Линейно-интерактивный ИБП Ippon Pacific 1000: стабильная энергия для малого бизнеса

Today, even in the smallest office, most processes depend in one way or another on the efficient and stable operation of equipment — from computers to routers and telephones. Malfunctions inevitably affect productivity and, as a result, financial results. Therefore, uninterruptible power supplies (UPS) are not just a precaution, but a production necessity.

Line-interactive UPSs are the optimal solution for office use. Unlike the simplest backup models (also known as offline UPSs), they not only provide protection against power outages but also stabilize voltage, smoothing out surges and dips that can negatively affect sensitive electronics — this is a necessary and sufficient minimum for a small office. At the same time, their price is noticeably lower than that of the most advanced online models.

In light of the above, the Ippon Pacific 1000 UPS is a device that fits perfectly into usage scenarios typical for very small offices or freelancers' workplaces. As you can guess from the name, the maximum power of the connected load is 1000 VA — just enough to ensure the operation of key infrastructure elements. The lineup includes Pacific 2000 and even Pacific 3000 models with a declared connected load capacity of 2000 and 3000 VA, respectively — they can be used in a larger office. But for the needs of small businesses, it is initially worth considering the basic Ippon Pacific 1000 model — we will get acquainted with it today.

Declared Technical Specifications

Packaging and Contents

The Ippon Pacific 1000 comes in a box made of unpainted cardboard, which is printed with images and brief specifications of the device. Inside, the UPS is placed in a plastic bag and securely held in place with foam inserts, so you don't have to worry about its safety during transportation.

The package includes documentation, a 120 cm power cable, a 120 cm USB-A — USB-B cable, and a 60 cm RS-232 cable. We also found "ears" for rack mounting and a set of fasteners for them in the box. The manufacturer also suggests using the same strips as supporting legs when placing the device vertically.

Appearance

The case of the Ippon Pacific 1000 is made of metal painted black. Unlike entry-level "home" solutions, the device is quite large and heavy: its dimensions are 438×88×430 mm, and its weight is 15.8 kg.

The front cover is plastic, slightly to the left (or above when placed vertically) of the center is a control panel with an LCD screen, closer to one of the ends is the manufacturer's logo. The rest of the surface is completely occupied by a grille through which air is supplied inside the case for cooling.

On the rear panel there is an Ø80 mm exhaust fan, as well as numerous connectors. To the right of the cooler are USB and RS-232 interface ports, next to them is an EPO (Emergency Power Off) connector, which is used to connect a special emergency remote shutdown device. The connector for the external battery module is covered with a protective plastic cover, as is the SNMP network slot (an SNMP card for remote management and monitoring over the network can be purchased separately if necessary). In the left part of the panel, we see 8 C13 output sockets and a C14 power input connector, above which there is a red automatic fuse pin.

The control panel is attached with latches — it is easy to remove, rotate 90° and put back in place. Thanks to this, the screen and keys are convenient to use both horizontally and vertically.

There are many holes on the side panels for attaching mounting strips, as well as fixing the UPS in a rack. The manufacturer suggests inserting dust caps into unused holes, which can be found in the package with fasteners.

Internal structure

The side wall of the device is easily removed, giving access to its internal filling. In the upper part of the case there is a massive power transformer, next to it is the main control board. The connection is made through powerful cables protected by ferrite filters, which reduce electromagnetic interference.

Powerful CS3205 inverter field-effect transistors are mounted on a massive aluminum heatsink, which ensures their efficient cooling.

Active removal of heated air from the radiator is carried out using an 80 mm diameter fan located nearby.

A separate switching power supply is provided to power the UPS control units and interfaces.

A 32-bit ARM Cortex-M microcontroller STM32 manufactured by STMicroelectronics is used as the central control element.

The lower part of the case is occupied by a battery compartment, access to which can be carried out through the front panel — there is no need to completely disassemble the device to replace the batteries.

