APC support cannot tell me if APC Smart UPS SUA100i has a fan inside: two questions, two different answers, both implicitly claiming the documentation on the APC web site as false...

Can somebody here, with a hand on experience on this model of UPS, give me the right answer?

• The fan, if present, is visible through the grill on the (left?) side of the unit.
• If the fan is present, its test is present in the quality control certification document of the unit.
• If the fan is present, it can be heard when the unit is recharging and in newer models of Smart UPS, it is always on, at low, and CAN be ALWAYS heard.

I will post my whole story with ACP support. I really need help. Thanks.

One year ago, I had two Smart UPS, a 750VA fan-less and a 1500VA, with the fan always on, noisy enough. I wanted to replace the noisy one with a fan-less model: 750VA were not enough for my new PC, while the fan on the 1500VA was driving me crazy.

Searching for more power with no fan, I read a technical article on APC site, that I summarize:

• All Smart UPS with more than 1400VA and all XL models has a fan.
• In old versions of these UPS, fan starts on load.
• In new versions, the fan is always on at minimum and ramps up on load.

Well the Smart UPS 1000i, with 1000VA (less than the 1400VA fan limit) was my best choice.

However, I had already bought the wrong UPS (the 1500VA); so, to avoid a second mistake, I decided to ask APC support, explaining my wills and my troubles.

The first APC response was:

• If the fan of your Smart UPS is always on, simply send it back to us: it is defective.

Before sending my noisy UPS back, it is heavy and expensive to send, I told APC support: "I read an article on your knowledge base, please verify your assertion. Of course, if what you say is true, I am happy!".
The second APC response was:

• You are right. All our Smart UPS, now, have a fan.
• If you give us back your old UPS, we cannot slow down the fan.
• If you buy the 1000VA, it has the fan and it is always on.
• All we have had hands on were old models.

The funny thing is that even this response, implicitly, claims the article on APC site as false: the limit of the article was 1400VA for the fan (or XL model, that means modular external battery support).

One year has gone, and I have decided to give APC another chance. I have asked to a PC dealer if the Smart UPS 1000VA has a fan: I hoped he had it in his hands. Instead, he has posted my question to APC support, and the third APC response is:

• A 1000VA device is too powerful to be fan-less.
• All the fans of our UPS are very silent.
• The fans of our UPS start only on load.

Well, this is sadly false: their fans are NOT silent and I have one of their UPS with a noisy fan always on.

Moreover, the 1000VA Smart UPS dissipate only 100 BTU, near to the 90 BTU of the 750VA and a lot lower of 130 BTU of the 1500VA model.
Probably, APC support people live in a call center... Do they have an APC UPS?

On the other side, an APC filter on my phone line has just sacrificed itself, during a storm, saving my router, my PC and my fax/printer. Therefore I am fond of APC products, and I would like to buy them, despite their customer support. If the product does not make me deaf, of course...