Review: Belkin Dual Form Tower-Rack UPS

Don Bradbury looks at a new Uninterruptible Power Supply unit

Product	F6C1250eiTW-RK Tower-Rack UPS
Company	Belkin
Web	www.belkin.com
Price	£239.99 incl
We like	General ergonomics; PC control
We don't like	No standard 13A style three pin outlets
Rating	9/10
Requirements

Users of personal computers, or any computing device that relies on AC mains to power it, must live in some fear of a system crash if the power fails while they have critical files open. The power doesn't even have to fail; there are several sources of potential trouble in the typical mains supply. Spikes in voltage due to lightning strikes or other interference, and power "brownouts", dips or surges in voltage beyond the power of the computer to cope and so on.

The way to avoid these nasties is to insert an uninterruptible power supply device in the power input line. Such a piece of equipment takes AC mains, transforms that, and uses the current to charge internal (usually Lead/Acid, as here) sealed batteries, and then, when the mains power fails, transform the DC output from those into a source of nice, clean AC voltage with which to operate your equipment.

The Belkin F6C1250eiTW-RK Tower-Rack UPS (ed. friendly product name!) unit is designed to be used as either a tower system, for which a pair of feet are supplied on which to stand the unit and make it more secure, or it can be laid flat on its side.

Test mode

The on/off switch is a push-button type which doubles as a test switch operating in automatic mode. You just press and hold for two seconds to switch the unit either on or off, or press briefly while the unit is off to enter the test mode where battery backup is put through it's paces.

At the rear are six power outlets delivering uninterruptible power with surge protection, and two more that offer only surge protection (i.e. for use with equipment when no battery backup is required).

AC in, and a resettable circuit breaker that protects against overload also feature here, as do 1-in and 2-out RJ-45 jacks with surge protection for networks connection, 1-in and 2-out RJ-11 jacks with surge protection for phone/fax/modem operation, and both USB and Serial ports (using one of them only) for plug-and-play operation offering control of the computer, for which a software CD is provided for those who want to use an automatic shutdown procedure in the event of power failure.

Alternative Control

There's also an SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol) card option slot for remote management if users prefer not to use the provided software approach. Coming complete with all the leads you need (though only two power leads among them), with heat slots in both side and top (tower mode) to vent what heat is generated by charging and general operation, that's about it.

While this unit has no shortage of connectivity and control options, all of the power outlets are PC or IEC60320 kettle-style female sockets; there are no standard three pin (13amp style) sockets into which you could directly plug peripherals such as an external backup drive. For that you'd have to buy your own lead. This is preferable to making one up yourself, and as it can be potentially unsafe, such would void the manufacturer's connected equipment warranty, Belkin say. The manufacturer does supply this lead, and later we hope to comment on it when the said device is in our hands.

After accepting the recommended initial 16-hour charge from the mains, users will find that the output voltage, measured on an AC multimeter, is somewhat shy of 200 volts with no load applied. The device's specification calls for 230V output plus or minus 10%, ie in the range 207 to 253 volts. However, this phenomenon is normal; it's due to the fact that UPS devices in this category output a square wave form rather than the normal sine wave form, and standard multimeters are not appropriate to measure this type of output. The actual AC voltage is much higher, and entirely appropriate to the task.

The unit's on-CD manual stipulates that no surge protection devices, typically found in power strips, should be applied downstream of the UPS. That's because the square wave form output can damage the Metal Oxide Varistors (MOV's) in the surge protector over a period of time. Users of existing multi-outlet surge protector strips would do well to remove any that would be downstream of the UPS.

In conclusion

The F6C1250eiTW-RK Tower-Rack UPS we review here is the one in the range that's of 1250VA capacity, offering typically 100 minutes of battery running. There are both smaller and larger capacity units in the range, but the 1250VA should prove ample for backing up the power supply for a typical PC installation.

Made in China for Belkin Corporation, the documentation showed evidence of a non-English author, though it was understandable. Since power backup will be considered all but essential for any important PC installation, this unit is recommended. Users requiring direct access to standard 13A sockets will need the extra lead we mentioned. As it comes, the F6C1250eiTW-RK is primarily intended for backing up a PC's power supply with decent (as opposed to shut-down only) capacity, but not that of the computer's power-brick operated peripherals.

 

Don Bradbury