Hi y’all looking for advice here
I selfhost a nextcloud server and a NAS for backups, and one of my challenges has been data corruption after power failures.
I went and bought some consumer UPS units about 5 years ago, which helped, but now the batteries are starting to fail, and I’m not protected from power outages until I replace them.
I have the router on UPS as well so the computers can communicate with each other that the power has failed and it is time to gracefully shut down (using NUT).
However the router itself uses quite a bit of power and I am hoping to make a smarter decision this time around when getting a UPS.
The router’s power supply is 12V5A with a barrel style jack, so i have been searching for “DC UPS 12V 5A” to try and find something compatible that wastes less energy converting from battery DC to AC for the power supply to then convert back to DC.
But the only thing I’ve been able to find are these units designed to power electric doors: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D8VLPRN2/
I’m not sure if this would even be safe to use with a router, and i don’t know how i would wire it up to the router either.
I think i just don’t have enough knowledge to know how to shop for an appropriate DC UPS, or if such a thing even exists.
Anyone been in a similar situation?
Aha! Yes.
Dunno how much juice you need, but I am installing one of these, tied into solar and a smart power switch:
https://au.ecoflow.com/products/ecoflow-river-3-max-plus-portable-power-station
Part of the reason I chose it is exactly what you are talking about. It has a direct DC output, so you can avoid the battery DC --> AC --> router power supply --> DC conversion chain. I have a bunch of DC capable gear (Raspberry Pi, router etc) and I’d rather not incur the losses in conversion.
FWIW, the car-style DC outlet supplies 12.6 V at up to 10 A, or 126 W. So it has more than enough current capacity for a 12 V 5 A router. (It also has USB power, if that’s an option for you).
You’d still need to check whether your router is happy with 12.6 V rather than exactly 12 V though. You’d also need the correct barrel size and polarity.
On the plus side, It gives you 858 Wh of storage (depending on which model you do with), a <10 ms UPS transfer time, and enough AC output to keep quite a bit of your other electronic junk alive during a blackout or brownout.
In any case, please enjoy the delicious overkill. I’ve seen the River 3 plus + extra battery on sale for as low as A$599 / 420 USD. And yes, they can be charged by normal wall socket (and also yes, the DO pass-thru as well)
https://www.ecoflow.com/au/river-3-series-portable-power-station
Thank you, I think this is basically what I’m lookong for. I’ll just need to find an adapter from car outlet to the correct barrel adaptor.
EDIT the only thing that would improve it is a user-serviceable battery.
Ha ha! The external battery is user serviceable / replaceable :)
Welcome to the new disease called “can I run my home-lab entirely off grid”
It looks to me like you have to replace the whole $600 unit in 10 years rather than swapping out just the battery. I’d rather not generate that ewaste.
No, the battery swaps out (or at least the external one) - it’s attached by clips and pogo pins. Hell, you can deconstruct the battery and replace the cells yourself, if you’re technically inclined and know what you’re doing.
You’ll have to contact them directly, but I’ve have heard that they can service or replace the internal one too, rather than replacing the whole unit.
You don’t have to ditch the whole unit - what a waste that would be.
Contact them; they’re pretty responsive.
support.au@ecoflow.com