DC UPS for network gear, SVC 8100 - impression and questions

[Remisc]

I got myself a DC ups for network gear - it works well but getting them was quite a headache and I am wondering why isn’t this kind of gear more popular.

Locally I could only find retail solution for either 12 or 24v. Powerwalker makes some for example.
(But I needed a solution for 5, 12 and 19V at once)

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Details:

The units I got - SVC ECO PLUS 8100 seems basically like an oversized power-bank with multiple DC jacks running at different voltages. (5v, 9v, 12v, 19v dc jacks + 5v USB)

Producer website:
http://www.svcpower.com/product/svc-100w-12000-mah-mini-dc-ups
(They seem to also have a PoE version)

Datasheet:
ECO Plus.pdf.zip (621.2 KB)

Available on alibaba:
https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/Uninterruptible-Power-Supply-Mini-DC-UPS_62459362043.html

Or it seems to be popular in South Africa as a rebranded “Ratel 8100”

Back:

Front:

inside:

Closeups:

Battery pack is 8x18650. Specifically those GZNF18650 cells:
https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/GZNF18650HP-1800mAh-battery-cell-3-2v_1600168555328.html

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Impressions

On the surface this seemed like a good solution to me, I t is much smaller and lighter than traditional Lead-acid AC UPS but still manages to sustain a router (19V) + switch(5V) + ONT(12V) for a few hours.

The annoying part are the DC jacks - all are standard 5.5/2.5 DC and the package had 1 Y cable with 3 such jacks but annoyingly all the gear had different jacks which meant buying various connectors and making custom cables.
Those turned out very nice but _ my _ god _ was it a hassle

Another thing is the price:
I got 4 from Alibaba for ~32 USD each + a whopping 250 USD for shipping so around 95USD each.
This seems like a lot for what it is.

Still cheaper than the Ratel re-brands from South Africa.

But more expensive than some available at 65 EUR from a local source (SVC ECO PLUS 8100 - Powerbank / USV, 14400mAh) But those had PoE instead of 19V output.

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So here’s a few questions to you:

• Why aren’t small DC UPS units more popular? Is it too narrow of a market?
• How do people normally do network gear power backups? (assuming of course the main machine backed by larger UPS is in another room)
• Or maybe it’s pointless most of the time? I am not sure if it’s normal for the ISP gear to work during an outage. ( my fiber line works even when a whole building is out of power)
• I see there is space for a second battery pack - How safe would buying/making 2 new similar packs and putting them in parallel be? (of course both being brand new with the same cells charged to the same voltage)

[MetalizeYourBrain]

This is a very interesting solution. I can’t justify buying one because I rarely have power outages, but it’s cool to have when it happens.

@Remisc

Why aren’t small DC UPS units more popular? Is it too narrow of a market?

I guess it is. Also most people use consumer routers from their provider and those things, since they’re very simple and limited in functionality, don’t break too often (that has been my experience with those at least).

@Remisc

I am not sure if it’s normal for the ISP gear to work during an outage.

The lines keep working, even if power is out in the whole country (I know because it happened where I live) so if you still have power to your devices you’re able to get online. Landline phones, for example, didn’t need external power so, even during a power outage, you could still phone with those.

@Remisc

I see there is space for a second battery pack - How safe would buying/making 2 new similar packs and putting them in parallel be?

I think it would be safe but you need to make sure that the cells in two packs you’re gonna make are balanced (there are online calculators for this purpose). But I don’t know about the quality of the transformer inside. It might get too hot if it’s created to just discharge the pack is comes with and you add more capacity to it. This is an extreme caution and it might lean on extreme safety, but you’ll never know with these chinese boards.

[Razor_Blade]

I feel like I’m concept it is a great idea. However I feel like a majority of people out there wouldn’t have the technical ability to implement a solution like that. With an AC UPS all they have to do is plug it in the same way they would plug it in the wall.

It is crazy though how we accept that kind of solution as consumers… converting AC to DC to AC back to DC. I’ve been messing around with USB type C power lately and now wish more devices had that option. 100W can power A LOT.

[jonnymac]

telephone and fiber infrastructure has power back ups in US as required. but cable infrastructure doesn’t, so for me if my power goes out, so does the cable gear a few poles up, so it doesn’t matter if my router has a power back up. I should back up my switch and access point though so the internal network stays running.

[MetalizeYourBrain]

@jonnymac

cable infrastructure doesn’t

Well more than a few years passed since I experienced such a big power outage so I guess now fiber has priority over landline phone. I hope I’ll never find out!

[Remisc]

Now that you mentioned the critical infrastructure argument it seems more obvious that outages don’t always affect the network lines - My ISP is also a big telecom provider so I would expect most of the backbone equipment to be shared and therefore protected from power loss events.