We all have power issues. It’s nothing to be ashamed of. The good news is, we don’t have to battle power surges or voltage fluctuation alone. Uninterruptible power supply (UPS) units, power distribution units (PDU) and power strips can help protect devices and data from the unstable grip of the thing they depend on most, electricity.
While we do all have power problems, there are differences in types. Identifying the type of problem you are encountering can help you decide which equipment you need to mitigate the issue. Power supply problems can be difficult to diagnose, especially if you do not know what to watch out for. It's important to note as well that redundancy equipment works best when maintained. If you are experiencing power problems despite using a UPS or other equipment, it may just be in need of maintenance.
Here are the Signs and Symptoms of 3 Common Power Problems
1) Power Interruption
This is the loss of load current or supply voltage altogether. Depending on the duration, power interruption can be considered as instantaneous, temporary, momentary, or sustained.
Generally, power interruptions occur due to destructive weather, equipment failure, or even the most basic circuit breaker damage. Power interruptions can cause data loss and equipment damage. To mitigate this power problem, uninterruptible power supply (UPS) units, motor generators and redundancy designs.
2) Transients
This is arguably the most damaging power problem that your IT hardware face. Transients can either be oscillatory or impulsive in nature. Impulsive transients are characterized by high peak events. Impulsive transients, also commonly described as power surges, spikes or glitches, are caused by lightning, which can cause the most damage, poor grounding, electrostatic discharge, and more. They lead to data loss or corruption and equipment damage.
Protect equipment from impulsive transients by removing or monitoring electrostatic discharge (ESD) generators. Air conditioning can be one example. By keeping humidity between 40% and 55%, the amount of electricity generated will be minimized. While ESD does not pose a great threat to people, it can destroy equipment. In addition, surge protection devices (SPD) and UPSes are recommended to suppress surges and provide emergence battery power.
Oscillatory transients are compared to the noise pipes often make when water is suddenly turned off. This noise is a result of the water resisting the change and acts like an oscillatory transient. This causes the power signal to interchangeably swell and shrink. Extending the metaphor, the inductive or capacitive load that is shut off is like a faucet. In this situation, SPDs and UPSes are recommended. However, to prevent intersystem incidences, zero crossing switches and choke type devices should be added.
3) Voltage Fluctuation
This can either be a systematic variation of voltage waveform or a succession of random voltage changes. Voltage fluctuations rarely occur in stable power supply systems.
To avoid this power problem, remove the loads causing large fluctuations, move sensitive equipment to a more stable area, or install power line conditioning or UPS devices, which innately condition power.
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Hummingbird Networks is an authorized reseller of APC and Tripp Lite products. This means we have expert knowledge and premier access to vendor engineers. If you are interested in keeping your equipment safe, Contact us today to find out what equipment you need to protect your business from power problems.
