UPS direct connect to car battery?

**masterkin** · 04-14-2006, 07:37 AM

guys great site!

Im sorry if this has been asked before, but i did do a search before posting and couldnt find anything.

I got myself here a spare sff pc and an APC smart series ups with a dead battery.

The battery in the ups is a 12v dc, and I was wondering if I could directly connect the cars battery to the ups. (properly fused).

What are the pros and cons of this?

I know I should just get an inverter or a dc to dc but im just a poor little student who wants to do something over the weekend.

thanks in advance.

**DarquePervert** · 04-14-2006, 08:18 AM

Uhhh, no.

**wheli** · 04-14-2006, 09:04 AM

ya....thats not a good idea.....it will probably end up draining your car battery.

i actually work for apc....

**MatrixPC** · 04-14-2006, 10:15 AM

Get an inverter, cheap solution but not really the best. If you plan and carefull when installing, inverter is as good as DC-DC solution.
But if you have to buy a Shutdown Controller, I would suggest you go with the DC-DC route cuz those already have the SDC built-in and the total cost isn't that much different (if you get the M2).

**vicnuno** · 04-14-2006, 12:54 PM

In this site is what you are looking for.....if you understand portuguese

http://pc-car.net/forum2/index.php?topic=1726.0

**vicnuno** · 04-14-2006, 12:56 PM

[QUOTE=wheli]ya....thats not a good idea.....it will probably end up draining your car battery.
QUOTE]

You got to have a diode

**masterkin** · 04-15-2006, 12:23 AM

guys thanks for the replies!

So I guess this is a bad idea even if i take steps to make sure that I dont drain my battery right?

But isnt the ups an inverter? Is it a different kind of inverter?

**Bugbyte** · 04-15-2006, 01:48 AM

No. An inverter turns DC power into AC power. A UPS turns AC power into DC power, keeps a battery charged, and if the power fails, turns that DC power into AC power.

It is probably possible to hack a UPS into your car so you can skip the AC power in issue but you'd need to know more about electronics than you probably do.

Get an inverter, plug the UPS into it, then plug your computer into it. Make SURE you have a switch to shut the inverter off each time you turn the car off. Some inverters will continue to draw power even if "off".

**masterkin** · 04-15-2006, 01:49 AM

okies thanks for the help. Gonna look for an inverter now. Thanks for the help.

**Tidder** · 04-15-2006, 01:59 AM

Also, UPS units aren't designed to operate off of a larger battery than was designed. It will overheat, and possibly catch fire depending on how long you try and power your PC off of it.

I read that somewhere.