APC SMC1000-2U UPS Backup Arrived

[jdandy]

Like a kid waiting for Santa Claus, I was watching out my office window all morning waiting on FedEx to deliver my new APC SMC1000-2U UPS. I walked down and opened the electric gate at 8:00 AM just in case FedEx was super early. Finally I saw the delivery truck come up the drive just before 11:00 AM. Gotta love morning deliveries.

This new APC SMC1000-2U backup power supply replaces an older APC Back-UPS ES 650 that sat on the floor behind my left channel speaker in the living room for 10 years. I had used it as backup power to support my McIntosh MS750 music server, then the Olive 04HD music server, and most recently the Aurender N100H music server. I made the move to the newer UPS because I wanted to take advantage of its pure sine wave output when on battery, and also because I was looking for a UPS that could be installed in my audio rack.

I unboxed the new UPS and discovered that it was not painted, rather it was silver metal on all sides. The only thing black was the removable front face plate. Everything else was bright silver. Not good because I did not want to be looking at a base metal cabinet with stickers on it in my audio rack.




First things first, I peeled off the stickers, removed the rack clips from the side panels, wiped the metal surfaces with isopropyl alcohol, masked off the front and rear panels, then spray painted the top cover and side panels with Valspar quick dry satin black. Looks much better in black.









Next I discovered that since the UPS is designed primarily for rack mounting it had no feet, nothing to raise it off the shelf for ventilation. Digging around in my shop I found four rubber self sticking feet that I had tucked away and long forgotten. After a bit of measuring for locations I had the feet installed on the bottom of the UPS.


. . . . . .

I had to reverse the position of the battery pack that allows it to mate with a quick connect plug in the battery bay, then snap the front face plate on and the UPS was ready for my audio rack.

The APC SMC1000 weighs nearly 40 lbs. so it is a bit of a chore to handle, but it did not take me long to get it installed in the audio rack. I adjusted the shelf heights on the left side of the rack last night to provide a perfectly spaced opening for the UPS. After that it was only minutes to make the power connection to the PS Audio P10 AC regenerator and then plug in the Aurender N100H, NetGear WiFi repeater, and the Sonos zone player to the UPS. I took a minute to cycle through the menu to ensure the various settinsgs were to my requirements and the installation was complete. I like that the LCD display screen when set to Eco-mode goes dark after 60 seconds of no use. I am also pleased that this new UPS allows for the alarm beep to be silenced when on battery.

All together this APC SMC1000-2U is a compact and robust UPS that I expect to get many years of great service from. Battery packs are user replaceable and hot-swappable from the front of the UPS once the front face panel is removed. This can be accomplished without removing the UPS from the rack, and no tools are required. The UPS is completely silent. Always a good thing.

[2fastdriving]

Congrats, definitely looks better in black!

[cdobson]

Immaculate workshop and meticulous project - nicely done!

[Cohibaman]

Nothing like the peace of mind you get in protection for your equipment. Looks good, Dan!

[EightZeroZeroDelta]

Glad to hear you are liking the APC so far, Dan. The paint jobs looks great and pays off when you see it in the rack.

[doggiehowser]

Why not run everything through the P10?

[jdandy]

Originally Posted by doggiehowser

Why not run everything through the P10?

doggiehowser.......Everything is powered by the PS Audio P10 except the MC452 power amp. The new APC UPS is also powered from the P10 so the Aurender N100H benefits from the clean power. The MC452 is powered through a Furutech Flux 50 directly to a 20 amp dedicated circuit and a PS Audio Soloist Premier SE receptacle. The P10 also is powered with its own 20 amp dedicated circuit and a PS Audio Soloist Premier SE receptacle. The JL Audio Fathom f113 is powered direct to the wall by its own 20 amp dedicated circuit and a PS Audio Soloist SE receptacle. I am comfortable that my sound system power distribution is solid.

[essjay]

Why would you power the APC via the P10, the APC will condition the incoming feed already to smooth it out?....seems like a extra link that adds no benefit.

OK so its no true inline but its not far off.

Just a thought. Nice mods by the way, and hard to beat for the 800 odd investment

[Cohibaman]

I think the APC is simply passing the incoming power (unless it’s under or over thresholds for voltage and frequency), so his equipment is definitely benefitting from the P10 until power is lost. At that point the APC takes over.

[jdandy]

Originally Posted by Cohibaman

I think the APC is simply passing the incoming power (unless it’s under or over thresholds for voltage and frequency), so his equipment is definitely benefitting from the P10 until power is lost. At that point the APC takes over.

Mike.......That is correct. Although the APC UPS filters RFI/EMI from the AC line it is no where near the caliber of the PS Audio P10 at producing ultra clean power. The APC UPS benefits from the clean and regulated power the P10 delivers, as does any connected component powered by the UPS. Of course when the APC UPS is delivering battery powered AC its output is not benefited by the P10 because the P10 is not energized during a power outage. Having a UPS capable of creating a pure sine wave output on battery power also means the output voltage is clean and stable.

My purpose for relying on a UPS is strictly to protect the Aurender music server from sudden loss of utility power, even momentary loss, that may cause an operating system file on the hard drive to become corrupted.