Practical testing …
The ECO function of the UPS does its job without complaint. As soon as the PC is switched off, the two slave sockets are also switched off. If the power consumption of the switched-off PC is still too high, the trigger threshold can be adjusted in the options already shown.
Uninterruptible power supply …
But let’s now move on to the main function of the UPS: the uninterruptible power supply for the connected devices. We spared no expense or effort to realize this test setup and simply pulled the Schuko plug out of the socket. As this is an InLine UPS, it immediately resumed battery operation without the PC switching off. In battery mode, the fan then cranked up again and was clearly audible. However, this is understandable, as the inverter requires a lot of cooling, especially under full load. We have shown the running times in various constellations in a table. We did not empty the UPS to 100% so as not to expose our devices to a hard shutdown. The remaining runtime was approx. 1-2 minutes in all cases.
| Examples of the usage time | |||
| Load | Performance | Duration | devices |
| Low load | 30 W | 120 min | FritzBox, FritzPhone and Synology 218+ NAS |
| PC idle | 260 W | 18 min | Computer idle, desktop use |
| PC Load | 566 W | 4 min | Computer under load, benchmark |
Pure sine vs modified sine …
It is also important that the UPS supplies a clean sine wave voltage. Televisions, hi-fi systems and LED lighting, for example, rely on this. In the case of computers, the power supply unit is responsible for providing a safe voltage for the components despite an unclean sine wave. Incidentally, not all power supply units with active PFC (Power Factor Correction) are supported by every UPS; if in doubt, you should contact the manufacturer. Here are some diagrams showing both the mains voltage and the backup voltage provided by the Eaton UPS in the event of a fault.
First of all, we see the voltage that is supplied without failure from the UPS master socket and the backup sockets.
A clean sine wave voltage is of course also supplied.
Here you can see the sine wave voltage curve again in detail.
We have now measured the output voltage in the event of a failure. Immediately after a power failure, the voltage briefly drops to approx. 223.4V and then returns to the preset voltage.
Now we look at the sine curve and see that it is not a “pure sine”, but a modified sine.
Here you can see the modified sine wave once again in detail. The inverter, which generates the alternating current from the direct current of the battery, outputs approximately the usual 50 hertz in the household grid (adjustable), but without the well-formed sine wave, which can be decisive for some household appliances. Here in the Power Station Test on Funkyhome.de you can see further examples of how a sine wave output can be processed.
There are also UPS devices from Eaton that supply a pure sine wave. However, as you can see from the measurements, this Eaton Ellipse Pro supplies a square wave voltage, which cannot or must not be used with every device. UPS or power stations are often used for CPAP ventilators, for example. In this case, you should be sure to ask the respective CPAP device manufacturer whether the device can be operated with this UPS before purchasing. This is because it is not only the speed that determines how quickly a stable and clean power supply is provided, but the starting current can also be high in some cases. In addition, this UPS is not silent. With a server or NAS or possibly also for the UPS protection of a 3D printer, however, the volume hardly plays a role.
USV Overload …
Eaton specifies a maximum UPS output of 750 watts for the Ellipse Pro 1200VA. But what actually happens if the UPS is overloaded? We tested it, of course, and were even able to operate a device with 900 watts during normal mains operation without any problems. Only the display kindly pointed out to us that we were operating a device with 18% too high a power requirement.
Only when we disconnected the power supply did the UPS immediately terminate the power supply and acknowledge this with a signal tone and OL on the display, which stands for overload. Only after reducing the load to below 750 watts were we able to supply the output with power again after switching on.
UPS fan volume …
We have already explained on the previous UPS installation page that the Eaton Ellipse Pro 1200VA unfortunately does not support 0dB operation. If this is important to you, you may be able to purchase the smaller Eaton Ellipse Pro 850 DIN, which can at least be operated silently in mains operation, depending on your power requirements.
We have created a sound recording of the original UPS fan here so that you can get an idea of what the UPS fan sounds like when idling and under load. The medium-frequency sound that accompanies the background noise limits the intended use of this UPS somewhat. Anyone operating the UPS next to a silent PC will probably notice the fan. In the event of a power failure, the fan speed is increased significantly and cannot be ignored.
Making the UPS fan quieter …
We have now tried to modify the built-in fan to minimize the background noise. First, we tried taking the fan out of operation as a test. The UPS acknowledged this with the message “Fan” on the display and a small warning triangle, accompanied by recurring warning tones. Furthermore, the device could no longer be fully activated and therefore remained inoperable without a fan.
Replacing this UPS fan with a quieter fan will unfortunately require a little more research, as it is a 60×60 model with 24 V. More precisely, in our Eaton Ellipse Pro 1200VA it was a 60x60x15mm fan model Sunon MF60152V2-1000C-G99. However, we made an interesting observation in this context. The speed of the fan seems to be insignificant to a certain extent. Even slowed down to half speed, the UPS did not complain, which provides some scope for reducing the background noise.
However, modifications to the fan are always accompanied by a loss of warranty and should only be carried out by specialist personnel, as this can also reduce the safety of the device and should be adapted precisely to the necessary cooling of the components.
Now we come to the conclusion.
Eaton Ellipse Pro 1200VA result and general impression …