UPS in April 2001. It sells for around $120. The part number is OMNISMART300PNP.
The owners manual says to plug the UPS into the wall, plug in your equipment, then turn on the UPS. Pretty simple. No gripe potential here. Think again. A sticker on the UPS itself says to plug the UPS into the wall, turn the power switch on, then plug in the equipment.
The owners manual says to leave adequate space around the UPS for ventilation. What is adequate space? It doesn't say.
After being on for a bit, the UPS feels warm, bordering on hot. Is this normal? The owners manual does not say anything about it.
This model has 3 outlets, the next model up has 6. Despite having plenty of real estate in the back, all three outlets are very close together, making it difficult to use a large plug. I tried using one large plug that had the prongs way at the top. It didn't fit in the lowest outlet. The problem was not at the top of the plug, that is, it did not interfere with a normal small plug in the middle outlet. Instead the problem was on the side. The wire connecting the UPS to the electrical outlet is very close to the outlets where you plug in your protected devices. Too close.
Owners manual says that batteries must be replaced by qualified service personnel. Then it gives you instructions on how to replace the battery yourself and how to recycle and/or dispose of the old one. It does not say anything about where you find a qualified service person or where you buy a new battery.
In my opinion TrippLite has too many different lines of UPSs (ignoring the many other products they sell). Wading through them all to try and find the appropriate one for me was too much work. The different lines are: OmniSmart, OmniPro, BC Internet, BC Personal, BC Pro, Internet Office, Smart OnLine and 6 types of SmartPro. Each one of these is a line of UPSs, not an individual model.
The battery is not user replaceable. This is a big drawback, as I learned the hard way, when the battery on mine died after 23 months. APC, in contrast, sells similar UPS models that do allow the user (me) to replace the battery.
FYI: The owners manual says not to use this UPS for life support equipment. I guess it's not that good a model.
FYI: The owners manual includes a warning not to plug the UPS into itself. :-)
FYI: The plug that plugs the UPS into a wall outlet is not flat.
FYI: For warranty information call Customer Support (773) 869-1234 or e-mail techsupport@tripplite.com
FYI: Protect your PC from power surges USA Today. July 9, 2001
| Page last updated: April 16, 2003 |