UPS Recommendation for Zing 24 (50 watt)

[Alan Slater]

I am purchasing a Zing 24 with 50 watt laser and see that Epilog recommends an 1800 watt UPS for it. Does anyone have any recommendations? Does it really need to be 1800 watts or 1800VA?

Thanks,
Alan

[John Lifer]

Why universal power supply? You have poor power supply that goes off a lot? Most won't power the laser long enough to matter. Fergie it and save the money. Buy a good rated power strip that will prevent surges and spikes.

[Gary Hair]

I agree that a UPS would be pretty useless. A line conditioner might be useful if you have power spikes/sags, but otherwise save your money and get to work!

[Alan Slater]

So, do most not use an uninterruptible power supply? Epilog recommends using one and being in Texas we do lose power during spring storms. Even today the power went out for about two hours. I believe the recommendation is to prevent wasting material from the power going off. Here is their information on it.

http://support.epiloglaser.com/article/8205/29826/epilog-uniterruptible-power-supply


Alan

[Gary Hair]

I can't say what most do, but I can say what I do - I have a UPS on every computer, network storage drive, wifi router and switches, as well as my two fiber machines. Nothing on my Trotec. 99% of the work I do is on anodized aluminum so restarting a job after a power failure is no problem. The only reason the fiber machines have a ups is because they are computer integrated and I want to be able to shut down all computers manually during a power outage, not so I can continue lasering.
It may be inconvenient to restart a job on some materials, maybe even impossible, but what is the cost of those materials vs the cost of a ups large enough to continue the job? A 1,300 watt ups prices at a minimum of $1,000 and that's a lot of Rowmark! If you have frequent problems then a more robust system would be in order, something gas or propane powered that starts automatically and provides power to everything, not just your laser.

[Kev Williams]

This is one area where the Chinese did something right, at least with my Triumph...No matter WHY the power is shut down to the machine, either by accident or on purpose, the machine stays on for about 5 seconds (capacitor?) and during that time it records the machine's progress. I can unplug it from the wall, and once it's plugged back in, the machine will find the limit switches then start right back where it left off.

None of my 4 'western' machines will do this...

[John Lifer]

Yep Kev, I have used this feature twice in the last year. Works great. (not storm related, just stupid people hitting power pole and a squirrel.)

And can you REALLY pause the machine in that 5 minutes you have and get it to restart on that Epilog? BTW, those batteries deteriorate pretty rapidly. My past company replaced about every 2 years after realizing they had almost zero safety after a year or so.
Save your money.