The pre-installed batteries are placed in a plastic casing. Inside it there is space for two more, which are included in the older models — the design of the case for the devices in the lineup does not change. Theoretically, you can add batteries directly to the device case, but their connection may puzzle the average user, so to increase the total battery capacity of the UPS, external modules with their own case are used, the connector for connecting which we saw on the rear panel of the Pacific 1000 just above.

The battery pack supplied by default in the model under consideration consists of two sealed lead-acid batteries MHB MS9-12 (12 V, 9 A·h) connected in series to obtain a voltage of 24 V.

Management and Software

The screen on the front panel of the Ippon Pacific 1000 UPS constantly displays all the most necessary information during everyday operation. In the center at the top you can see the input and output voltage values, the indicators on the sides display the battery charge level and device load. At the bottom of the display there is a diagram that shows from which source the power is supplied to the connected devices, whether the battery is currently charging, and so on.

The UPS reports a change in operating modes with fairly loud signals. The manufacturer managed to make them not too annoying, but at the same time clearly audible. Being in the same room with the device, it is unlikely that you will miss the moment of switching to battery power, while the sound does not make you jump in place and cover your ears.

Four round buttons are provided to control the device. They are pressed with a pleasant effort and a distinct click. The purpose of each is clear from the name:

Outside the menu, the Up/Down button allows you to change the information displayed on the screen: in addition to the voltage at the output and input, you can see the temperature inside the case, the remaining battery life, the status of each of the connectors for connecting the load, and so on.

Most of the settings can be changed from the display and buttons on the front panel, but it is not very convenient to do this — the built-in screen has a number of limitations that do not allow it to display a full-fledged menu. It is much easier and more convenient to use the Power Master Plus application designed for this, a link to download which can be found on the manufacturer's website. It works under Windows, MacOS and Linux, and for the latter there are builds for different distributions.

When installing, you need to specify whether the "local" or "network" version of the software will be used. They differ in the ability to configure access to the control panel displayed in the browser over the network. The easiest way to organize management is to connect the UPS via USB directly to the PC being used, but there are others — in particular, you can purchase and connect an SNMP card for full network management.

Basic information about the device is collected on its main page in the application. Here we see the current status, input and output voltage, load percentage, battery status — in general, everything you need. Messages about important events also appear here.

We will not analyze all the settings available in Power Master Plus — there are too many of them for this, we will only go through the key tabs. Information about everything that happened to the device can be viewed in the list of events.

There are a couple of very important tools on the diagnostics tab. First, you can run a battery test and make sure everything is in order with it. And secondly, check how long the connected set of equipment will work from the battery. After starting the test, the device switches to battery power and records the time after which it is completely discharged. In this way, you can estimate the available battery life, focusing not on calculations and tables, but on experimental data.

The upper and lower limits of the input voltage are fixed — you will not be able to change them. If you set the battery installation time, the system will tell you when it's time to think about replacing them.

Before turning off the PC, the UPS correctly completes its work. On a separate tab, you can choose when and how exactly it does this — sends it to hibernation or turns it off.

The device can notify about what is happening to it via e-mail, sending letters with reports or even messages to XMPP messengers.

In addition, various network functions, logging parameters, scheduled actions, and so on are configured — there is everything that may be useful during professional use, including as part of a small server rack with remote control.

Exploitation

As already mentioned in the introduction, the Ippon Pacific 1000 UPS is a basic solution that does not have the largest margin of maximum connected load capacity within the Ippon Pacific lineup. But it can and should be considered as a starting solution for a small office, which will ensure the safe and stable operation of the equipment placed in it.

It is safety that comes first: the UPS provides all connected equipment with stable power, which potentially extends its trouble-free operation. It is stated that the voltage equalization function works in the input voltage range from 165 to 290 V. Above, we saw that in the settings, the upper and lower limits of the supplied voltage are rigidly fixed and cannot be changed. We tried to apply voltage to the UPS input within a slightly wider range than specified in order to control the voltage at the output.

