 |   Publisher : TRIPPE MANUFACTURING COMPANY Company : Tripp Lite List Price: Our Price: $40.99 You Save: $43.94 (52%) Used Price : $25.00 |
Features
- 350VA
- Six AC outlets (3 UPS/surge, 3 surge only). 15 minutes single PC runtime.
- 12w x 7d x 4h
- Sold As: Each
Product Description
UPS, STANDBY UPS MAINTAINS 120VCustomer reviews
A company of integrity by .. Peter Ditzel ()
Have you ever wondered whether UPS and surge protector companies will really pay out on the equipment insurance that they boast of in their advertising? Read on.
I had had my computer, monitor, and scanner plugged into a Tripp-Lite Internet350U UPS for over a year. I live in the country, and we have frequent power failures. When the power went off, the UPS battery immediately kicked in without a glitch. If the power came back on within a couple of minutes, it would return to the utility power and I would lose no work time. If the power stayed off, I had plenty of time to shut everything down without losing my work. The only complaint I would have is that the Tripp-Lite software was not the best, as it would not always recognize the UPS unit on boot up. A reboot would solve the problem, and the software is not really necessary anyway. The UPS will work fine without it.
Then, one night we had a thunderstorm around 2am. The computer, monitor, and scanner were plugged into the UPS as usual, but nothing was turned on. I know that the power must have gone off and come back on during the night because the clock on the kitchen range was blinking in the morning. When I went to turn the computer on, it was dead. Then I noticed that the UPS had apparently switched itself off because its lights were off. So, I switched it back on. I then tried to start the computer again, but it was still completely dead, no lights or fan. To make a long story short, what turned out to be the problem was a fried motherboard standby circuit. Since the computer was turned off but plugged into the Tripp-Lite UPS during an electrical storm, the obvious conclusion is that the UPS passed a surge through the computer's power supply to the ATX standby circuit. The standby circuit is singled out because it is THE circuit that would keep the power supply fan from running. Because it is the circuit that is continually on (even when the computer is "off"), it is also the circuit to get the brunt of an AC power transient. Clearly, the surge protection of the UPS failed.
So why have I given this unit such a high rating? Because of what followed. From what I had heard about other UPS companies, I fully expected Tripp-Lite to give me a hassle and not pay (I have heard of other companies asking people to send in the damaged equipment at the customer's expense, have an electrician certify that the house is properly grounded at the customer's expense, "prove" that there was an electrical transient at the time of the failure [how can you do that?], and so on). I was wrong. I called Tripp-Lite and was transferred to a voicemail of someone who said they were away on a trip. Uh oh, I thought, here we go. I'm going to get a run around. I called back and was immediately transferred to the same voicemail. I called back a third time, told the operator what was happening and that I wanted to speak to someone immediately. Much to my surprise, she put me through to a man who took the information and told me he would send me a new UPS unit and an insurance claim form and that I needed to send the old UPS back for testing. Within a week, I had the new UPS unit and the claim form, and I sent back the old UPS (at Tripp-Lite's expense). I then filled out the claim form and included documentation on the cost of a new motherboard and the cost of an entirely new computer. Incredibly, the cost of a replacement computer was slightly less than the cost of the motherboard! Because I did the diagnostics myself, I also attached a report detailing the tests I had made, the results, and my conclusion. If I had not done my own diagnostics, then I would have had to tell Tripp-Lite the repair shop I brought the computer to. Then I mailed it all in. In the meantime, I bought a new computer.
About a month and a half later (yes, it took a long time), I received a call from Tripp-Lite telling me they had approved my claim for the full amount. They said the old unit tested fine, but they were still going to pay based on my report. They simply asked for the receipt from my new computer. I faxed this to Tripp-Lite. A couple of weeks later, I got a check for the full amount!
And that is why I have given this a high rating. Any human made device may fail. I have not seen anywhere that Tripp-Lite UPS units have a worse reputation than any other UPS units. But this I do know: From my experience, Tripp-Lite is a company of integrity that took my equipment insurance claim with no hassles and fully paid up.
Here are some added thoughts:
The replacement UPS works fine (although still quirky in the software).
The ON/OFF/TEST Button on this unit (and, maybe other Tripp-Lite units) shuts off only the battery backup outlets. THE OTHER THREE OUTLETS DO NOT SHUT OFF. I judge this to be extremely dangerous as anyone would intuitively assume an off switch to shut the unit completely off, and because the instructions explicitly say that by pressing and holding the switch for one second, "The UPS will be turned completely off (deactivated)." I have let Tripp-Lite know about this, and, hopefully, they will correct this problem in the future.
I now unplug all of my equipment every night and when thunderstorms approach. It is really the only way to be sure of protecting your equipment.
This is not legal advice, but you might want to know if you ever have to put in an equipment insurance claim that legal precedence has been set in court for homeowners' insurance to recover damages from UPS/surge protector companies. That is, if the UPS/surge protector company doesn't pay up, put a claim in for the equipment to your homeowner's insurance company, and they will then likely bring a suit against the UPS/surge protector company to recover the cost. It may have helped that I let Tripp-Lite know that I knew this. ;)