Backup Power Options for Laptop When Power Outage?

Hi. I occasionally get power outages where I am located. I want to know what is the best option for the situation that I am going to explain.


My old dell xps 15 9550 laptop I had used for years. I connect it to 2 external monitors normally and have it plugged in almost 100% of the time. I do things online and power outage happens, I need backup power. This could be anywhere from a 2 hours all the way to 9 hours or so depending on when a power outage happens. Now if there is a power outage before I start, I don't even bother. If power outage happens early on, it is very frustrating because I would need backup battery for a long time. If it happens later at night, and I only need an hour or 2, usually no big deal because my laptop battery is enough.


Because of that, years ago I bought a Cyberpower UPS like this one below CyberPower CP1500AVRLCD 1500VA/900W. The issue now though is after a few years, i believe the battery is no good. When I connected my laptop to it while it was unplugged from the wall outlet, it immediately turned off. The thing is back then I rarely had it turned on. I still don't even have it turned on. It is just plugged into the wall outlet. I also remember there was a time where over a month or so I left it unplug fro the wall so it damaged the UPS? Did I damage it already but now having it powered on though? I also didn't even connect my monitors or anything to it because I just used a regular surge protector since I figure no point connecting the UPS since I didn't need to. I also never experimented with it to see how long I could get out of it with only my laptop connected. So even if there was a power outage, I would only be on the laptop connected to it and not monitors since they would draw lot of power. Yes I know these aren't meant to keep you using your laptop but anyone know how long it could last your laptop? I know it depends on the amount of charge your laptop draws but it certainly could get 2 hours or so? Could I buy a replacement battery for it or and how much does it cost and would it be easy/hard to install it yourself?





I also bought 2 Dell PW7015L powerbanks as backup power. So basically let say I get 2 hours of battery on my laptop. I could get probably I assume 1.5 hours on each of the powerbanks. So that is total of 5 hours. Then with the UPS, my assumption was I could get 2 hours probably. So 7 hours of battery backup will usually be more than enough. So if there is a power outage before I start using the computer, I wouldn't even bother since I could be on for 8+ hours.

My issue now is this. I bought a new dell xps 15 9520 and will not be using the old xps 15 9550 anymore. I assume my laptop battery will last maybe 2.5 hours on it. The reason being I am doing extensive things on the laptop so it isn't going to get like 6 hours on it etc. The laptop advertises lot of battery but it uses a powerful processor.


Not only that, I cannot use my two Dell PW7015L powerbanks with it because it has a barrel charger. The xps 15 9520 uses a usb-c charger. Someone had suggested this below from dell and it is only $40 but the issue is it has been out of stock for as long as I can remember. This cable seem to be an adapter that allow you to use a barrel powerbank with a usb-c laptop. But again, it is out of stock. Someone said they sell similar cables like this but on amazon many seem to be not compatible. Someone said buying non-dell with a dell is iffy etc. Now if I had this adapter, I could probably get the same 1.5 hours to maybe 2 hours each with my 2 old PW7015L powerbanks. So if I get say just 1.5 hours each, it is 3 hours total. Then you have 2.5 hours with my new laptop battery which would be 5.5 hours.




Does anyone have any opinion or suggestion on the best laptop battery backup in my situation? I basically want at least 5 hours of battery backup on my laptop in case there is a power outage. So with my previous laptop, I probably had 7 hours at least with the 2 powerbanks and the UPS. But now if I can't use these powerbanks... and the UPS battery is no good, I only have whatever battery is with my laptop which is not enough. And when power outage happens, I will not waste any battery connecting those 2 external monitors.


Someone had suggested I could buy a car battery. Then charge it. Then basically keep it inside the apartment and use it when necessary. They also said to charge it at least once a week or once every 2 weeks If i don't use it just to keep a charge. They said the car battery and the other equipment I need probably would cost me $200 USD. Has anyone here done this and can give insight? He said I could probably get at least 6 hours of battery on it at the minimum. He said it probably would be longer. He said if i were to get 2 car batteries, It could last 24 hours if you had one and then another. But they said it gets complicated because you need 2 chargers so it cost more. For me if it last 6 hours and my laptop battery has 2.5 hours so 8.5 hours, that is more than enough. I don't need backup power for any longer than that.


The other thing is I live in a tiny studio apartment as well. So would there be concerns about keeping the battery inside the apartment since these things are meant to be kept outside? I also saw there is portable power stations as well online. The thing is with power outages, there might be just 1 or 2 a year and my laptop battery is more than enough and thus all this isn't necessary. But it could be many more where each time could be at least 5 hours or longer and I want to be ready in case I am on the computer. So before I got the powerbanks and the UPS, power outages happened a lot. But once I bought these equipment, I don't remember a time when I was busy on the computer and then had to use both my powerbanks up and the UPS.