Within a more or less acceptable and safe voltage for the connected equipment, it remains unchanged, then mechanisms for increasing or decreasing it are activated. Plus, of course, the UPS protects against sudden voltage surges and other unpleasant surprises that power grids often surprise with. It also supports the operation of devices for some time after a complete power outage or a voltage drop below the threshold value of 160 V. In general, you don't have to worry about the safety of equipment when connected to the Ippon Pacific 1000.

The manufacturer declares the following battery life depending on the connected load (as a percentage of the maximum):

Let's see how the battery life will change in practice depending on the total power of the connected load. We will start with a modest 100 W, and end at the level of 800 W — it is highly desirable to leave a small "margin" and maintain the UPS load at no more than 80% of the maximum, which in our case is 720 W.

The battery life of a load close to the maximum is just over a couple of minutes — this is not much, but the task is not to ensure the autonomous operation of the office for a long time. Usually, power outages are quite short-term, but without a UPS, all equipment goes into reboot, in the worst case — also with the loss of important data.

The Ippon Pacific 1000 will allow you to ignore short outages and continue working in the same mode, and in the case of relatively long ones, it will carefully send the connected PCs into hibernation without data loss — it copes with this task perfectly. If at some stage it is still necessary to increase the battery life of the load, you can add an additional battery module, leaving the configured and connected head unit in place.

The declared noise level is 42 dB — quite a lot, comparable to the volume of a conversation at an average volume level. However, we managed to achieve this noise level at a meter from the device only when the UPS was operating under a load close to the maximum with a reduced input voltage level. During everyday operation, the noise level at the same distance is around 20 dB.

Let's consider several options for equipment sets typical for small businesses, with the safe power supply of which the Ippon Pacific 1000 in its basic configuration can cope.

Individual office (one employee)

Total: ≈ 395 W

For one employee's workplace with a typical office PC, the capabilities of the Ippon Pacific 1000 will be enough with a decent margin, which allows you to count on a battery life in the event of a power outage of about 8 minutes. This is enough to calmly finish work and save all data manually.

Mini-office (two workplaces + internet and storage)

Total: ≈ 740 W

The total load is close to the upper recommended threshold, but still far from the maximum — you can count on stable operation of the entire system and autonomy of about 3 minutes. Not much, but it will definitely be enough for the automation to do its job and prevent data loss in the event of long outages.

Point of sale with cash register

Total: ≈ 500 W

A good option for a small point of sale — there is everything you need, while it remains possible to connect additional devices. When the power is turned off, you can count on about 5 minutes of operation of the entire system — this is enough even to have time to complete the customer service that has already begun.

Server rack

Total: ≈ 530 W

An excellent option for organizing a small server and local file storage in the office. The power reserve allows you to connect a couple more devices if necessary.

Freelancer's workplace

Total: up to 700 W

Various freelancers and "remote workers" in the status of individual entrepreneurs and self-employed are important representatives of small businesses, the needs of which should also not be forgotten. The capabilities of the Ippon Pacific 1000 UPS are more than enough to power a powerful PC for working with graphics, video or sound, as well as all the necessary peripheral equipment of a home office. You don't have to count on long battery life here, but the chances of losing an important project, into which more than one hour of work has been invested, are minimized.

Results

The line-interactive UPS Ippon Pacific 1000 has proven itself as an optimal solution for small offices, retail outlets and individual workplaces of freelancers. The device effectively protects connected equipment from voltage fluctuations and short-term power outages. During operation, the UPS confirmed the declared technical characteristics, including stable operation in a wide input voltage range (from 165 to 290 V).

Ease of maintenance is also at a high level: batteries are easily replaced without the need for complete disassembly of the case, and the ability to connect external battery modules is provided to increase battery life. The UPS comes with everything you need — from interface cables to fasteners.

Separately, it is worth noting the control system: the built-in display and the Power Master Plus application allow you to quickly and comfortably control the operation of the UPS, perform diagnostics and flexibly configure its parameters, including remotely over the network. The range of available settings is sufficient for various applications; the Ippon Pacific 1000 will look equally appropriate both at a freelancer's workplace and as part of a server rack.

In conclusion, we suggest watching our video review of the Ippon Pacific 1000 UPS: