does voltage regulator do anything else?

[Anonymous user]

Does a voltage regulator do anything besides regulate the voltage, for example does it "clean" the power, does it result in a true sine wave etc.

Is there any disadvantage to using one, as might be indicated in this thread?

Built in AVR on UPSes - is it really necessary?

My computer system uses less than 100 watts.  It has occasional slowdowns when playing videos such as on youtube, which might be related to the cpu.  However I want to make sure the power input is not having any problems, and am looking into getting a LE1200 voltage regulator.  Whenever I use a watt meter to check the voltage at an outlet, it is always between 119 and 124 volts, which makes me wonder if an LE1200 would do any good, or have any purpose other than just regulating the voltage?  In my case, it seems like it might have nothing to do, unless there are some other benefits.

Please let me know.  Thanks and best regards.

[BillP]

I find that most users tend to use a UPS with a computer type device. I think this is mainly because of the battery back up functionality incase you do have a power outage while you're using it, it does not just shut off "hard" on you. Many UPS models also have AVR as added functionality to the uninterruptible power supply portion of the device. Then, a UPS also offers graceful (unattended) shutdown of your device during an extended outage.

119-124 volts seems normal to me.

The LE1200 does appear to have surge protection as noted in the specifications chart on http://www.apcmedia.com/salestools/ASTE-6Z7V37/ASTE-6Z7V37_R0_EN.pdf but it does not re-create the sinewave since it does not have an inverter like a UPS would.

I found a few white papers tied to the LE1200 product that I figured I'd let you know about.

http://www.apc.com/whitepaper/?wp=18

http://www.apc.com/whitepaper/?wp=9

Anyway, just wanted to provide you with my two cents. Everyone else, feel free to add comments/questions.

[Anonymous user]

The prior link I posted does refer to a UPS device.  My interest is in the LE1200, as I would get this before considering a battery backup.

"Many UPS models also have AVR as added functionality to the uninterruptible power supply portion of the device."

Is that comparable to the AVR of the LE1200?  For example, the BE450G is about the same price as the LE1200.  It would be surprising if the BE450G contained all the same features, plus battery backup, for an almost identical price. 

"The LE1200 does appear to have surge protection as noted in the specifications chart on http://www.apcmedia.com/salestools/ASTE-6Z7V37/ASTE-6Z7V37_R0_EN.pdf but it does not re-create the sinewave since it does not have an inverter like a UPS would."

"Please confirm if the LE1200 provides surge protection.  My understanding from Amazon ratings and elsewhere is the LE1200 provides a true sine wave, and UPS devices do not, instead of that providing a sine wave on a stepped up basis (whatever that is).  The true sine wave supposedly the ideal. 

I found a few white papers tied to the LE1200 product that I figured I'd let you know about.

http://www.apc.com/whitepaper/?wp=18

http://www.apc.com/whitepaper/?wp=9

"

Quotes don't appear to work, and I'm not sure how this bold color showed up!  The white papers are interesting, especially 18.  The author speaks of power disturbances such as oscillatory transients, electrostatic discharge (ESD), harmonic distortion, interharmonics, notching, noise etc, which are different than voltage.

The end of the paper has a chart that lists these along with possible solutions, which include using a SPD surge protection device and/or a power conditioner. 

Looking up power conditioner is what lead me to the UPS, and then the AVR LE1200 on Newegg.  Thus my interest at least initially is in whether the LE1200 is an SPD and a power conditioner, in addition to it's function has a voltage regulator.  Please advise.

Best regards

[BillP]

Hello again.

Only Back UPS with prefix BX and BR have some AVR functionality. BE450G is basic UPS and does not provide any AVR functionality. Some Smart UPS products also provide AVR depending on the UPS topology.

The LE1200 passes the input to the output while boosting or trimming the voltage. Your wall outlet provides a pure sinewave output so that is what comes out of the LE1200 output after it has been boosted/trimmed accordingly. Back UPS provide step approximated sinewaves from their inverter on battery power only. When online, the input is passed to the output similar to how the LE1200 works (if it has AVR). If you are using a Back UPS without AVR, then the input goes through surge protection and filtering and then to the output but the sinewave is not re-created as in other UPS topologies and products.

I checked with SecretSquirrel and he confirmed that power conditioning is just another term for AVR.

[Anonymous user]

I see from Newegg that pure sinewave output from UPS units is relatively new and slightly more expensive.

I will probably select based on the top ratings on NewEgg and Amazon.

Also I noticed yesterday that Costco has a very good UPS with AVR and for a reasonable price.

Thanks much for your comments and help!

[BillP · Accepted solution]

Glad we could help!