Based on all this information, can anyone give me the best possible solution?

There is a good chance that you have killed the battery in the UPS by not having it plugged into the mains and letting it drain beyond the point that it can recover. Like any battery the one in your UPS will discharge over time if it's not powered. Most UPS have a safety circuit that will prevent the battery from charging if it reaches this point but you may be able to resurrect it by taking it out of the tower and connecting a suitable trickle charger directly. UPS are designed to be powered all the time and only then will it provide the length of support stated in the specifications.

As an aside, UPS are not really designed to support laptops - they have their own support battery built-in. UPS are also not really designed to provide support for long periods of time; they are intended to provide you with time to finish what your doing and shut down the computer normally. Typically, this would be between 15 and 30 minutes. Yes, you can size a UPS to give you longer support but unless you are a business with lots of IT systems that is unusual.

I wish you luck resolving your problem :)

Basic idea for a UPS for a number of years has been that they are good for several minutes, provide time for an orderly shutdown of computers so as to prevent loss of data. They are not intended for long-term running of equipment.

The car battery is a good idea for critical use and there are inverters to give 12VDC power as needed, can be arranged using the car adapter for Notebook/Laptop, I have one for an HP Notebook. It has 2 cables for connecting to a battery and a cigarette lighter socket for the Notebook's power adapter. One might check the deep-cycle battery used on small fishing/trolling boats, they are intended for repeated cycling. Or the large batteries found in semi-trailer tractors.

Brizzle said:

There is a good chance that you have killed the battery in the UPS by not having it plugged into the mains and letting it drain beyond the point that it can recover. Like any battery the one in your UPS will discharge over time if it's not powered. Most UPS have a safety circuit that will prevent the battery from charging if it reaches this point but you may be able to resurrect it by taking it out of the tower and connecting a suitable trickle charger directly. UPS are designed to be powered all the time and only then will it provide the length of support stated in the specifications.

As an aside, UPS are not really designed to support laptops - they have their own support battery built-in. UPS are also not really designed to provide support for long periods of time; they are intended to provide you with time to finish what your doing and shut down the computer normally. Typically, this would be between 15 and 30 minutes. Yes, you can size a UPS to give you longer support but unless you are a business with lots of IT systems that is unusual.

I wish you luck resolving your problem :)

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So this most likely happened when I first got it for a while and then left it unplugged from the wall outlet? However, I didn't turn it on though. So is that the same as having it unplugged from the wall outlet and off or not? I did recall back then, the UPS still worked without issue though when I plugged it back in.


But after that, I just have it plugged in wall outlet and rarely turn it on. So doing that caused it to kill the battery or not? I rarely had it powered on at all. I only powered it on when I needed to test it for a short while.


Well I got to assume it could supply over an hour on the laptop right? I bought it specifically to give laptop more battery as backup in case of power outage.

Berton said:

Basic idea for a UPS for a number of years has been that they are good for several minutes, provide time for an orderly shutdown of computers so as to prevent loss of data. They are not intended for long-term running of equipment.

The car battery is a good idea for critical use and there are inverters to give 12VDC power as needed, can be arranged using the car adapter for Notebook/Laptop, I have one for an HP Notebook. It has 2 cables for connecting to a battery and a cigarette lighter socket for the Notebook's power adapter. One might check the deep-cycle battery used on small fishing/trolling boats, they are intended for repeated cycling. Or the large batteries found in semi-trailer tractors.

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I am positive it last longer than several minutes. I remember testing it for more than 20 minutes and it still had lot of battery left though. But this was a while back.

But are car batteries safe to be used inside the apartment? What about with dell laptops? I heard deep cycle battery is better but do people here use that? It would be stored inside an apartment so any issue with that relating to safety or smell etc?

If my UPS is plugged into a wall socket it will charge. If it is not turned on it will not provide power to a computer. Some do have sockets on them that will allow power through bypassing the battery system, act as a surge protector. I have UPS devices for my computers because I once lost a motherboard due to repetitive power bumps. If I have a power failure I have between 10 and 30 minutes to get the UPS' turned off before they have drained their battery. My printers and speakers are not plugged into the UPS, not critical for saving data for an orderly shutdown. But I did RTFM.

newmann said:

But are car batteries safe to be used inside the apartment? What about with dell laptops? I heard deep cycle battery is better but do people here use that? It would be stored inside an apartment so any issue with that relating to safety or smell etc?

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Consider that mechanics have to work on cars inside shops and have an extension hose to plug onto the car exhaust, most don't get affected while the car is charging the battery while running but then it usually isn't all day. As for the deep-cycle battery a lot will depend upon how long it takes to charge, they are different from a car battery charger. The running capacity of the battery, size of it, will make a difference.

newmann said:

But are car batteries safe to be used inside the apartment?

