Power Outage !
 

While I was working at my HOME studio today there was a power outage . This is the first time this has happened to me . I was planning on getting some sort of UPS but procrastinating has finally snagged me for this happened without me having one. Once the power went , I turned everything to its off position. Power came back on , I powered up again . I expected hd errors and pop ups or corrupted sessions but everything seems to be fine. The only thing I lost was the guitar I was in the middle of tracking ! A bit surprised ! The 002 , the outboard gear . My question is , is there anything I should be checking for damage that wouldn't necessarily show itself at first glance ? Could anything inside my UA 6176 be damaged ? Or , if it's performing like usual then I got lucky ? A bit paranoid because I've heard of peoples gear ruined over a simple brown out without UPS , Thanks

Re: Power Outage !
 

If it all works and sounds normal, I'd say you dodged a bullet. Now go buy that UPS and count yourself a lucky man(or woman). Its one of the best $130 I ever spent. Don't forget to plug your external drives into it as well. I spaced out and had my firewire drive plugged into a wall outlet(too lazy to crawl behind the rack) and a power failure sent the drive up in smoke. Fortunately, I had everything backed up.

Re: Power Outage !
 

Thanks. Hey albee , what brand did you end up going with ?

Re: Power Outage !
 

For my money, the APC are the best. Get at least the 900va model(around $130). Bigger is better. I have everything on my desk attached EXCEPT the speakers(Event SP-8's). You will be changing out the batteries every 2 years or so(the unit will signal you). When that happens, shop around as replacements from APC cost more than other sources(I bought the last 2 off ebay).

Re: Power Outage !
 

I moved and disconnected all my studio stuff for about a year as I relocated and started to setup the studio again. After the USP units sat in storage for over a yesr, all my UPS units (about six of them) all came on with the "REPLACE BATTERY" warning. I'm shopping to see if it is more cost effective to just buy new UPS units as they've come down in price or replace the batteries (these have not come down in price). Bottom line: The time to get a UPS is before you need one.

Re: Power Outage !
 

UPS even if you're on location. It's a must have to protect your hdd's and computer, etc.
Tamas Dragon

Re: Power Outage !
 

I agree in principle, but those UPS units and batteries weigh so much to lug around. I used to play bass in a band in the 1990's. My back has never been the same after having to carry my bass cabinents and amp rack to gigs. I always envied the vocalists because they only had to bring their microphones and one cable. Too bad I couldn't sing.

Re: Power Outage !
 

Furman makes a nice one that is rack-mountable, allowing one to move it around in a case on wheels.

Re: Power Outage !
 

Definitely get a UPS not only to protect against outages they also provide clean power and protection from power dips. People worry a lot about power spikes but dips can cause a lot of damaged too. Transformers put out certain amount of power based on what goes in. Dips and low power conditions what is going in is less so what comes out is incorrect for the components and can do harm. So a UPS give you constant power and no worries.

I worked for one of the big two ISP's for years. Every production box was on a UPS, even if just a little box under a desk for departmental use it would be on a UPS. Our data center had UPS's to provide clean power and in case of power outage keep us up until the diesel generators would kick in. If you value your gear and your data you need a UPS.

Re: Power Outage !
 

Thats what I have had for about 11yrs now... 3RU...