Powertecnique has been providing critical back up power solutions to customers for over 25 years. Our mission is to become our customer’s partner of choice by demonstrating innovation, exceeding our client’s expectations and through collaborative working. We aim to understand our customer’s needs as well as help our customers understand how they can benefit from installing a critical back up power solutions. We aim to make your journey a comprehensive one and therefore we have identified 5 top things to consider when choosing a UPS. Enjoy reading!
Batteries
Most UPS systems use sealed lead acid batteries of which the single most common cause of premature failure is temperature. Optimum performance and the manufacturer’s average stated life is achieved if the battery temperature is maintained at between 19ºC and 22ºC.
Batteries are such critical elements of your UPS system that it is absolutely imperative that their operational capacity is known. You will want to know if your batteries are fully charged? How much deterioration there has been since installation? And what is their present life expectancy? To do this, we offer internal resistance testing, and would recommend this should be undertaken annually.
Your UPS batteries may appear healthy on the outside, from a visual check. But unless you know how they will perform when called upon to do so you may suffer a critical battery failure right at the most important time – when the power goes down and you need you batteries to pick up the load!
ABM
As we have established already, optimum performance and the manufacturer’s average stated life is achieved if the battery temperature is maintained at between 19ºC and 22ºC. However many UPS machines are placed in an unforgivingly hot or cold environment that halves the lifespan of the batteries.
Secondly: The shelf life of a battery is determined by the length of backup time it provides in case of a power failure. Most lead-acid batteries used by UPSs are at a constantly trickle charge state which drastically cuts their lifespan. Those two factors results in a dramatic wear and tear of the UPS batteries.
ABM stands for advanced battery management and it’s a way to keep batteries performing better and lasting longer. ABM uses a three-stage charging technique that doubles battery life, optimises battery recharge time and provides up to a 60-day advanced notification before the end of viable battery life.
Double Online Conversion
The meaning behind the double online conversion term is that it provides practically ideal electrical output performance when a power failure occurs. The primary power provided in a double conversion On-Line UPS comes from the inverter instead of the AC (alternating current) mains. An inverter is an electrical power converter which switches direct current (DC) to alternating current (AC). In the design of double conversion On-Line operation, failure of the input AC current does not cause activation of the transfer switch, because the input AC is not the primary source.
Therefore during a power failure a double conversion On-Line operation mode offers no transfer time so that you UPS can start working immediately without any glitches.
SNMP card
SNMP cards are very useful and often work as a monitoring solution for some customers because they fit in with their existing infrastructure.
Considering that critical power equipment is often used to backup data, Powertecnique UPS come with expansion slots which allow SNMP cards to be installed. SNMP cards are essentially network cards for your UPS, which allows it to be monitored in the same manner as your other networked equipment via a web browser.
On a UPS, some of the conditions you may want your SNMP card to monitor would be whether the batteries are fully charged, how much standby time capacity you have remaining and the quality of the power coming into & out of your UPS.
1 Phase or 3 Phase?
As you may know, electricity is distributed in AC (alternating current) form which gives it a distinctive sinusoidal shape in the waveform. Single phase electrical current has just one of these sine waves running through it at any one time. In a three phase electrical supply, there are three separate conductors each delivering an AC supply; each being 120 degrees apart from each other. This is usually to supply buildings & high power equipment. It can be said therefore that a phase is simply the number of waveforms involved in the transmission of the electricity.
Three phase electricity is generally regarded as being preferable to single phase on account of it being more economical to transport. This is because it requires less conductive material to transmit more voltage than a single phase supply would require.
It’s important to know when purchasing your UPS how many phases your input supply provides and how many phases your load requires. This is why a UPS is specified as ‘3 phase in 3 phase out’ because it’s important to get both the input and the output right.