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If I needed a temporary 12-volt source, I would go with something like this before I would bring a car battery into my house. NOCO GB40 NOCO Genius Boost Plus Jump Starters | Summit Racing

There's just some things a car engine has to be running for and the alternator is charging the battery during that process.

This would work with a jumper box to supply you with 120V AC. Tripp Lite Ultra-Compact Car Inverter 400W 12V DC to 120V AC 2 UBS Charging Ports 2 Outlets - DC to AC power inverter... | Dell USA I feel that a sealed jumper box would be safer than using a car battery.

Edit: If you decide to go this way, make sure the jumper box has a 12v power outlet.

Winuser said:

This would work with a jumper box to supply you with 120V AC. Tripp Lite Ultra-Compact Car Inverter 400W 12V DC to 120V AC 2 UBS Charging Ports 2 Outlets - DC to AC power inverter... | Dell USA I feel that a sealed jumper box would be safer than using a car battery.

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This would be used with the car battery? This cannot be carried when flying right?


Does anyone here personally have a car battery or any of these things inside their apartment though?

newmann said:

This would be used with the car battery? This cannot be carried when flying right?

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Yes, it will work with a car battery, but I would never bring a car battery into the house. I would use a sealed 12v jumper box with a 12v power outlet. I have no idea if this can be taken on an airplane. I haven't flown in years.

A UPS has 2 basic functions.

1. Provide power during short interruptions.
2. Regulate quality of power.

Backup of 9 hours is unusual, most modern UPS' will provide SW to shut down the PC(s) before they run out. You can define when, based on the battery power you are prepared to pay for.

I live in an area subject to many outages - sometimes minutes often hours/days so I now have a whole house generator and smaller UPSs to supply my PC's.

If you have prolonged outages may battery is not your best solution.

Your best option is to use a good quality gas powered generator. However, you can buy a commercial UPS setup to power a laptop and 2 monitors for 7 hours but it is expensive. Here is an example:

MisterEd said:

Your best option is to use a good quality gas powered generator.

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An inverter generator would be a great solution except they live in an apartment.

Okay so you would never bring car battery into apartment. But inverter generator is good? What else would you need besides that?

That price is ridiculous though.


The cheapest and best option would be me buying that $40 adapter so I could use my 2 PW7015L powerbanks with it. But that dell adapter seem to be sold out everywhere. Everyone agrees with this right? Because with my new xps 15 9520, i can probably get 3 hours on it. Then with each PW7015L I currently have, i would get 2 hours on each maybe so that is 7 hours total. But I can't buy that cable since it is out of stock.


So... wouldn't the cheapest and safe option that would work be just buy the Dell PW7018LC powerbank for $150+tax each? This is basically the same as 2 PW7015L I bought a while back to use with m y old dell xps 15 9550 except it is usb-c as oppose to the regular barrel charging.
1st link is what I should buy? The 2nd link is what I currently have and have 2 of them and used it with the old xps 9550 without issue.






Also thoughts on this sunjack power bank? This cost less and is a bigger battery. Would this be better? However it isn't dell brand. Also heard issue where dell xps laptops when using 3rd party powerbanks limit the 100w to 65w so that would be issue?




So just buying the dell pw7018lc usb c powerbank or the sunjack is probably the cheapest option here? Again, I still have that cyberpower ups... so i could buy a new battery for it. But any new car battery or inverter or power generator would just be way unnecessary right? Because having 2 dell pw7018lc would be $300+tax and that would be more than enough battery backup and lot cheaper and safer than all the other options? Because like battery in apartment doesn't feel safe and also might be toxic smell? So based on these things I listed... buying dell powerbank is most simple solution since i know it already works?


Again the other thing is it is very possible I might not even have any power outages that last long during this time frame. Years ago, when I had zero power backup besides my laptop battery backup, this was a disaster since I needed to continue being online for the next x hours. Now if there was a power outage before I go on the computer, I wouldn't get on the computer.


Because years ago after I bought 2 PW7015L powerbank and that cyberbower UPS... any power outage I had after that, it was short and I never had to use both powerbanks and the UPS. But I wanted this as backup. And since I got a new xps 9520 laptop... I want to be ready. So based on that, what is your recommendations on this? Any car inverter or generator is ultimately going to cost more than $300+tax right? I am thinking get 1 PW7018LC powerbank... and then buy new battery for my old UPS and that should be more than enough when also factoring in my laptop battery?

I thought this cross-reference list might be handy.

Backup Power Options for Laptop When Power Outage? - ElevenForum [this one, started 14th October 2022]
Dell XPS 15 9520 Powerbank - ElevenForum [started 12th October 2022]
PW7015L Power Companion With Dell XPS 9510/9520 - TenForums [started 31st August 2022]

Of course, it might be incomplete.


Denis

Try3 said:

Of course, it might be incomplete.

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Yup