Owner`s manual

The raised APC logo sits centered atop the control center. On each side of
the front bezel are three sets of “ribs” that are used as grips when
removing the bezel. A nice touch that adds to the aesthetic appeal of the
S15.
The back panel is very busy and contains 12 filtered outlets that are marked
device specific and broken down into digital, analog, video and high current
outlets all of which provide surge protection, voltage regulation, noise
filtering and pure sine wave battery backup power. There are three sets of
coaxial/RF connectors, a circuit breaker reset button, system ground screw,
a building wiring fault indicator, external battery connector, DC trigger jacks
(in/out) Ethernet jacks (in/out), telephone jacks (in and 2 outputs), a Data
port (USB) jack, a cooling fan, and input power connector. It would be fair to
say that the S15 is fully featured.
I went to work connecting my cable line from the wall to the input on the
APC. I was surprised to see that an additional output was included which
allowed me to use the APC as a cable line splitter as well (nice). I
connected the additional output to the line going to my cable modem. In
addition to all my other gear I connected my PC to the S15. I ran the
supplied USB and Ethernet cables to the data port and Ethernet port on the
APC and my cable modem, wireless router and USB port on my PC.
I powered the S15 up and checked out the Vacuum Fluorescent Display. It is
easy to read and appears to be sharper than a normal LCD display. The
display as well as the LEDs can be dimmed or turned off altogether (YES!).
There is even a screen saver than can be activated via the setup menu to
protect the VFD (nice touch). The unit immediately runs a self test to
ensure proper operation, which it passed. At that point I pressed the front
panel Setup button and began setting the unit up. The S15 is completely
configurable and has a multitude of user selectable settings and options. For
example, through use of the extensive setup menu users can set a defined
delay (0 to 10 seconds) for when the unit provides power to the two rear
panel Delayed outlets. This will prevent power on or power off glitches from
affecting other equipment connected to the unit. Users can define at what
voltage setting the unit’s battery backup should intervene on both the high
and low voltage end. The default setting for the low end is 100 volts while
the default setting on the high end is 134 volts. Users can set the
parameters between 90 and 100 volts for low and 134 to 144 volts on the
high end. I left the unit set to the default setting as the input voltage in my
room never drops below 115 volts even during peak times.
There are three user adjustable Sensitivity settings, Low, Medium, and High.
These adjust how the S15 reacts to input voltage waveform distortion and
momentary power fluctuations. I tried all three settings and found low to be
the best in my room. The high setting resulted in the unit going to battery
operation quite a bit especially during when the system was being driven
hard. The medium setting was much better which only had the unit switch
over to battery power during heavy transient peaks and even then only on
occasion. The medium setting would be fine in most if not all cases.
The S15 has several audible alarm settings for notification when the unit
detects changes in the input voltage and needs to switch over to battery
power, as well as when the unit’s battery is running low. In addition the S15
will indicate via the LEDs on the front panel when it is in voltage regulation
mode, receiving an overload, running on the battery or the battery is low.
The S15 provides a host of system information that can be accessed using
the Status button on the front panel. Users can ascertain the input and
output voltage, total system load (both in watts and a percentage based
upon total wattage utilized), estimated system run time and battery fuel
capacity, current power source (utility or battery power), input and output
frequency, firmware version currently installed, model and serial number as