I’m thinking about getting a UPS for my LOREX NVR POE camera setup. I saw a 1500VA Amazon Basics model that’s on sale.
The issue is that it’s a ‘simulated’ sine wave type. How sensitive is this system to that?
Do I actually need a pure sine wave UPS for this to work properly?
Here’s the thing about electronics—most of them are built to handle ‘dirty’ power just fine. Power from the wall gets filtered, converted to DC, then cleaned up again. Even with a simulated sine wave, your equipment should be ok.
What people don’t realize is that the inside of your devices is full of electrical noise anyway. It’s filtered before it becomes the clean, steady power your system uses. The terms ‘simulated’ and ‘pure’ are more about marketing than real differences. Unless you’re powering motorized appliances, almost any UPS will do the job.
One thing to think about—how long do you need your cameras to run during a power outage? For temporary backup, you really don’t need a massive UPS like that. Define your needs first, then look for the right solution.
@Albert
That’s interesting because I once had a house where desktop computers kept failing. After I added a UPS with surge protection, the problem stopped.
Do you think it was just a coincidence? Could the UPS have actually helped? What about if this happened years ago?
@Michael
‘Line conditioning’ is one of those vague terms that sounds helpful but doesn’t mean much. Electrical problems can include sags, noise, surges, or even bad grounding. Without knowing what was wrong in your house, it’s hard to say if the UPS solved the issue or if the failures just stopped by chance.
UPS devices don’t really have strong surge protection. Their specs show very low joule ratings, which means they can only handle tiny surges. If a UPS seemed to fix your problem, it’s more likely that it smoothed out some minor power issues rather than protecting against anything major.
To really figure out why those desktops failed, you’d need to look at what specifically went wrong inside them. Otherwise, any explanation is just guessing.
@Albert
I see your point, and I get what you’re saying. I’m not naive—I know most of what you’re talking about. I guess I was mostly worried about protecting the hard drive and the main board. I don’t think the power type matters much, but I wanted to hear from others about their experiences.
@Leah
A lot of people think power loss can ruin hard drives, but the truth is, drives are built to handle sudden outages. When power goes out, the drive finishes what it’s doing and gets ready for shutdown. This has been true since the early days of drives.
As for protection, the power supplies inside your electronics are already designed to deal with a lot. They’re some of the most reliable parts in your system. If you’re worried about power anomalies, you’d need a solution that works for everything in your house, not just your cameras.
Pure sine wave is usually only needed for things like fridges or other appliances with sensitive motors. I’ve never heard of it being an issue with electronics like cameras or NVR systems.
NVR systems are pretty basic. They run on Linux, and I’ve been using a simulated sine wave UPS with no issues for my Windows machine. Should be fine for your setup too.
Paisley said:
NVR systems are pretty basic. They run on Linux, and I’ve been using a simulated sine wave UPS with no issues for my Windows machine. Should be fine for your setup too.
It’s not about the operating system. It’s about the power supply. Since your cameras and NVR work on 12V DC, they rely on a regulator to convert AC to DC. That process includes filtering out noise, so even a simulated sine wave should work fine.