Should I plug my plasma TV and cable box into a battery backup (UPS) used for computers, or is there something else for TV's?

I lost video on my TV last night and finally had time to worry about it this afternoon. TV and cable box were connected to an almost new APC UPS -- all has been fine for almost a month.

I called the Comcast today and they walked me through some steps to see if the problem was the cable box or the connection outside (I had house painters over here this weekend and thought they could have jiggled a connection on the house outside wall).

I tried all of Comcast's suggestions and still no TV video. I then unplugged both TV and cable box from the UPS and plugged them into the wall. WOW! TV is back.

marti

The battery on the UPS is either drained, not big enough, or trashed.

There are UPS devices designed for electronics, but they are generally more expensive and I am not sure they offer any advantage.

I have my HD Box/PVR on a UPS -- mainly so it will hold it's settings in a short power outage. Otherwise, using a good surge protector is all you really need for your TV and cable box.

Mark099!

Mark,

The battery backup unit is fine and was working when I had computers hooked up to it.

marti

Hi Marti;

We had a similar problem with our DVR (tivo type) from our local BrightHouse. Everything stopped working in the living room, but all was well in the bedroom so we knew cable was OK. I called BrightHouse and the first thing they asked me was the DVR plugged into a surge protector. I had it in an APC UPS. They told me to unplug from UPS and not to even put it into a standard surge protector and plug it straight into the wall.

I unplugged it and put the DVR straight into the wall as they said and sure enough it worked. I tried one more time later to put it back into UPS because same thing - it had worked for awhile - and nope, it wouldn't work. My TV and stereo are all still plugged into the UPS. The UPS was new just prior to our getting the DVR.

This past Friday my whole area was hit by a horrible lightning storm and my cable modem was fried. Everything else was fine, so they think it came in the internet coax which is in a different place in the house. Anyway, when I went to the local BrightHouse yesterday to get a new modem the line was out the door with people with their DVR/cable boxes. The gal confirmed these boxes are not designed to work with surge protectors. I wonder why? The customer service rep didn't know. We weren't charged for the replacement boxes.

Enjoy your plasma TV.

Hi Barb (good to see you here)

I don't want to fry the cable box, as I have hours of programs recorded and have been too busy to watch them. I certainly don't want to fry a few months old expensive TV!

marti

Get a good surge protector.

Mark099!

We have a lot of power surges and temporary power outages in Florida. It takes my direct TV dvr forever to reboot after a temporary power surge. I plugged it into a UPS and it worked well for a while holding the settings. It started to freeze the picture and required a power down after a while so I plugged it just into the surge protection only socket of the UPS. It has been working fine since then but still has to reboot on surges.


ed

I have had problems with my DirecTV HD-DVR cutting out on certain HD channels at random times. It is plugged in to a surge protector. I wonder if I unplug it from the surge protector and plug it into a wall outlet if the problems would go away. I'll have to try it. Thanks for this thread, especially if the problem is solved.

What do you mean he's the Doctor? Doctor Who?

Don't forget to report back.

I think most people have issues with HD broadcast signals from time-to-time.

Mark099!

Mine is almost daily. I'll let you know.

What do you mean he's the Doctor? Doctor Who?

Update... In my case, plugging the HD-DVR into the wall outlet made no difference. I believe the problem is on the dish itself because we have replaced the DVR receiver, the BCC's and the cable going to the dish.

What do you mean he's the Doctor? Doctor Who?