Nothing Is Perfect
Jul 10th, 2008 by Don Ray
My latest problem is related to my PC’s uninterruptible power supply (UPS). The other day we had a power outage that lasted about an hour. This isn’t all that unusual in Panama, even in cities as large as David.
The problem was, when the power went out, I was on my PC (surprise) and instead of my UPS kicking in and giving me time to shut down, it cut off. Obviously the UPS had reached the end of its life and needed to be replaced.
I have been eying this Xantrex UPS at PriceSmart. A PowerSource 400 that is really heavy duty and is supposed to keep several items going up to 8 hours. My old UPS failing was the motivation I needed to purchase it.
It wasn’t cheap. I think it was about $135, but it weighs a ton and looks and feels like a real quality item. It was only $5 more than a much smaller UPS, so I bought it last Monday.
Well, the one I bought has a problem and I am going to have to take it back and see if I can exchange it. For some reason, even if I have power, it may decide that power is out and activate the battery. When it does this, it sounds one beep and a bright blue light comes on. It then depletes the battery and then recharges.
I did a little searching for this model on the Internet and found a user review on Amazon from one person that had the exact same problem. The company had told him to try to replace it with another from a different manufacture date. I am sure if I replace it at PriceSmart, the new one will be from the same batch.
Funny, as I was writing this post, power went out in the apartment. It was out for 10 minutes and has now returned. The unit performed as it should. Now it is recharging and the blue light is off.
Almost as soon as I had finished the last sentence, it beeped and the blue light is on, indicating that it thinks power is out again. However power isn’t out. Obviously I must have a bad unit.
This is extremely frustrating at night, when it thinks that the power is out (and it isn’t) because the loud beep wakes me up. Then I can’t go back to sleep because the blue light is lighting up the room.
I am writing this, not only to share the experience, but to warn you about this USP at PriceSmart. If you buy it, keep the sales slip and the packing box until you have convinced yourself that it is functioning correctly.
Nothing is perfect. Some things less so than others.
Just ran into your blog as I was bouncing ’round the net looking for info on retirement in Panama. Are there any books or web sites you could recommend?
Hi Ernest. I assume other web sites besides this one.
Check the links sections above. There are a lot of sites related to Panama. I personally think you will get more truthful information off some of the local blogs than you will get off and web site that is there for commercial purposes.
You might want to read, “Don’t Kill The Cow Too Soon”.
Hi, Don,
To your experience with the UPS I would like to add our experiences with various electronic equipment bought at PriceSmart. We’ve bought a UPS at PriceSmart–not the one you did but another, cheaper one, and that’s been ok. However, our experiences with things like DVD players (I brought one back yesterday) and printers (really bad) have convinced us that buying electronics at PriceSmart is a bad idea. I’m really convinced that a) they get outdated stuff dumped from the US and b) too much of it is returns from other customers, whether here in Panama or the US, I don’t know. Also, those stickers that they have on the shelves to describe the equipment are too often wrong. CHECK EVERYTHING OUT ON THE BOX ITSELF OR BETTER YET WITH THE MANUAL before you believe anything about what you’re buying.
Hi Joyce. I agree that you really need to do your investigation before buying anything. However, I find that true with other stores beside PS as well. I bought a cheap DVD player at PS and it went bad. I didn’t expect much for $35 and got what I expected. It worked for about 8 months.
I did buy a LCD TV there and it has been perfect. I bought a Amana refrigerator there that was about $400 cheaper than one at Casa Gala, and it has been fine. I don’t care you buy any electronic item in Panama, getting it serviced is going to be a challenge.
I also learned that with my top of the line LG monitor that I bought in PC. It took about 3 months to get satisfied with the warranty replacement on it.
I do agree that a lot of their stuff is older models and you have to pay attention.
No matter what happens, you just have to tell yourself, that in the grand scheme of things everything is OK.
Oh I agree that it isn’t just PriceSmart! It’s just that our experience has been the worst with that store. That said, we, too, bought our TV at PriceSmart, and it has been just fine.
And yes–getting service is a major hassle. I just figure it’s nonexistent and leave it at that.
I will have to say that Electronica Nacional treated me well and has given me good service. They did an excellent job of talking to LG when my monitor went out and they were unable to provide replacement parts. Luckily, it went out 2 months shy of the 3 year warranty expiring.
[...] morning, I took the UPS back to PriceSmart that was failing for a week. I had monitored the device all week so that I could accurately explain [...]