Jacksonville 904-396-0145 or Toll Free 904-396-0145

Home | UPS Sales | Parts Index | Services | Support | Contact | FAQ | sales@wesonline.com

Bud Worwetz Generating Thoughful Messages

From the

Desk of

Bud Worwetz

 


Sal shivers off a "chilly" breeze as he plods his way to a data center in a blighted part of downtown. No, its not winter, but 1:00AM in Miami and 70*F is kinda cool to a Floridian. He peeks left, right and behind as "creatures of the night" scurry toward him begging for cigarettes, loose change or a soft touch. He knows not to make a mistake on these streets, and hustles thru the secure entrance in the bomb-shelter-style building.

After offering his credentials to a sleepy Pinkerton, he is soon greeted by a large but soft spoken businessman, albeit dressed in a comfy shirt and expensive, slip-on shoes. A few card swipes and an elevator ride later, and they are square in front of the GE SG Series 80KVA UPS.

Shiny, and Star Trek looking, the Sprectra seems to mock them with a steady alarm: SSM (static switch module) FAILURE! He hears a contactor whack away 3 times: again the alarm. Nope, he can't just override the parameter to infinity, as the switch and the contactor must both be tested by hand: he must shut her down, hence this late night service window.

"OK," says Sal, "We are gonna shut her down so I can test the contactor and the switch, and if they are OK, I can adjust the buggie parameter." He starts to drag a contactor and switch out of his bag and mumbles a prayer that it's not the switch itself. Either way, he can isolate the problem.

"No, No No. I have the generator running so if we loose grid power we are still safe," boasts the owner.

"Uuuhhhum, " stammers Sal as he looks around for a hidden panel or cabinet, " but you don't have a bypass switch."

"Why don't you place the unit in bypass?" submits the big man, "I can't drop this load, because I have special clients on this output and that's a lot of money. I see guys work on UPS in bypass all the time."

"What did Bud tell you?" prods Sal.

"He said he thinks the K-6 contactor needs replacing or something about changing a parameter or maybe it’s the static switch. He warned me it might dump the load, so I fired up the generator and scheduled this window." Now the big man looks less confident. "But you need to shut down the unit?"

"Yeah," ‘cause the switch is hot." Both men jump reactively as the Spectra cracks a loud comment by slapping the contactor again. THWACK! THWACK! THWACK! "We can't afford to make a mistake here," Sal assures him, "so if I only change that parameter, it may dump, or simply burn. You really need an external bypass switch or a shut down window. I'm sorry, sir."

While he repacks his kit he timidly drawls, "Do you wanna call Bud, .... becauuuuuse he was under the impression that you scheduled this late night service window with a shut down during the service window." ... [No answer from the big man, who is taking a deep breath.] "I don't want to talk to him either." Both men know what scathing reply will ensue, and both know there is nothing left to do.

...

"So, how did it go last night, Sal?" the tone is chipper but serious.

"Well, we couldn't shut down the unit." Sal states firmly. "But the client had his generator on."

[SILENCE] Sal braces himself for a line of questioning. The normally chatty Bud is eerily quiet.

"What?"

Sal quickly explains the situation and maintains that he had no good options. Bud agrees and reminds him to email the field service report.

Just before Sal ends the call, Bud chimes, "Thanks, Sal. I'm sorry you had to truck downtown at night and risk getting raped for this waste of a service call. I mean what the #&^% good is a generator if the output is passing through a system we need to shut down? He said he would let us turn off the GE. Am I missing something here? %^()@ I guess I will call them and explain what a system static bypass is and what an external bypass is. Mein Gott in Himmel! These guys have been in the data center business longer than the Internet and they still struggle with this concept. If they weren't such great guys, friends, I'd just cancel this contract. $%&!# Thanks again, man, see ya later."

Whew, Sal is encouraged that he did do the right thing. No bypass, no way.

I am still amazed how few system techs and IT managers incorporate the utility of an external bypass. While many quickly grab the impact automatic static bypass plays to avert tragedy when a failure occurs, most seem to believe that UPS can be repaired completely under the comfort of internal bypass. Cut away good doctor, the patient is asleep! Aaaaaah!

The real true-life story above clearly explains that you can’t fix a UPS internal/static bypass while in static bypass. Yes, yes I will talk about dual input later. I know there are some high tech, cowboy heroes out there, so calm down, and let me keep this article simple.

Sometimes I think the footprint of an extra cabinet or wall panel seems preclusive to designers. Often the cost an external bypass (varies from $500 to a few $1,000) is picked off by “savvy” purchasing agents. However, imaging centers can simply shut down and discontinue a patient schedule until the online UPS is running properly. So imaging centers and whoever can turn off their load without expensive service interruption can omit an external bypass. Pulp wood mills, other assembly lines and processes run by PLCs can’t afford a million dollar minute offline.

I have often started projects by installing an external bypass first, so we can at least run test power to necessary equipment. This gives me the luxury of time to reduce costs related to third-party system calibrations, shipping, backordered batteries or capacitors, rebuilding the UPS, or even unexpected delays like illness or a holiday.

If Bypass Switch had a Facebook page, I would definitely smash the LIKE button.

Articles 2013:

» 3/14/2013 Rebuild vs. Buying New UPS System

» 5/16/2013 Why Do we Need a UPS with a Generator?

Ask anything










Home | About WES | Support | Contact

Worwetz Energy Systems
3390 Philips Highway, Jacksonville, Florida 32207
Jacksonville 904-396-0145

©Copyright Worwetz Energy Systems, Inc. 2000-2022