I was just wondering if anyone has used a guitar amplifier with a battery backup ups as the only source of power? I have a UPS for my computer that is rated for 865 watts and 1500 VA. According to the specs, at approximately 75 watts power consumption it should run for approximately 3 hours before the battery backup is exhausted. I was thinking of taking it out in the back yard along with a 25 watt amp (rated at 75 watts power consumption) and using it as the power supply. Has anyone tried this and did it work okay? It seems logical to me that it would work but I would really hate to burn up the amp or the UPS just because I am curious.

This is an expensive alternative. http://www.fretbase.com/blog/2009/12/gr ... ier-video/

I bet it would be okay for a solid state amp, because I know it can drive computer stereo speakers. I think the draw might be too large from a tube amp. It would be funny if it works. I don't know if it would hurt the amp or not.

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I've used a battery backup to power an amp before and it worked fine with no problem. It wasn't originally my intention but I've always used one as a back up to utility power and as a way to filter the power going to the amp. Less static, less interference and protection from surges and other power spikes. I am not sure which 1500 you have but I know that it's better to use a unit that outputs a sine wave. I use an APC Smart-UPS 1500 which is a data center unit that out puts a sine wave. If you had a 1500 like that, at 75W you'd have a run time of over 3 hours on paper, but I don't know how practical that is. However, it's not far from that. I wouldn't recommend using it for three hours as you would be deep discharging the battery which damages the battery and reduces the life time. If you need to use a battery backup to power the amp, I wouldn't go further than half way down with the battery to ensure that it recharges properly. Other than that, you're good to go, there shouldn't be any kind of problem using a battery back up.

JimmyBong:

Thanks for the help. I tried contacting the manufacturer but unfortunately, whatever I wrote in the emails got lost in the translation (customer service was in India) and the poor guy was just to confused. The UPS I have is very similar to the one referenced in your email (http://www.apc.com/resource/include/techspec_index.cfm?base_sku=BX1500G). According to the web site, it uses a stepped aproximation to a sine wave, not a true sine wave. It seems to run my wife's 27" iMac okay but maybe I need to get a new one. Thanks again....

I'd would look for something a true sine wave converter. I know with my photography equipment the battery backup must be a true sine wave or it will damage my lighting equipment. This is what I use for my lighting equipment.
http://www.white-lightning.com/VIIsystem.html

I'm not sure of the technical specs. It may not have enough power to work an amp.

You could always call them.

_________________
Life...... It's sexually transmitted and always fatal

[/quote]

JimmyBong:

Thanks for the help. I tried contacting the manufacturer but unfortunately, whatever I wrote in the emails got lost in the translation (customer service was in India) and the poor guy was just to confused. The UPS I have is very similar to the one referenced in your email (http://www.apc.com/resource/include/techspec_index.cfm?base_sku=BX1500G). According to the web site, it uses a stepped aproximation to a sine wave, not a true sine wave. It seems to run my wife's 27" iMac okay but maybe I need to get a new one. Thanks again....[/quote]


The BX1500 might work, you need to give it a try. It won't be as much run time as the SUA1500 because it has smaller batteries but it might work. You should run an experiment. Plug your amp in to the UPS and pull the plug. If you don't hear any static from the amp while playing and the UPS handles it ok then you shouldn't have problems running it for longer. If as soon as you unplug the UPS you start hearing static or the amp doesn't work properly you know you need a sine wave for it to work. No hard will come to the amp or the UPS because of this so you don't have to worry.

63Supro & JimmyBong:

Thanks for the replies. I have an old Behringer amp that I don't care about out in the storage building. I think that I will get it out and experiment with it to see how it goes. If that amp goes south, then I know that it won't work and all I am out is an amp that I don't like anyway. Also, I think that I will email the manufactures of my other amps (Fender for the G-Dec 3 and Vox for the AD50VT) to get their take on things. Thanks again for the help.....

Let us know how it turns out, I am interested in the results of how it works out and how much run time you got.