Testing UPS Output Waveforms

I've noticed that ALL the devices I plug into my UPSes have external power bricks. Most of them are either 5V, 12V, or 19V

So, I replaced all my UPSes with LiFePO4 batteries supplied by Victron AC->12V chargers. Routed the battery contacts directly to all devices that consume 12V (WiFi AP, network hubs, SLA 3d printers). Used 12V -> 5V adapters to supply 5V / USB2 devices (R-Pi servers). For 19V, Drok DC-DC boost converters work great.

Result: threw away 3 UPSes (different APC models). Overall power consumption with AC present dropped by about 40%. Time on batteries (same Wh battery capacity) increased by a factor of about 20 (yes, 20 times: that's not a typo). Evidently, AC waveform generation is extremely power-hungry

> This can be done safely with high voltage differential probes like the R&SRT-ZHD, but we don't have any.

Entry level differential probes are $300. Less if you shop around or buy used. Micsig makes a good starter probe that would be more than enough for 60Hz AC mains testing and it comes in a generic form that would have worked with this scope.

A lot of things can go wrong, some dangerously so, if you incorrectly probe high voltage lines.

I don't know why they got such an expensive oscilloscope and then proceed to cheap out on the most basic tools needed to use it properly.

Curious - what actual real life issues do real world people encounter with dirty AC waves? Like I always hear the proverbial "this could cause harm to electronics" but are there real world tests of electronics failing? Does it fail over time or because of a one time instance? Same thing with under/over voltage.

I would be curious to see how LifePO4 power stations compare.

* These power stations are better than conventional (lead-acid battery) UPSs in the sense that they're cheaper, more flexible, have dramatically longer battery life, and require battery replacement less often.

* ...but I haven't seen any that claim to be "line-interactive" or even say specifically when they fail over (other than a total power cut). They do talk about how long it takes to fail over: older models are >20ms (long enough that your machine will probably reboot); many newer ones are <10ms. I'm not sure how high-quality their sine wave is when on battery.

Cool graphs.

> Our previous reticence to measure UPSs was centered around the connection of our very nice $50,000 Rohde & Schwarz MXO58 oscilloscope directly to mains power. [...] What we do have is a Chroma 61507, a programmable AC power source, capable of generating its own isolated Alternating Current(AC) signal. The AC signal created by the Chroma 61507 is galvanically isolated from the "earth"/ground, providing a floating source.

This too seems to be a pretty expensive piece of gear (the price I found with a quick Google was >$28,000) so I think it's worth mentioning that the same job could be done with an isolation transformer, which costs maybe a couple hundred bucks.

its a shame that we don't have mainstream dc ups standards (telcos are their own niche). its kinda silly to generate fancy sinewave, manage transitions, and maintain phase of ac just to get immediately converted to dc.

Testing the output of some UPSs from around the office. Checking out the results and finding avenues for further exploration.