From the

Desk of

Bud Worwetz

Recently I called a call center in Texas that bought a solid Ferrups 18KVA UPS from us about 4 years ago in order to inquire about the fitness of the batteries, which should now be due for replacement. My original contact was replaced by another boss, but I was quickly connected to her amidst her busy day. She was curt in responding to my real concern.

She stated, "We don't need a UPS anymore: we have a generator." Stumbling over my initial shock, I stammered out, "But you gotta have a UPS to handle the transition or you will drop your load ..." No answer. Then "We have a generator. Thank you, have a nice day."

I am still amazed by the blatant ignorance of many IT and maintenance managers and electricians with which we deal. I don't mean ignorance defined as stupid, rather I refer to the root word "ignore." Most of these folks are highly intelligent and know the value of professional advice, but seem to have a disconnect regarding the actual operation and need for the UPS battery backup. I recall a few other shocking cases of unschooled practice:

-Just turn the unit completely off, we only need it when there is a loss of power.
-Those batteries don't really matter.
-When the unit is in bypass I am still protected, right?
-Don't I need something to charge the batteries too?
-Does the UPS have an ATS (automatic transfer switch) wired to the panel?
-We never have any power problems here, because we are only a couple miles from the power plant.

If you catch yourself or your staff making the above assertions, PICK UP THE PHONE & CALL OUR OFFICE.

Given the constraints of my time and your attention, I will comment only briefly on the above misconceptions as they pertain to generator and bypass operation.

1) Sorry, Miss New Call Center Manager: Generators require a warm-up time from seconds to minutes. Either way a one second power interruption can cause most computer and sensitive electronic equipment to fail or reset. The UPS is uninterruptable and carries the load through that time. Once the generator is running at the right frequency she actually provides power to the UPS, which then "thinks" it is being supplied grid power. Its output should never sag and it can start recharging its batteries.

2) Your house power runs thru the UPS as input, it is conditioned, then outputs uninterrupted voltage/current. That output is your load's input. Don't turn off the UPS, as everything important is still runnning on it. Bypass operation simply wraps the circuit around the UPS operating components in order to facilitate repair or maintenance. When the system is in that mode, it's bascially like relying on grid power.

3) Those batteries really do matter. When the UPS senses a loss of input power, it must use fit batteries to continue running. The UPS has it's own charging system, but some with external battery systems may truly have additional charging module(s).

4) The UPS is a self-contained system that requires no ATS such as generators need.

5) Being close to a power plant does not guarantee perfect power. In fact, power companies buy battery backups and rectifiers from us all the time. Imagine that.

My point is that simple questions and simple answers can brighten your understanding of the UPS's relationship with generators. Remember too, if your UPS is in bypass, then you need to get it fixed (maybe just replace the batteries), as it will not hold your load during an outage. It's not rocket science, but misunderstandings will jeopardize your critcal load.

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